Animal Welfare Act 1992

This section applies if the authority believes on reasonable grounds that a seized animal is so severely injured or diseased, or in such poor physical condition, that it is cruel to keep the animal alive.

The authority may—

with the written consent of the person in charge of the animal, destroy the animal or cause it to be destroyed, in a way that causes it to die quickly and without unnecessary pain; or

give the animal to a veterinary practitioner so that the practitioner may destroy the animal in a way that causes it to die quickly and without unnecessary pain.

The reasonable expenses incurred by the authority in the exercise of a power under subsection (2) in relation to an animal may be recovered by the Territory from the owner of the animal as a debt in a court of competent jurisdiction.