Control of Horses Act, 1996

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 37/1996
• Year: 1996

Number 37 of 1996
CONTROL OF HORSES ACT, 1996
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I
Preliminary and General
Section 1. Short title and commencement. 2. Interpretation. 3. Appointment of authorised persons. 4. Powers of arrest. 5. Offence by body corporate, etc. 6. Penalties. 7. Disqualification from keeping horse. 8. Forfeiture of horse. 9. Prosecution of offences. 10. Provisions regarding certain offences. 11. Registers. 12. Regulations. 13. Procedure for making bye-laws. 14. Service of notifications and notices. 15. Grants to local authorities. 16. Expenses of Minister.
PART II
Licensing of Horses in Control Areas
17. Control areas. 18. Prohibition on keeping horse without horse licence in control area. 19. Exemptions. 20. Horse licences. 21. Prohibition on forgery or fraudulent alteration or use of horse licence. 22. Application for horse licence. 23. Appeals against refusal to grant, or suspension, revocation or amendment of, horse licence. 24. Register of horse licences. 25. Disposal of horse by licence holder. 26. Production of horse licence for inspection. 27. Obligation to remove unlicensed horses found in public places in control areas. 28. Regulations for identification of horses kept in control areas.
PART III
Control of Horses
29. Inspection of horses. 30. Obligation to give name and address of owner of horse. 31. Obligation to give name and address where authorised person or member of Garda Síochána suspects offence under Act is committed. 32. Obligation to desist from continuing to offend against certain provisions of Act. 33. Authorised person or member of Garda Síochána may require veterinary attention for horses in extreme pain or distress, etc. 34. Power of entry to premises by authorised persons or members of Garda Síochána. 35. Search warrants. 36. Obstruction of authorised person or member of Garda Síochána. 37. Seizure and detention of horses. 38. Identification of seized horses or horses detained in control areas. 39. Period of detention and disposal of horses detained under section 37. 40. Disposal of horses detained on 3 or more occasions. 41. Destruction of detained horses which are in pain, distress or acute state of neglect, etc. 42. Register of seized or detained horses. 43. Prohibition on sale of horse to minor under 16 years of age. 44. Consequential amendment to section 24 of Protection of Animals (Amendment) Act, 1965. 45. Criminal liability for injury or damage caused by horses. 46. Bye-laws for control and welfare of horses. 47. Exclusion of horses from certain areas by bye-laws.
PART IV
MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS TO OTHER ENACTMENTS RELATING TO ANIMALS
48. Amendment of section 1 (1) of Protection of Animals Act, 1911 (alteration of penalties) and repeal. 49. Amendment of Pounds (Provision and Maintenance) Act, 1935 (increase of fines). 50. Amendment of section 5 of Animals Act, 1985 (increase of fines).
Number 37 of 1996
CONTROL OF HORSES ACT, 1996
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONTROL OF HORSES AND TO MAKE PROVISION FOR THE LICENSING OF HORSES IN URBAN AND OTHER AREAS WHERE HORSES CAUSE A DANGER TO PERSONS OR PROPERTY OR NUISANCE AND TO AMEND CERTAIN OTHER ENACTMENTS RELATING TO ANIMALS AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS. [19th December, 1996]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
PART I Preliminary and General
	Short title and commencement.	1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Control of Horses Act, 1996.
	(2) This Act shall come 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.
	Interpretation.	2.—(1) In this Act—
	“authorised person” means a person appointed as an authorised person under section 3 ;
	“control area” means an area declared to be a control area under section 17 ;
	“dispose of” includes to sell or to give away or have destroyed, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
	“dwelling” does not include any stable, outoffice, yard, garden or other land appurtenant to the dwelling or usually enjoyed therewith;
	“foal” means a horse not exceeding one year of age which is being suckled by its dam or foster-mother;
	“functions” includes powers and duties;
	“horse” includes donkey, mule and hinny;
	“horse licence” means a licence granted by a local authority under section 20 ;
	“local authority” means—
	(a) in the case of an administrative county, the council of the county, and
	(b) in the case of a county borough, the corporation of the county borough,
	and references to the functional area of a local authority shall be construed accordingly;
	“Minister” means the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry;
	“pound” means a pound provided under the Pounds (Provision and Maintenance) Act, 1935 , or a private pound (within the meaning of section 5 of the Animals Act, 1985 );
	“premises” includes any house or land or water and any fixed or moveable structure therein and also includes vessels, vehicles, trains, aircraft and other means of transport;
	“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations;
	“public place” means any street, road, seashore, park, land, field or other place to which the public have access, whether by right or by permission, whether with or without vehicles, and whether subject to or free of charge;
	“regulations” means regulations made by the Minister;
	“reserved function” means—
	(a) in the case of the council of a county, a reserved function for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1994, and
	(b) in the case of the corporation of a county borough, a reserved function for the purposes of enactments relating to the management of the county borough;
	“stray horse” means a horse apparently wandering at large, lost, abandoned or unaccompanied (whether tethered or untethered) by any person apparently in charge of it in a public place or on any premises without the owner's or occupier's consent;
	“Superintendent” means the Superintendent of the Garda Síochána for the area in which a horse is seized or detained under section 37 ;
	“veterinary surgeon” means any person who is for the time being registered in the register of veterinary surgeons established and maintained under the Veterinary Surgeons Act, 1931 .
	(2) For the purposes of this Act a person who is the head of a household of which a member under the age of 16 years owns a horse shall be deemed to own the horse.
	(3) In this Act—
	(a) a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,
	(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, and
	(c) a reference to an enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act.
	Appointment of authorised persons.	3.—(1) A local authority may appoint in writing such and so many persons as it sees fit to be authorised persons for the purposes of this Act.
	(2) An authorised person may exercise any of the functions conferred on an authorised person under this Act—
	(a) within the functional area of the local authority which appointed the authorised person, or
	(b) in the functional area of another local authority with which an agreement exists for the exercise or performance by authorised persons of the first-mentioned authority in the functional area of that other authority of the functions of an authorised person.
	(3) Every authorised person appointed under this section shall be furnished with a warrant of his or her appointment as an authorised person and when exercising any power conferred on him or her by this Act as an authorised person shall, if requested by a person affected, produce the warrant or a copy thereof to that person.
	(4) An authorised person may be assisted in the exercise of his or her functions under this Act by such persons as the authorised person considers necessary.
	Powers of arrest.	4.—Where a member of the Garda Síochána reasonably suspects that a person is committing or has committed an offence under section 21 , 27 , 28 (3), 32 , 36 , 37 , 45 , 46 or 47 , the member may arrest the person without warrant.
	Offence by body corporate, etc.	5.—Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate or by a person purporting to act on behalf of a body corporate or on behalf of an unincorporated body of persons and it is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any wilful neglect on the part of any other person who, when the offence was committed, was, or purported to act as, a director, manager, secretary or other officer (including a member of any committee of management or other controlling authority) of such body, such other person as well as the body, or the person so purporting to act on behalf of the body, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.
	Penalties.	6.—(1) A person...