Did I mention I LOVE cowbells?
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I honeymooned in Switzerland and came in close proximity with a number of cows with traditional bells while we were hiking. They didn’t seem that loud to me, and I’ve never seen happier looking cows than I did on that trip. Cows that are locked up in fenced pastures or located on American-style high density feed lots don’t need bells to keep track of them. But the ones wandering tree-covered hills or mountains can be hard to see, and there were a number of times when I didn’t realize I was quite near a cow until it started moving and I heard the bell. I suppose that there are more advanced technologies that could do the same job, such as GPS trackers, but if I was a cow I’d certainly prefer the life of roaming the hills with a bell vs. just about any typical American dairy farm or cattle feed lot.
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I’m sure said cows lead a happier life but the bells still cause some level of minor stress in animals. And as far as things are considered its an easy fix to just not use it or use something less intrusive.
Excerpt
In alpine regions cows are often equipped with a bell throughout the summer season,
Summary
i.e. for several months, to ensure that farmers can locate their animals on the wide alpine pastures, many areas of which are obstructed from the view. Various types of bells are available, ranging from small ones for goats and calves to large and heavy ones that are used for traditional purposes like seasonal cattle drives (‘Alpabzug’) or exhibitions. Whereas cows are equipped with the larger and heavier bells during these traditional purposes, the smaller bells are used on pasture. However, although the bells used on pasture are smaller than the ones used during traditional purposes, the animals are exposed to them continuously throughout the day for several months. Consequently, cows are also exposed to the bells during resting periods. The chime of a bell is characterised by high and varying amplitudes, varying frequencies and sounds arising intermittently, depending on the movement of the bell. These characteristics have been shown to be more aversive than uniform sounds of similar amplitudes in pigs [2], [12], goats [5] and lambs [13]. As cows have a well-developed hearing capacity [14], a bell may thus lead to deviations in behaviour, indicating aversiveness, and may lead to reduced welfare in the long term if the animals do not habituate to the sound of the bell.:
The issue comes down to individual animals, some may get used to it quickly and ignore it but others will exhibit stress responses. Its likely a minor problem but as i said above, its an easy thing to fix using alternate methods.
In particular to cats, the bells on their collars definitely can be more harmful but that’s kind of more off topic 
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Which surprises me every time I dive into anything in Switzerland. As someone familiar with German nature conservancy as well science and education politics, I’m really confused that anything in this fields of politics and policies works in Felix Helvetica.
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Sure. Can’t risk “contamination” from outsiders. (see Trumpism)
Cheesy response by the Swiss.
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I’ve been working in the Alps, and the bells are really loud. And they still do serve a purpose, in some areas: cattle is pretty much roaming free, and it’s much, much easier to find a stray if it does döngdöngdöng every time it walks.
ETA:
Erm. Did you ever use a GPS on a mountain range? I’m using Garmin’s Sixty-x series since it came out, and let me tell you that you don’t want to rely on a GPS in the mountains. Especially if you are looking for something. In my case, it’s usually populations of particular plants. Which are, all in all, rather more immobile than lifestock.
BTW, since you mentioned not realising that a cow was present until the bell rang: that bell might save lives. No kidding.
www.thelocal.ch/20150803/german-trampled-to-death-in-swiss-mountains/amp
(Sorry for the shitty journalistic standard, can’t find more in English.)
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she has been (see above thread)
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Ok, you’ve convinced me! Not that I needed much convincing anyway. This was my Halloween costume from a few years back:
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Nice outfit. Perfectly dressed for Cologne’s carnival next week.
BTW, I’m not exactly in favour of cowbells. Some of them exceed 120 dB, I’ve been told. You don’t want to carry that next to your ear. But besides the animal, there’s the human side to consider. And, for the Swiss, cowbells are part of their national folklore. Which, in turn, is a major economical factor…
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I hope Canada would be easier (just in case), because I could not pretend to enjoy poutine as a condition of emigrating to Quebec. Sheesh, I’d be rejected if they reviewed my posts on that subject…
If within that ballpark on the loudness then it’s much more loud than i figured, but it does mirror my thoughts on why i believe it can be detrimental to an animal’s well being. I do understand why they’re used but i’d hope alternative ways to keep track of cows would be considered at least.
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Our system isn’t much better. We have a world full of people who “belong” nowhere and as such have no real rights.
Udderly gorgeous!
God, those pesky vegans who care about animals, the environment, and their health! The worst!
Now let’s unfurl all those stereotypes about vegans. I haven’t encountered them online for at least 48 hours.
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Unless you’re a mouse, of course.
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Yes, the stresses in that sentence were on “not really supposed to”. 
I note the Swiss introduced a new citizenship law at the start of the year which still has plenty of room for arbitrariness.
