Questão jurídica principal
Whether the Valais ban on Dobermanns and the related transitional sterilization requirement violate equality and arbitrariness guarantees.
Decisão extraída
The challenged ban and the inclusion of Dobermanns on the prohibited-breeds list are not unconstitutional; the legislature had a wide margin of appreciation and relied on defensible preventive criteria.
Fundamentação extraída
Dog-breed regulation serves the public interest in preventing serious bite injuries. Although breed alone is not a perfect indicator of danger, the canton could adopt a strict preventive approach and need not wait for flawless statistics. Dobermann inclusion was based on plausible risk factors and was not arbitrary or unequal treatment.