Live Stock Breeding Act , 1925

1 Restrictions on keeping bulls.

1.—(1) On and after the appointed day it shall not be lawful for any person to keep or have in his possession any bull to which this Act applies save in so far as such keeping or possession is authorised by a licence or permit granted to such person under this Act and for the time being in force.

(2) Every person who shall keep or have in his possession any bull to which this Act applies in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

(3) In any prosecution for an offence under this section the burden of proof that a licence or permit had been granted under this Act in respect of the bull and was in force and (where the age of the bull is in issue) the burden of proof of the age of the bull shall lie on the person prosecuted and unless and until the contrary is proved it shall be presumed that no such licence or permit had been granted or that if such licence or permit had been granted it was no longer in force on the day on which the offence was alleged to have been committed and also that the bull was on that day a bull to which this Act applies.

(4) For the purpose of a prosecution for an offence under this section a bull shall be deemed to be kept by and to be in the possession of each and every of the following persons, that is to say:—

(a) the owner of the bull; and

(b) a person to whom the bull has been lent, hired or leased for a period exceeding one month, and

(c) the owner or the person having the charge or management of the lands or premises on which the bull was when the offence was alleged to have been committed, unless such owner or person proves that the bull was then on the said lands without his knowledge or connivance.

2 Minister may grant licences.

2.—(1) The Minister may, subject to the provisions of this Act and on payment of such fee (not exceeding five shillings) as may be prescribed, grant to any person a licence to keep and have in his possession a specified bull to which this Act applies.

(2) Every application for a licence under this section shall be in the prescribed form and shall be made in the prescribed manner and at the prescribed time and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee aforesaid.

(3) The Minister may subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, including payment of such additional fee (not exceeding five pounds) as may be prescribed, grant a licence under this section notwithstanding that the application therefor is made at a time other than the prescribed time.

(4) Where the Minister is satisfied that a licence granted under this section has been lost or destroyed he may, subject to the prescribed conditions and on payment of the prescribed fee, issue to the holder of such licence a duplicate thereof, and such duplicate licence shall for all purposes have the same force and effect as the original licence, and all the provisions of this Act with respect to a licence granted under this Act shall apply to a duplicate licence issued under this section.

(5) Where the Minister refuses an application for a licence under this section he shall return to the applicant for such licence the fee paid under sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section by such applicant on such application and may also if he thinks proper so to do return to such applicant the whole or any part of the additional fee (if any) paid under sub-section (3) of this section by such applicant in respect of such application.

3 Conditions for granting a licence.

3.—(1) The Minister shall not grant a licence under this Act in respect of any bull which appears to him—

(a) to be calculated to beget defective or inferior progeny, or

(b) to be affected by any contagious or infectious disease, or

(c) to be affected by any other disease or defect prescribed as a disease or defect rendering a bull unsuitable for breeding purposes.

(2) The Minister may for the purposes of this Act cause any bull in respect of which an application for a licence under this Act has been made to be inspected and examined and, in the prescribed cases, to be marked in the prescribed manner with the prescribed mark by an inspector at the time and place appointed by the Minister for that purpose, and it shall be the duty of the applicant for the licence to bring the bull at the time and to the place so appointed.

(3) Where the applicant for a licence under this Act fails to bring the bull to which his application relates at the time and to the place appointed as aforesaid, the Minister may refuse to grant the licence or, if so required by the applicant and upon payment by the applicant of such fee (not exceeding five pounds) as may be prescribed, may cause the bull to be specially inspected, examined, and marked as aforesaid for the purposes of this section at such time and place as may be appointed by the Minister for that purpose.

4 Revocation of licences.

4.—Where the Minister is satisfied that a bull in respect of which a licence has been granted under this Act is—

(a) calculated to beget defective or inferior progeny, or

(b) affected by any contagious or infectious disease, or

(c) affected by any other disease or defect prescribed as a disease or defect rendering a bull unsuitable for breeding purposes,

the Minister shall revoke the licence granted in respect of such bull.

5 Restrictions to ensure suitability of bull for district.

5.—(1) The Minister may by regulations made under this Act declare that any particular breed or breeds or any particular type or types of bull is or are unsuitable for any specified area or areas, but the Minister shall not make, revoke or vary any such regulation until he has consulted the consultative council established under this Act in regard thereto, and the Minister, in the making, revoking or varying any such regulation shall take into consideration any advice in regard thereto given to him by the said council after making such (if any) inquiries and investigations as it thinks proper.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section the Minister may, if he thinks fit so to do, refuse to grant a licence under this Act, in respect of a bull kept or proposed to be kept in an area specified in such regulations if the bull is of a breed or of a type declared by such regulations to be unsuitable for that area.

(3) The Minister may, subject to the provisions of this section, at any time, if he thinks fit so to do, suspend or revoke a licence granted by him under this Act if the bull to which such licence relates is brought into or kept in an area specified in any such regulations and is of a breed or of a type declared by such regulations to be unsuitable for that area.

(4) The Minister shall not under this section refuse, revoke or suspend a licence in respect of a bull which is entered or eligible for entry in a prescribed herd book, and is used or intended to be used exclusively for the service of cows of the same breed as the bull.

6 Production of licence for inspection.

6.—(1) It shall be the duty of the holder of a licence granted under this Act to produce or cause to be produced on demand such licence, at the place where the bull to which it relates is kept, for inspection by—

(a) an inspector, or

(b) a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police or of the Gárda Síochána, or

(c) the person in charge of a cow about to be served by such bull.

(2) Every holder of a licence granted under this Act who fails without just cause or excuse to produce such licence or to cause the same to be produced on any occasion on which he is required by this section so to do shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds.

(3) A demand for the production of a licence shall be deemed for the purpose of this section to have been made to the holder of the licence if such demand is made verbally at the place where the bull to which the licence relates is kept to the person in the employment of the holder of the licence and having the care, custody, or charge of the bull for the time being.

7 Duty on persons having custody of bulls.

7.—(1) It shall be the duty of any person having custody of any bull to which this Act applies, and of the owner or the person having the charge or management of the lands or premises on which any such bull is found, if so required by an inspector or by any member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police or of the Gárda Síochána, to give to such inspector or such member the name and address of the owner of such bull and of the person by whom such bull is kept, so far as the same are known to him.

(2) Every such person as aforesaid who, knowing the name or address of the owner of a bull to which this Act applies or of the person by whom such bull is kept, refuses when so required to give such name or address to an inspector or to any member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police or of the Gárda Síochána shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty not exceeding two pounds.

8 Permits for fattening for slaughter.

8.—(1) The Minister may grant to any person on payment of such fee (not exceeding two shillings and sixpence) as may be prescribed a permit to keep and fatten off for slaughter subject to and in accordance with the prescribed conditions a specified bull to which this Act applies.

(2) A permit granted under this section shall authorise the person to whom it is granted to keep and have in his possession subject to and in accordance with the prescribed conditions the bull mentioned in the permit during the period of time specified in the permit or during any extension thereof endorsed on the permit.

(3) The provisions (including the penal provisions) of this Act in relation to the production and inspection of licences shall apply to the production and inspection of permits granted under this section.

9 Transfer of licences and permits.

9.—(1) Save in the manner and to the extent authorised by this section licences and permits granted under this Act shall not be transferable.

(2) Where the right to the possession of a bull in respect of which a licence or permit granted under this Act is in force passes from the holder of the licence or permit to another person (in this section called the transferee) either by a transfer or devolution of the property in the bull or by a loan, hire, or lease of the bull for a period exceeding one month, or by the cesser or surrender of any such loan, hiring, or lease, the Minister may, on the application of the transferee and on notice to the holder of the licence or permit or his personal representative and on compliance with the prescribed conditions, transfer the licence or permit in the prescribed manner to the transferee.

(3) In any such case as is mentioned in the foregoing sub-section no offence under this Act shall be deemed to be committed by reason only of the transferee keeping or having possession of the bull during the period between his applying for a transfer of the licence or permit and his receipt of the decision of the Minister on such application and for the purposes of this sub-section the decision of the Minister, if communicated to the transferee by post, shall be deemed to be received by him at the time when the same would be delivered in the ordinary course of the post.

(4) On the death of the holder of a licence or permit, his personal representative may retain possession of the bull to which the licence or permit relates for a period not exceeding three months from the death of the holder or until the sooner determination of the licence or permit without obtaining a transfer to himself of the licence or permit and such personal representative shall during such period or until such determination (as the case may be) be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be the holder of such licence or permit.

10 Effect of loans etc., of bulls.

10.—(1) Where the holder of a licence or permit granted under this Act lends, hires, or leases the bull to which the licence or permit relates to another person for a period not exceeding one month, such bull shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to continue during such lending, hiring, or lease in the possession of and to be kept by the holder of such licence or permit.

(2) Where the holder of a licence or permit granted under this Act lends, hires, or leases the bull to which the licence or permit relates to another person for a period exceeding one month, such bull shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to have passed into the possession and keeping of such other person.

11 Duties of holder of licences and permits.

11.—(1) It shall be the duty of the holder of a licence or permit granted under this Act—

(a) to send within the prescribed time and in the prescribed form to the Minister the prescribed particulars of—

(i) any transfer (whether by sale or otherwise) or devolution of the property in the bull to which the licence or permit relates, and

(ii) any loan, lease, or hiring of such bull, and

(iii) the castration of such bull, and

(iv) the death of such bull;

(b) on or within three days after the happening of any event which would entitle any other person to obtain a transfer of the licence or permit, to return the licence or permit to the Minister, with such particulars of the transfer as may be prescribed;

(c) to return to the Minister within the prescribed time the licence or permit after the termination thereof by suspension, revocation, effluxion of time, death or castration of the bull, or otherwise.

(2) If and whenever the holder of a licence or permit granted under this Act refuses, neglects, or omits to comply with any of the provisions of this section he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds.

12 Inspection, etc., of bulls.

12.—(1) An inspector may inspect and examine and, in the prescribed cases, mark in the prescribed manner with the prescribed mark, and any member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police or the Gárda Síochána may inspect and examine at all reasonable times any bull to which this Act applies or any bull which is reasonably believed by such inspector or member to be a bull to which this Act applies.

(2) Any inspector or any member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police or the Gárda Síochána may for the purpose of exercising all or any of the powers conferred on him by this section enter at all reasonable times any lands or premises on which any such bull as is mentioned in the foregoing section is for the time being kept or is reasonably believed by such inspector or member to be so kept.

(3) Every person who shall obstruct or impede an inspector or any member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police or the Gárda Síochána in the exercise of any of the powers conferred on him by this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds.

13 Minister may order slaughter or castration of certain bulls.

13.—(1) Where the Minister refuses an application for a licence under this Act or revokes or suspends a licence granted under this Act, or is of opinion that a bull to which this Act applies is not suitable for breeding purposes the Minister may serve on the owner, reputed owner, or other person keeping or having possession of the bull the subject of such application, licence, or opinion a notice in the prescribed form requiring such person within the time (not being less than seven days) specified in such notice to do such one of the following things as the Minister shall specify in the notice, that is to say:—

(a) to take out a permit under this Act in respect of the bull, or

(b) to have the bull slaughtered, or

(c) to have the bull castrated.

(2) In the event of a notice served under the foregoing sub-section not being complied with within the time limited therein, the Minister may cause the bull the subject of the notice to be slaughtered or to be castrated at the expense of the owner of the bull, and for that purpose any persons authorised in that behalf by the Minister may enter any premises in which the bull may be or may reasonably be believed to be and the cost of such slaughter or castration shall be paid by the owner of the bull to the Minister on demand and may be recovered by the Minister on demand from such owner as a civil debt.

(3) Any person who shall obstruct or impede the Minister or any person duly authorised by him in the exercise of any of the powers conferred by this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds.

(4) The exercise by the Minister of the powers conferred on him by this section shall not relieve any person from any penalty which he may have incurred under any other section of this Act.

(5) Where the owner of a bull is not known, a notice under this section in relation to that bull may be addressed to “the owner of a bull” without naming him, and in any case a notice under this section may be served by delivering it to the person to whom it is addressed, or by delivering it to a person over sixteen years of age on the lands or premises on which the bull to which it relates is then kept, or by sending it by post to the person to whom it is addressed at his last known place of abode or the place at which the bull to which it relates was last known to be kept.

14 Establishment of panel of referees.

14.—(1) There shall be established and maintained for the purposes of this Act a panel of referees consisting of such number of fit and proper persons as shall from time to time be found necessary for the purposes aforesaid.

(2) The members of the panel of referees shall be appointed by the Executive Council, and every such member shall hold office for five years from the date of his appointment and shall be elegible for re-appointment at the expiration of any such term of office.

(3) Every member of the panel of referees shall be paid such fees and expenses for every inspection and examination made by him in pursuance of this Act as the Minister shall, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, direct.

15 Requisition for examination by a referee.

15.—(1) Where the Minister—

(a) refuses an application for a licence or permit under this Act, or

(b) refuses to transfer a licence or permit granted under this Act or to grant a new licence or permit in lieu of such transfer, or

(c) revokes or suspends a licence granted under this Act, or

(d) serves under this Act either a notice requiring that a permit be taken out in respect of a bull or a notice requiring that a bull be slaughtered or a notice requiring that a bull be castrated,