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An Act to enable provision to be made for the care, disposal or slaughter of animals to which proceedings under section 1 of the Protection of Animals Act 1911 relate; and for connected purposes. |
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[30th November 2000]
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1 Application of Act
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(1) Sections 2
to 4 apply where—
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(a) | a person who
is mentioned in subsection (3) (referred to in this Act as “the prosecutor”)
has brought proceedings for an offence under section 1 of the Protection
of Animals Act 1911 (referred to in this Act as “the 1911 Act”) against
the owner of the animals to which the offence relates; and
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(b) | the proceedings
have not been discontinued or otherwise disposed of.
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(2) But those
sections only apply in relation to an animal which the owner keeps or has
kept for commercial purposes.
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(3) The persons
referred to in subsection (1) are—
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(a) | the Director
of Public Prosecutions;
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(b) | a Crown Prosecutor;
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(c) | a government
department;
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(d) | a local authority;
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(e) | in relation to
a prosecution in England, a person who, at the request of the [Secretary
of State], has entered into a written agreement under which he may perform
the functions conferred on a prosecutor by virtue of this Act;
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(f) | in relation to
a prosecution in Wales, a person who, at the request of the National Assembly
for Wales, has entered into a written agreement under which he may perform
the functions conferred on a prosecutor by virtue of this Act.
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NOTES
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Specified date Specified date: 30 January 2001: see s 5(3). |
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Amendment |
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Sub-s (3): in para (e) words “Secretary of State” in square brackets substituted by SI 2002/794, art 5(1), Sch 1, para 45. |
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Date in force: 27 March 2002: see
SI 2002/794, art 1(2).
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Extent |
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This Act does not extend to Scotland:
see s 5(4).
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2 Orders for the care, disposal
or slaughter of animals
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(1) If, on the
application of the prosecutor, it appears to the court from evidence given
by a veterinary surgeon that it is necessary in the interests of the welfare
of the animals in question for the prosecutor to do one or more of the things
mentioned in subsection (2), the court may make an order authorising him
to do so.
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(2) Those things
are—
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(a) | taking charge
of the animals and caring for them, or causing or procuring them to be cared
for, on the premises on which they are kept or at some other place;
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(b) | selling the animals
at a fair price;
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(c) | disposing of
the animals otherwise than by way of sale;
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(d) | slaughtering
the animals, or causing or procuring them to be slaughtered.
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(3) In determining
what to authorise by the order, the court must have regard to all the circumstances,
including the desirability of protecting the owner’s interest in the value
of the animals and avoiding increasing his costs.
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(4) An order under
this section ceases to have effect on the discontinuance or other disposal
of the proceedings under section 1 of the 1911 Act; but this is without
prejudice to anything done before, or done in pursuance of a contract entered
into before, the order ceases to have effect.
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Specified date Specified date: 30 January 2001: see s 5(3). |
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Extent |
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This Act does not extend to Scotland:
see s 5(4).
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3 Powers of entry, etc
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(1) Where—
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(a) | the prosecutor
has given notice to the court of his intention to apply for an order under
section 2; and
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(b) | he is of the
opinion that the animals need to be marked for identification purposes,
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the prosecutor, or a person authorised
by him, may enter the premises on which the animals are kept and mark them
for those purposes.
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(2) Where an order
is made under section 2, the prosecutor, or a person authorised by him,
may—
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(a) | enter the premises
on which the animals are kept for the purpose of exercising the powers conferred
by the order;
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(b) | mark the animals
(whether by the application of an ear tag or by any other means); and
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(c) | in the case of
an order making any provision mentioned in section 2(2)(a), make use for
that purpose of any equipment on the premises.
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(3) Any person
who obstructs the prosecutor, or a person authorised by him, in the exercise
of powers conferred by subsection (1) or (2) or an order under section 2
is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
level 3 on the standard scale.
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(4) Nothing in
this section authorises a person to enter a dwellinghouse.
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(5) A person entering
any premises in the exercise of powers conferred on him by this section
must, if so required by the owner or occupier or person in charge of the
premises—
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(a) | produce to him
some duly authenticated document showing that he is, or is a person authorised
by, the prosecutor; and
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(b) | state in writing
his reasons for entering.
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NOTES
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Specified date Specified date: 30 January 2001: see s 5(3). |
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Extent |
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This Act does not extend to Scotland:
see s 5(4).
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4 Other supplementary provisions
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(1) Where an order
is made under section 2—
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(a) | the prosecutor
is entitled to be reimbursed for any reasonable expenses incurred by him
in the exercise of the powers conferred by virtue of the order; and
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(b) | subject to that,
in the case of an order making any provision mentioned in subsection (2)(b),
(c) or (d) of that section, the prosecutor must pay to the owner the proceeds
of any disposal or slaughter of the animals.
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(2) Any amount
for which the prosecutor is entitled to be reimbursed under subsection (1)
may be recovered by him from the owner summarily as a civil debt.
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(3) Where—
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(a) | an order under
section 2 makes any provision mentioned in subsection (2)(b), (c) or (d)
of that section; and
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(b) | the owner has
in his possession or under his control documents—
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(i) without which the animals cannot
be slaughtered for human consumption; or
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the owner must, as soon as practicable
and in any event within 10 days of the making of the order, deliver those
documents to the prosecutor.
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(4) If the owner
without reasonable excuse fails to deliver any documents as required by
subsection (3), he is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction
to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
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(5) The prosecutor
may, if the owner fails to deliver as required by subsection (3) any documents
within paragraph (b)(i), apply to the person by whom the documents were
issued for replacement documents to be issued and that person must, if he
has sufficient information to do so, issue replacement documents to the
prosecutor.
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(6) An application
under subsection (5) is to be accompanied by—
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(a) | a copy of the
order under section 2; and
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(b) | such reasonable
fee (if any) as is determined by the person to whom the application is made.
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(7) In this section,
“owner” means the owner against whom the proceedings were brought.
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Specified date Specified date: 30 January 2001: see s 5(3). |
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Extent |
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This Act does not extend to Scotland:
see s 5(4).
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5 Short title, interpretation,
commencement and extent
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(1) This Act may
be cited as the Protection of Animals (Amendment) Act 2000.
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(2) In this Act—
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“the 1911 Act” means the Protection
of Animals Act 1911;
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(a) in
relation to England, means a county council, a district council, a London
borough council, the Common Council of the City of London or the Council
of the Isles of Scilly;
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“prosecutor” has the meaning given
by section 1(3);
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and expressions which are used
in the 1911 Act have the same meanings as in that Act.
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(3) This Act comes
into force at the end of the period of two months beginning with the day
on which it is passed.
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(4) This Act extends
to England and Wales only.
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Specified date Specified date: 30 January 2001: see sub-s (3) above. |
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Extent |
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This Act does not extend to Scotland: see sub-s (4) above. |