Animal Welfare Act 1993

Animal Welfare Act 1993

This Act may be cited as the Animal Welfare Act 1993.

This Act, except Part 4, commences on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

Part 4 commences on a day to be proclaimed.

In this Act –

Advisory Committee means the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee established under section 39;

animal means – any live vertebrate animal other than a human being; or any other creature prescribed for the purposes of any or all of the provisions of this Act;

Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee means a committee referred to in section 30;

animal research means a procedure, test, experiment, inquiry or study on an animal which – is undertaken to develop, demonstrate or acquire knowledge, or techniques, in an area of science or teaching; and is likely to have a significant adverse effect on the welfare of the animal;

animal welfare guidelines means the guidelines on animal welfare approved by the Minister under section 44B;

animal welfare standards means the standards for the care and management of animals prescribed in the regulations under section 44A;

care or charge, in relation to an animal, has the meaning given by section 3A;

Code of Practice means a code of practice approved by the Minister under section 34 or the Rodeo Code of Practice;

conveyance means any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other contrivance intended to be, or being, used to carry animals, people or goods over land or water or in the air;

dispose, in relation to an animal, includes, but is not limited to – the sale or rehoming of the animal; and euthanising the animal;

function includes duty;

inspector means a person – appointed under section 36; or carrying out the functions of an inspector under section 38(3);

licensed institution means an institution licensed under Part 4;

officer means – a police officer; or a person appointed as an officer under section 13;

premises includes a conveyance;

regulations means regulations made under this Act;

rodeo means a competition or public event that – involves the use of cattle or horses, or both; and may involve the use of other animals; and involves the riding of bucking animals or the catching, wrestling, roping or tying of animals, or any combination of those activities;

Rodeo Code of Practice means the Code of Practice prescribed for the purposes of section 11A(1)(a);

Secretary means Secretary of the Department;

snare means any noose, loop or similar instrument, implement or appliance, other than a lasso, which is capable of being used to catch any animal;

society means – the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals established in the State; or any society proclaimed to be a society for the purposes of this Act in accordance with section 49;

veterinary surgeon means a person registered as a veterinary surgeon pursuant to Part IV of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1987.

For the purposes of this Act, a person is taken to have the care or charge of an animal if the person – is the owner of the animal; or has control, possession or custody of the animal; or is the operator or manager of the premises where the animal is held for commercial purposes; or is the owner, operator or manager of the land where the animal is being agisted, unless there is a written agreement to the contrary between the owner of the land and the owner of the animal; or has a share, as a share farmer, in the business in which the animal is owned or farmed; or is the chief executive officer or manager (by whatever title known), or a director, of a body corporate that owns the animal.

For the purposes of subsection (1)(b), an allegation contained in a complaint for an offence under this Act that states that a specified person had, or has, control, possession or custody of a specified animal is admissible as evidence in any legal proceedings as evidence of the matter stated.

One or more persons may have the care or charge of an animal.

For the purposes of proceedings for an offence against this Act – the conduct and state of mind of an officer, employee or agent of a body corporate acting within the scope of his or her actual, usual or ostensible authority will be imputed to the body corporate; and the conduct and state of mind of an employee or agent of a natural person acting within the scope of his or her actual, usual or ostensible authority will be imputed to that person.

For the purposes of subsection (3), a reference to "conduct" or "acting" includes a reference to failure to act.

Sections 8, 9 and 10 do not apply to practices used in the hunting of animals done in a usual and reasonable manner and without causing excess suffering unless the practices are prohibited by this or any other Act.

Sections 8, 9 and 10 do not apply to practices used in – recreational fishing; or angling; or commercial fishing – done in a usual and reasonable manner and without causing excess suffering unless the practices used are prohibited by this or any other Act.

Sections 8 and 9 do not apply to any animal research carried out in a licensed institution if that research is carried out – with the approval of the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee; and in accordance with any procedures approved by the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee; and in accordance with a Code of Practice relating to animal research.

Section 10(1)(a) and section 10(3) do not apply to the feeding of an animal if the feeding is carried out in a reasonable manner, having regard to the natural behaviour of the animal.

This Act binds the Crown in right of Tasmania and, so far as the legislative power of Parliament permits, in all its other capacities.

A person who has the care or charge of an animal has a duty to take all reasonable measures to ensure the welfare of the animal.

A person who has the care or charge of an animal or group of animals must not use a method of management of the animal or group which is reasonably likely to result in unreasonable and unjustifiable pain or suffering to the animal or an animal in the group.

In the case of – a body corporate, a fine not exceeding 1 000 penalty units; or a natural person, a fine not exceeding 200 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both.

A person must not do any act, or omit to do any duty, which causes or is likely to cause unreasonable and unjustifiable pain or suffering to an animal. In the case of – a body corporate, a fine not exceeding 500 penalty units; or a natural person, a fine not exceeding 100 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both.

Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), a person is guilty of an offence under that subsection if the person – wounds, mutilates, tortures, overrides, overdrives, overworks, abuses, beats, torments or terrifies an animal; or overloads or overcrowds an animal; or drives, conveys, carries or packs an animal in a manner or position or in circumstances that subjects or may subject it to unreasonable and unjustifiable pain or suffering; or works, rides, drives or uses an animal when it is unfit for the purpose; or has possession or custody of an animal that is confined, constrained or otherwise unable to provide for itself and fails to provide the animal with appropriate and sufficient food, drink, shelter or exercise; or abandons an animal of a species usually kept in a state of confinement or for domestic purposes; or has possession or custody of a sick or injured animal and fails to provide veterinary or other appropriate treatment for the animal; or administers to or otherwise uses in respect of an animal an injurious drug or a toxic or noxious substance except for– medical curative purposes; or scientific research purposes; or normal management procedures; or euthanasia; or the purposes of controlling a disease specified in the Biosecurity Act 2019 as a disease to which this section applies; or the purposes of controlling a pest animal in accordance with the pest register; or in the course of any sport or public performance or in the training for any sport or public performance, applies or exposes an electronic device to an animal; or uses a spur, or other like appliance, with sharpened rowels on an animal; or uses a pronged collar, or a similar collar, on an animal; or does any other prescribed act.

In this section – abandons, in relation to an animal, includes the relinquishing of the care or charge of the animal without ensuring that another person has, or will immediately take, care or charge of the animal; appropriate and sufficient means – in relation to the provision of food to an animal, that food of sufficient quality is provided – in sufficient quantity to meet the nutritional requirements of maintaining the animal in reasonable body condition and, if appropriate, allowing for growth and reproduction; and as often as appropriate for the digestive system and metabolism of the animal; or in relation to the provision of drink, that fluids of sufficient quality are provided in sufficient quantity to keep the animal hydrated at all times; or in relation to the provision of shelter, that shelter which affords protection for the animal from the adverse effects of weather conditions is provided; pest animal means an animal of a kind or class which is entered in the pest register; pest register means the pest register established and maintained under section 8A; pronged collar means a collar, designed for use on animals, that consists of a series of links or segments with prongs, teeth or blunted open ends turned towards the animal’s neck so that, when the collar is tightened, it pinches the skin around the animal’s neck.

The Minister is to establish and maintain a register of kinds or classes of animals which are pests.

The Minister, after consulting the Advisory Committee, may enter in, or remove from, the register – the kind or class of an animal which is a pest; and injurious drugs, toxic substances and noxious substances that may be administered or otherwise used to control such an animal of such a kind or class.

The register is to be in a form determined by the Minister.

The Minister may correct the register or an entry in the register without a recommendation from the Advisory Committee.

A person must not do any act, or omit to do any duty, referred to in section 8, if the person knows that, or is reckless as to whether, the act or omission will, or is reasonably likely to, result in – the death, deformity or serious disablement of an animal; or harm to an animal that endangers the life of the animal; or an injury to an animal that, either alone or in combination with the health of the animal at the time of the injury, results in a significant and longstanding injury to the animal. In the case of – a body corporate, a fine not exceeding 1 000 penalty units; or a natural person, a fine not exceeding 200 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 60 months, or both.

It is not a defence in proceedings for an offence under this section if an animal is euthanised before – the animal dies as a result of an act or omission referred to in subsection (1); or the full extent of the deformity, disablement, harm or injury to the animal as a result of that act or omission is known.

If a person is charged with, but not found guilty of, an offence under this section, the person may be convicted of an offence under section 8 if the evidence in the proceedings on the charge under section 9 establishes that the person committed an offence under section 8.