Dutch vegan denied Swiss citizenship for championing animal rights

An “annoying” Dutch vegan has had her hopes for Swiss citizenship dashed after she publically ridiculed cowbells, piglet racing and other longstanding local traditions.

It is the second time 42-year-old Nancy Holten's "big mouth" has cost her the chance of securing citizenship despite living in the country for more than three decades, The Local reports.

Holten – a freelance journalist and author – has tirelessly championed for animal rights and has become a social pariah in her town of Gipf-Oberfrick after launching petitions to ban cowbells which she claims are distressing to the animals.

Her crusade has also seen her challenge other longstanding traditions like piglet racing and hunting and she has regularly been published in local media over the years.

Despite meeting all the legal requirements for citizenship, Holten’s application has been rejected to a secondary law that entitles residents to have a say on who is granted naturalization - and they have used that right to repeatedly block the prolific vegan.

President of the local branch of the Swiss People’s Party, Tanja Suter said Holten's "big mouth" has lost her a lot of friends and alienated her from the local community.

Suter said she and her colleagues would not allow the 42-year-old the "present" of Swizz Citizenship “if she annoys us and doesn’t respect our traditions”, she said.

Holten has defended her actions insisting she is not attacking tradition but rather looking out for the welfare of animals.

"Many people think that I am attacking their traditions. But that was not what it was about, it was never about that. What primarily motivated me about the cowbells was the animals' welfare," she said.

However, a spokesman for the Gipf-Oberfrick administration told The Local the 42-year-old's application had not been rejected because she expressed her personal opinion, it was because she "expresses her personal opinion in the media".

Her application is now in the hands of superior government body which has the power to overturn the ban despite local objections.