Swiss Civil Code

¹ A per­son who has dis­charged his or her du­ties as find­er ac­quires own­er­ship of the find if it has not been pos­sible to trace the right­ful own­er with­in five years of the an­nounce­ment or pub­lic no­tice be­ing giv­en of the find.

^1bis In the case of an­im­als kept as pets rather than for in­vest­ment or com­mer­cial pur­poses, the peri­od is two months.⁶¹³

^1ter If the find­er puts the an­im­al in a home with the in­ten­tion of re­noun­cing its own­er­ship, on ex­piry of the two-month peri­od the an­im­al home is at liberty to dis­pose of the an­im­al as it sees fit.⁶¹⁴

² If the find is re­turned to its own­er, the find­er is en­titled to com­pens­a­tion for all out­lays and to a suit­able find­er’s re­ward.

³ In the case of a find made in an oc­cu­pied house or on premises used for pub­lic ser­vices or pub­lic trans­port, the head of the house­hold, ten­ant or su­per­visor is deemed to be the find­er but is not en­titled to any find­er’s re­ward.