Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title and commencement.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.

(2) This Act comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to a particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions.

(3) An order under this section may as respects a repeal effected by section 4 appoint different days for the repeal of different enactments or provisions of enactments mentioned in Schedule 1.

2. Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act—

“aircraft” and “airport” have, respectively, the same meanings as they have in the Air Navigation and Transport (Amendment) Act 1998;

“animal” means a member of the kingdom animalae other than a human being;

“animal health levy” has the meaning assigned to it in section 26;

“animal health and welfare notice” has the meaning assigned to it in section 42;

“animal health and welfare regulations” means regulations made under section 36 and orders or regulations continued in force under section 75;

“animal product” means—

(a) the carcass, meat or other food derived from an animal or anything that contains a food derived from an animal,

(b) the semen, egg, ovum, embryo or foetus of an animal,

(c) an animal by-product or anything containing an animal by-product,

F2[(ca) the wool, skin, fur or feathers derived from an animal,]

(d) a sample derived from an animal, or

(e) any thing derived from an animal or that consists of or contains an animal product;

“arbitrator” means a person appointed under section 33;

“authorised officer” means—

(a) a member of the Garda Síochána,

(b) an officer of Customs and Excise, or

(c) a person appointed under section 37 during the period of his or her appointment;

“biosecurity” means the application of measures to reduce the risk of transmission of a disease or disease agent;

“code of practice” means a code of practice established or adopted under section 25;

“compensation” means compensation which may be paid under section 31;

“disease” means a disease including a zoonotic disease, specified in Schedule 2or in an order made under section 7;

“disease agent” means any vector, prion, virus, rickettsia, bacterium, protozoan, fungus, helminth, arthropod, insect or other pathogen or organism that is capable of spreading a disease to, or causing a disease in, an animal or human being, but does not include an animal remedy (within the meaning of section 1 of the Animal Remedies Act 1993) that is lawfully administered to the animal;

“disqualification order” means an order under section 58(1);

“EU measure” means regulations made under the European Communities Act 1972, after the commencement of Part 7, relating to animals, animal products, animal feed, animal health and welfare or disease;

“farm animal” means an animal—

(a) bred or kept for the production of food, wool, skin, fur or feathers, or

(b) for use in, or for the purposes of, breeding, sport or the farming of land,

and includes (but is not limited to) bovine, ovine, porcine and caprine animals, cervidae, equidae, bees and poultry (including domesticated game birds);

“land” includes land covered by water;

“local authority” means a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act 2001;

“Minister” means Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine;

“premises” includes a building, a dwelling or other structure (whether temporary or permanent) on or under land or in water;

“protected animal” means an animal—

(a) kept for farming, recreational, domestic or sporting purposes in the State,

(b) when it is in the possession or under the control of a human being whether permanently or on a temporary basis, or

(c) that is not living in a wild state;

“public place” means a street, road or other place to which the public have access whether as of right or by permission and whether subject to or free of charge;

“purchase” means to acquire whether or not for consideration;

“record” includes a licence, identity document or passport issued in respect of an animal, memorandum, book, plan, map, drawing, diagram, pictorial or graphic work or other document, a photograph, film or recording (whether of sound or images or both), any form in which data F1[…] are held, any other form (including machine-readable form) or thing in which information is held or stored manually, mechanically, electronically or optically and anything that is a part or a copy, in any form, of any of the foregoing or is a combination of 2 or more of the foregoing;

“sell” includes offer, expose or keep for sale, invite an offer to buy, distribute, barter or exchange;

“supply” includes giving without payment;

“unnecessary suffering” means, in relation to an animal, pain, distress or suffering (whether physical or mental) that in its kind or degree, or in its object, or in the circumstances in which it occurs, is unreasonable or unnecessary;

“valuer” means a person appointed under section 32;

“vehicle” includes a trailer, designed for use or used with a vehicle, or container designed or used for carriage on a vehicle, whether either is attached to or detached from a vehicle;

“vessel” includes a hovercraft;

“veterinary practitioner” means a person registered under Part 4 of the Veterinary Practice Act 2005.

(2) A reference, however expressed, to an act adopted by an institution of the European Union includes an act adopted before 1 November 2009 by an institution of the European Communities.

(3) The person, being of full age, who has actual care and control of a person who is—

(a) under the age of 16 years, and

(b) the apparent owner or person in possession or control of a protected animal,

is, for the purposes of this Act, regarded as owning, possessing or being in control of the animal.

(4) This Act is in addition to and not in substitution for—

(a) the Control of Dogs Acts 1986 to 2010,

(b) the Control of Horses Act 1996,

(c) the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010, and

(d) the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011.

3. Laying of regulations and orders.

3.— Every regulation and order made under this Act, other than an order made under section 1(2) or a regulation made under section 26, shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation or order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House sits after the regulation or order is laid before it, the regulation or order is annulled, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

4. Repeals.

4.— Each enactment mentioned in column (2) of Schedule 1 is repealed to the extent specified in column (3) of that Schedule opposite that mention.

5. Expenses.

5.— The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to the extent sanctioned by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

6. Disposal of moneys received by Minister.

6.— Moneys received by the Minister under this Act shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform directs.

PART 2 Prevention and Control of Animal Disease

7. Application of Act to disease.

7.—(1) This Act applies to a disease specified in Schedule 2 and to an agent of such a disease.

(2) The Minister may, by order, apply any or all of the provisions of this Act to a disease or a disease agent F3[…] not specified in Schedule 2.

8. Prohibition on farm animals straying.

8.—(1) A person who has in his or her possession or under his or her control a farm animal shall, having regard to the animal’s nature, type, species, breed, development and environment, take all reasonable measures to ensure that—

(a) the animal is unable to stray from the land or premises where it is kept, and

(b) all buildings, gates, fences, hedges, boundary walls and other structures used to contain the animal are constructed and maintained in a manner that minimises—

(i) the risk that the animal will stray,

(ii) the risk, or spread, of disease onto or from the land or premises on which the animal is kept, and

(iii) the risk that the animal will damage the flora and fauna of the surrounding environment where the animal is F4[contained].

(2) A person shall not, without lawful excuse, damage or interfere with a building, gate, fence, hedge, boundary wall or other structure used to contain a farm animal.

(3) A person who fails to comply with subsection (1) or contravenes subsection (2) commits an offence.

(4) Where a person having possession or control of a farm animal fails to comply with subsection (1) and that person is not the owner of the farm animal, then the owner of the animal shall also have committed an offence under subsection (3), unless the owner shows that he or she took all reasonable steps to ensure that all necessary measures in the circumstances were taken to comply with subsection (1).

9. Disease eradication areas.

9.—F5[…]

10. Prohibition on spreading disease.

10.—(1) A person shall not wilfully, recklessly or negligently—

(a) transmit a disease or introduce a disease agent, or

(b) cause or permit another person to transmit a disease or introduce a disease agent,

to an animal or onto land or premises.

(2) A person shall not—

(a) carry out any process, or cause or permit any other person to carry out a process, on, or

(b) administer, or cause or permit another person to administer, a substance to,

an animal, that may interfere with a test, cause symptoms that may be confused with, or mask the symptoms of, a disease or a disease agent.

(3) A person shall not, except in accordance with a permit issued by an authorised officer, have in his or her possession or under his or her control, purchase, sell, supply, move, export or import an animal, animal product or animal feed to which—

(a) a disease or a disease agent has been transmitted, or

(b) a substance has been administered that may interfere with a test, cause symptoms that may be confused with symptoms of a disease or mask the symptoms of a disease,

in contravention of subsection (1) or (2).

(4) An authorised officer may for the purposes of subsection (3) issue a permit and may attach such terms and conditions to it as he or she considers appropriate.

(5) This section does not apply to anything done under or in accordance with—

(a) the Animal Remedies Act 1993,

(b) the Irish Medicines Board Act 1995, or

(c) the European Union (Protection of Animals used for Scientific Purposes) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 543 of 2012).

(6) A person who contravenes this section commits an offence.

(7) In proceedings for an offence under this section it is a defence for the accused to show that he or she took all reasonable precautions and measures (including any precautions or measures prescribed under animal health and welfare regulations) to prevent the introduction of, or minimise the spread of, the disease concerned.

(8) If an animal, land or premises is affected with a disease or a disease agent, the Minister may, if he or she considers it appropriate to do so, publish that fact, and—

(a) the location of the land or premises and the identity of the owner or person having possession or control of the animal,

(b) the address and identity of the owner or person in charge of the land or premises,

(c) any biosecurity measures that apply to the animal, land or premises,

(d) any restriction on the use of the animal, land or premises, and

(e) any other information that he or she considers is in the public interest,

in a manner that the Minister considers appropriate.

PART 3 Animal Welfare

11. Duty to protect animal welfare.

11.—(1) A person who has a protected animal in his or her possession or under his or her control shall, having regard to the animal’s nature, type, species, breed, development, adaptation, domestication, physiological and behavioural needs and environment, and in accordance with established experience and scientific knowledge, take all necessary steps to ensure that—

(a) the animal is kept and treated in a manner that—

(i) safeguards the health and welfare of the animal, and

(ii) does not threaten the health or welfare of the animal or another animal,

and

(b) all buildings, gates, fences, hedges, boundary walls and other structures used to contain the animal are constructed and maintained in a manner so that they do not cause injury or unnecessary suffering to the animal.

(2) A person who fails to comply with this section commits an offence.

(3) Where a person having possession or control of a protected animal fails to comply with subsection (1) and the person is not the owner of the protected animal, then the owner of the animal shall also have committed an offence under subsection (2), unless the owner shows that he or she took all reasonable steps to ensure that all necessary measures in the circumstances were taken to comply with subsection (1).

12. Prohibition on animal cruelty.

12.—(1) A person shall not—

(a) do, or fail to do, anything or cause or permit anything to be done to an animal that causes unnecessary suffering to, or endanger the health or welfare of, an animal, or

(b) neglect, or be reckless, regarding the health or welfare of an animal.

(2) A person who contravenes this section commits an offence.

(3) Where a person has been convicted of an offence under this section, the court may, in addition to any penalty it imposes, order the person to make such contribution, as it considers appropriate, towards veterinary or other expenses incurred in respect of the animal or its upkeep.

(4) The considerations to which regard may be had when determining, for the purposes of this section, whether suffering is unnecessary may, amongst any other considerations, include—

(a) whether the suffering could reasonably have been avoided, terminated or reduced,

(b) whether the conduct which caused the suffering was in compliance with this Act, another enactment, animal health and welfare regulations or a code of practice,

(c) whether the conduct which caused the suffering was for a legitimate purpose, such as—

(i) benefiting the health and welfare of the animal, or

(ii) protecting a person, property or another animal,

(d) whether the suffering was proportionate to the purpose of the conduct concerned, and

(e) whether the conduct concerned was in all the circumstances that of a competent and humane person.

(5) An authorised officer who has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is offending against this section, in relation to an animal, may require the person to immediately desist from so offending, and, if necessary, to take such action as the officer may require in the interests of the health and welfare of the animal.

(6) A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (5) commits an offence.

(7) Where an authorised officer has reasonable grounds for believing that an offence under subsection (6) is being or has been or will be committed, he or she may seize and detain the animal concerned (and any dependant offspring of the animal) and remove it or arrange to have it removed to a place of safety or such other place as the officer thinks fit.

(8) The costs of anything done under this section may berecovered by the authorised officer concerned, the local authority concerned or the Minister in a court of competent jurisdiction or by deducting the sum from any moneys due or becoming due and payable by the Minister to the person.

(9) Subsection (5) and (7) are in addition to and not in substitution for sections 42 and 44, respectively.

(10) This section does not apply to—

(a) the destruction of an animal in an appropriate and humane manner, or

(b) anything done under and in accordance with any of the enactments or Regulations mentioned in section 10(5).

(11) Nothing in this section applies in relation to anything which occurs in the ordinary course of—

(a) fishing,

(b) lawfully hunting an animal, unless the animal is released in an injured, mutilated or exhausted condition, or

(c) lawfully coursing a hare, unless the hare is hunted or coursed in a space from which it does not have a reasonable chance of escape.

13. Feeding of animals.

13.—(1) A person who has a protected animal in his or her possession or under his or her control or transports such an animal shall provide and supply to the animal—

(a) a sufficient quantity of wholesome and uncontaminated drinking water or other suitable liquid appropriate to its physiological or behavioural needs which satisfies the animal’s fluid intake requirements,

(b) a quantity of suitable and wholesome food sufficient to satisfy the reasonable requirements of the animal, and

(c) such other nourishment having regard to its nature, type, species, breed, development, adaptation, domestication and state of health and to the animal’s physiological or behavioural needs,

in accordance with established experience and scientific knowledge.

(2) A person shall not provide, or cause to be provided, to an animal, food or liquid—

(a) that does not satisfy the reasonable requirements of the animal, or

(b) which—

(i) is of a nature that may itself cause the animal injury, disease or unnecessary suffering, or

(ii) contains a substance which may cause the animal injury, disease or unnecessary suffering.

(3) In proceedings in which a contravention of this section is alleged, it is a defence for the accused to show that he or she could not reasonably have—