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1. --(1) If any person--
(a) shall cruelly beat,
kick, ill-treat, over-ride, over-drive,
over-load, torture, infuriate,
or terrify any animal, or shall
cause or procure, or,
being the owner, permit any animal
to be so used, or shall,
by wantonly or unreasonably
doing or omitting to do
any act, cause any unnecessary
suffering, or, being the
owner, permit any unnecessary
suffering to be so caused
to any animal; or
(b) shall convey or carry,
or cause or procure, or, being
the owner, permit to be
conveyed or carried, any animal
in such manner or position
as to cause that animal any
unnecessary suffering;
or
(c) shall cause, procure,
or assist at the fighting or baiting
of any animal; or shall
keep, use, manage, or act or assist
in the management of,
any premises or place for the purpose,
or partly for the purpose,
of fighting or baiting any animal,
or shall permit any premises
or place to be so kept, managed,
or used, or shall receive,
or cause or procure any person
to receive, money for
the admission of any person to such
premises or place; or
(d) shall wilfully, without
any reasonable cause or excuse,
administer, or cause or
procure, or being the owner permit,
such administration of,
any poisonous or injurious drug or
substance to any animal,
or shall wilfully, without any
reasonable cause or excise,
cause any such substance to be
taken by any animal; or
(e) shall subject, or
cause or procure, or being the owner
permit, to be subjected,
any animal to any operation which
is performed without due
care and humanity;
such person shall be guilty of an offence of cruelty within the
meaning of this Act, and shall be liable upon summary conviction
to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds, or alternatively, or
in
addition thereto, to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour,
for any term not exceeding six months.
(2) For the purposes of this section, an
owner shall be deemed
to have permitted cruelty within the meaning of this Act, if he
shall
have failed to exercise reasonable care and supervision in respect
of the protection of the animal therefrom:
Provided that, where an owner is convicted
of permitting cruelty
within the meaning of this Act by reason only of his having failed
to
exercise reasonable care and supervision, he shall not be liable
to
imprisonment without the option of a fine.
(3) Nothing in this section shall render
illegal any act lawfully
done under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, or shall apply--
(a) to the commission or omission
of any act in the course of the
destruction, or the preparation for destruction,
of any animal as
food for mankind, unless such destruction
or such preparation
was accompanied by the infliction of unnecessary
suffering; or
(b) to the coursing or hunting of
any captive animal, unless
such animal is liberated in an injured,
mutilated, or exhausted
condition; but a captive animal shall
not, for the purposes of
this section, be deemed to be coursed
or hunted before it is
liberated for the purpose of being
coursed or hunted, or after
it has been recaptured, or if it is
under control.
2. Where the owner of an animal is convicted
of an offence of
cruelty within the meaning of this Act, it shall be lawful for the
court, if the court is satisfied that it would be cruel to keep
the
animal alive, to direct that the animal be destroyed, and to assign
the animal to any suitable person for that purpose; and the person
to whom such animal is so assigned shall, as soon as possible,
destroy such animal, or cause or procure such animal to be
destroyed, in his presence without unnecessary suffering. Any
reasonable expenses incurred in destroying the animal may be
ordered by the court to be paid by the owner, and thereupon
shall be recoverable summarily as a civil debt:
Provided that, unless the owner
assent, no order shall be made
under this section except upon the evidence of a duly registered
veterinary surgeon.
3. If the owner of any animal shall be
guilty of cruelty within the
meaning of this Act to the animal, the court, upon his conviction
thereof, may, if they think fit, in addition to any other punishment,
deprive such person of the ownership of the animal, and may make
such order as to the disposal of the animal as they think fit under
the
circumstances:
Provided that no order shall
be made under this section, unless
it is shown by evidence as to a previous conviction, or as to the
character of the owner, or otherwise, that the animal, if left with
the
owner, is likely to be exposed to further cruelty.
4. If any person shall, by cruelty within
the meaning of this Act
to any animal, do or cause to be done, any damage or injury to
the animal or any person or property, he shall upon conviction,
for the cruelty under this Act, be liable upon the application of
the person aggrieved to be ordered to pay as compensation to
the person who shall sustain damage or injury as aforesaid, such
sum not exceeding ten pounds, as the court before whom he
is convicted may consider reasonable:
Provided that this section shall
not--
(a) prevent
the taking of any other legal proceedings in
respect of any such damage or injury, so
that a
person
be not twice proceeded against in respect
of
the same claim; nor
(b) affect
the liability of any person to be proceeded
against
and punished under this Act for an offence
of
cruelty within the meaning of this Act.
5. --(1) Every person who shall carry
on, or assist in carrying on,
the trade or business of a knacker shall observe and conform to
the
regulations set out in the First Schedule to this Act, and, if any
person, carrying on or assisting in the carrying on of the said
trade
or business, contravenes or fails to comply with, or causes or
procures or permits any contravention or non-compliance with,
any such regulation, he shall be liable on summary conviction to
a
fine not exceeding ten pounds.
(2) Any constable shall have a right to
enter any knacker's yard
at any hour by day, or at any hour when business is or apparently
is
in progress or is usually carried on therein, for the purpose of
examining whether there is or has been any contravention of or
non-compliance with the provisions of this Act, and, if any person
refuses to permit any constable to enter any premises which he is
entitled to enter under this section, or obstructs or impedes him
in the execution of his duty under this section, he shall, upon
summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.
(3) For the purposes of section one, which
relates to offences of
cruelty, of this Act, a knacker shall be deemed to be the owner
of
any animal delivered to him.
(4) For the purposes of this Act, an animal
shall be deemed to
have been delivered to a knacker if it has been delivered either
to
the knacker himself, or to any person on his behalf, or at the
knacker's yard.
6.--(1) It shall not be lawful for any
person who shall be licensed
to slaughter horses, during the time while such licence shall be
in
force, to carry on the trade or business of a dealer in horses.
(2) If any person shall act in contravention
of this section, he
shall be liable upon summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
ten pounds.
7.--(1) Any person who impounds or confines,
or causes to be
impounded or confined, any animal in any pound shall, while the
animal is so impounded or confined, supply it with a sufficient
quantity of wholesome and suitable food and water, and, if he fails
to do so, he shall be liable upon summary conviction to a fine not
exceeding five pounds.
(2) If any animal is impounded or confined
in any pound and is
without sufficient suitable food or water for six successive hours,
or
longer, any person may enter the pound for the purpose of supplying
the animal therewith.
(3) The reasonable cost of food and water
supplied to any
animal impounded or confined in any pound shall be recoverable
summarily from the owner of the animal as a civil debt.
8. If any person--
(a) shall sell, or offer for
sale, or give away, or cause or procure
any
person to sell or offer or expose for sale or give away, or
knowingly
be a party to the sale or offering or exposing for
sale
or giving away of any grain or seed which has been
rendered
poisonous except for bonâ fide use in agriculture; or
(b) shall knowingly put or place,
or cause or procure any person
to
put or place, or knowingly be a party to the putting or
placing,
in or upon any land or building any poison, or any
fluid
or edible matter (not being sown seed or grain) which
has
been rendered poisonous,
such person shall, upon summary conviction, be liable to a fine
not
exceeding ten pounds:
Provided that, in any proceedings
under paragraph (b) of this
section, it shall be a defence that the poison was placed by the
accused for the purpose of destroying rats, mice, or other small
vermin, and that all reasonable precautions to prevent access
thereto of dogs, cats, fowls, or other domestic animals.
9. If any person shall use, or cause or
procure, or being the owner
permit, to be used, any dog for the purpose of drawing or helping
to
draw any cart, carriage, truck, or barrow, on any public highway,
he
shall be liable upon summary conviction in respect of the first
offence to a fine not exceeding two pounds, and in respect of the
second or any subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding five
pounds.
10. Any person who sets, or causes or procures to
be set, any
spring trap for the purpose of catching any hare or rabbit, or which
is so placed as to be likely to catch any hare or rabbit, shall
inspect,
or cause some competent person to inspect, the trap at reasonable
intervals of time and at least once every day between sunrise and
sunset, and, if any person shall fail to comply with the provisions
of
this section, he shall be liable upon summary conviction, to a fine
not exceeding five pounds.
11.--(1) If a police constable finds any animal so
diseased or so
severely injured or in such a physical condition that, in his opinion,
having regard to the means available for removing the animal, there
is no possibility of removing it without cruelty, he shall, if the
owner is absent or refuses to consent to the destruction of the
animal, at once summon a duly registered veterinary surgeon,
if any such veterinary surgeon resides within reasonable distance,
and, if it appears by the certificate of such veterinary surgeon
that
the animal is mortally injured, or so severely injured, or so diseased,
or in such physical condition, that it is cruel to keep it alive,
it shall
be lawful for the police constable, without the consent of the
owner, to slaughter the animal, or cause or procure it to be
slaughtered, with such instruments or appliances, and with such
precautions, and in such manner, as to inflict as little suffering
as
practicable, and, if the slaughter takes place on any public highway,
to remove the carcass or cause or procure it to be removed
therefrom.
(2) If any veterinary surgeon summoned
under this section
certifies that the injured animal can without cruelty be removed,
it shall be the duty of the person in charge of the animal to cause
it forthwith to be removed with as little suffering as possible,
and, if that person fail so to do, the police constable may, without
the consent of that person, cause the animal forthwith to be so
removed.
(3) Any expense which may be reasonably
incurred by any
constable in carrying out the provisions of this section (including
the expenses of any veterinary surgeon summoned by the
constable) may be recovered from the owner summarily as a
civil debt, and, subject thereto, any such expense shall be
defrayed out of the fund from which the expenses of the police
are payable in the area in which the animal is found.
(4) For the purposes of this section, the
expression "animal"
means any horse, mule, ass, bull, sheep, goat, or pig.
12.--(1) A police constable may apprehend without
warrant any
person who he has reason to believe is guilty of an offence under
this Act which is punishable by imprisonment without the option
of
a fine, whether upon his own view thereof or upon the complaint
and information of any other person who shall declare his name
and place of abode to such constable.
(2) Where a person having charge of a vehicle
or animal is
apprehended by a police constable for an offence under this Act,
it shall be lawful for that or any other constable to take charge
of
such vehicle or animal, and to deposit the same in some place of
safe custody until the termination of the proceedings or until the
court shall direct such vehicle or animal to be delivered to the
person charged or the owner, and the reasonable costs of such
detention, including the reasonable costs of veterinary treatment
where such treatment is required, shall, in the event of a conviction
in respect of the said animal, be recoverable from the owner
summarily as a civil debt, or, where the owner himself is convicted,
shall be part of the costs of the case.
13. --(1) Where proceedings are instituted under this
Act against
the driver or conductor of any vehicle, it shall be lawful for the
court
to issue a summons directed to the employer of the driver or
conductor, as the case may be, requiring him, if it is in his power
so
to do, to produce the driver or conductor at the hearing of the
case.
(2) Where proceedings are instituted under
this Act, it shall be
lawful for the court to issue a summons directed to the owner of
the
animal requiring him to produce either at, or at any time before,
the
hearing of the case, as may be stated in the summons, the animal
for
the inspection of the court, if such production is possible without
cruelty.
(3) Where such summons is issued under
either of the foregoing
subsections of this section, and the owner or employer, as the case
may be, fails to comply therewith without satisfactory excuse, he
shall be liable upon summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
five pounds for the first occasion, and not exceeding ten pounds
for the second or any subsequent occasion, on which he so fails,
and may be required to pay the costs of any adjournment
rendered necessary by his failure.
14.--(1) An appeal shall lie from any conviction or
order (other than
an order for the destruction of any animal) by a court of summary
jurisdiction under this Act to quarter sessions.
(2) Where there is an appeal by the owner
of the animal from any
conviction or order by a court of summary jurisdiction under this
Act, the court may direct that the recognisance required to be
entered into under subsection (3) of section thirty-one, which
relates to procedure on appeal to general or quarter sessions,
of the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879, shall include an undertaking
not to sell or part with the animal until the appeal is determined
or abandoned, and to produce it on the hearing of the appeal
if such production is possible without cruelty.
15. In this Act, except the context otherwise requires,
or it is
otherwise expressly provided--
(a) the expression "animal" means any domestic
or captive animal;
(b) the expression "domestic animal" means
any horse, ass, mule,
bull, sheep, pig, goat, dog, cat, or fowl, or any other
animal of
whatsoever kind or species, and whether a quadruped
or not,
which is tame or which has been or is being sufficiently
tamed
to serve some purpose for the use of man;
(c) the expression "captive animal" means
any animal (not being
a domestic animal) of whatsoever kind or species, and
whether a
quadruped or not, including any bird, fish, or reptile,
which is in
captivity, or confinement, or which is maimed, pinioned,
or
subjected to any appliance or contrivance for the purpose
of
hindering or preventing its escape from captivity or
confinement;
(d) the expression "horse" includes any mare,
gelding, pony, foal,
colt, filly, or stallion; and the expression "bull"
includes any cow,
bullock, heifer, calf, steer, or ox, and the expression "sheep"
includes any lamb, ewe, or ram; and the expression
"pig"
includes any boar, hog, or sow; and the expression
"goat"
includes includes a kid; and the expression "dog"
includes any
bitch, sapling, or puppy; and the expression "cat"
includes a
kitten; and the expression "fowl" includes any
cock, hen,
chicken, capon, turkey, goose, gander, duck, drake, guinea-fowl,
peacock, peahen, swan or pigeon;
(e) the expression "knacker" means a person
whose trade or
business is to kill any cattle not killed for the
purpose of the flesh
being used as butcher's meat, and the expression "knacker's
yard"
means any building or place used for the purpose, or
partly for the purpose, of such trade or business, and
the expression "cattle"
includes any horse, ass, mule, bull, sheep, goat, or
pig;
(f) The expression "pound," used in relation
to the impounding or
confining of animals, includes any receptacle of a like
nature.
16. This Act shall not apply to Scotland.
17. This Act in its application to Ireland shall be
subject to the
following modifications, namely:--
(1)--(a) Section twenty-three of the Summary Jurisdiction
(Ireland)
Act,
1851 (which gives a right of appeal), shall apply as
respects any
conviction or order under this Act (other than
an
order for the destruction of an animal), notwithstanding
that
the fine imposed does not exceed twenty shillings or
that
the term of imprisonment imposed does not exceed
one
month;
(b) A reference
to section twenty-four of the Petty Sessions
(Ireland)
Act, 1851, shall be substituted for the reference
to
subsection (3) of section thirty-one of the Summary
Jurisdiction
Act, 1879.
(2) Nothing in section eight of this Act shall prevent owners
or
occupiers
of land in Ireland from laying or causing to be
laid
any poison or poisonous matter as therein described,
after
a notice has been posted in a conspicuous place, and
notice
in writing has been given to the nearest constabulary
station.
18. Except so far as applying to Scotland, the enactment's
mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act are repealed to
the extent mentioned in the third column of that schedule.
19.--(1) This Act shall come into operation on the
first day
of January nineteen hundred and twelve.
(2) This Act shall not apply where proceedings have been
instituted before the commencement of this Act.
(3) This Act may be cited as the Protection of Animals Act,
1911.
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