HC Deb 30 June 1911 vol 27 cc741-3

(1) If any person—

  1. (a) shall cruelly beat, kick, ill-treat, over-ride, over-drive, over-load, torture, infuriate, or terrify any animal, or shall cause or procure, or, being the owner, permit any animal to be so used, or shall by doing or omitting to do any act, or by causing or procuring the commission or omission of any act, cause any unnecessary suffering, or, being the owner, permit any unnecessary suffering to be so caused to any animal; or
  2. (b) shall convey or carry, or cause or procure, or, being the owner, permit to be conveyed or carried any animal so as to cause that animal any unnecessary suffering; or
  3. (c) shall cause, procure, or be a party to, the fighting or baiting of any animal; or shall keep, use, manage, or act or assist in the management of, any premises or place for the purpose, or partly for the purpose, of fighting or baiting any animal, or shall permit any premises or place to be so kept, managed, or used, or shall receive, or cause or procure any person to receive, money for the admission of any person to such premises or place; or
  4. (d) Shall wilfully, without any reasonable cause or excuse, administer, or cause or procure, or being the owner permit, such administration of, any poisonous or injurious drug or substance to any animal, or shall wilfully, without any reasonable cause or excuse, cause any such substance to be taken by any animal; or
  5. (e) Shall subject, or cause or procure, or being the owner permit, to be subjected, any animal to any operation which is performed without due care and humanity;
such person shall be guilty of an offence of cruelty within the meaning of this Act, and shall be liable upon summary conviction to -a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds, or alternatively, or in addition thereto, to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding six months.

(2) For the purposes of this section an owner shall be deemed to have permitted cruelty if he shall have failed to exercise reasonable care and supervision in respect of the protection of the animal therefrom:

Provided that where an owner is convicted of permitting cruelty by reason only of his having failed to exercise such care and supervision, he shall not be liable to imprisonment without the option of a fine.

(3) Nothing in this section shall render illegal any act lawfully done under the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876, or shall apply—

  1. (a) to the commission or omission of any act in the course of the destruction, or the preparation for destruction, of any animal as food for mankind, unless such destruction or such preparation was accompanied by the infliction of unnecessary suffering; or
  2. (b) to the coursing or hunting of any captive animal unless such animal is liberated in an injured, mutilated, or exhausted condition; but a captive animal shall not for the purposes of this section be deemed to be coursed or hunted before it is liberated for the purpose of being coursed or hunted, or after it has been re-captured, or if it is under control.

Mr. GEORGE GREENWOOD

I beg to move, in Sub-section (1), paragraph (b), to leave out the word "so" ["any animal so as to cause''], and to insert instead thereof the words "in such manner or position." This Bill is really almost entirely a consolidating Bill, and these words bring back the Clause to almost the same language as is employed in Section 12 of the Act of 1849. It was pointed out that the Clause as it stands, without this Amendment, might be construed so as to prevent the removal of an animal if the removal would cause pain, even in a case where the removal might be reasonable, as in a case where an animal is removed to a veterinary establishment.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr. G. GREENWOOD

I beg to move in Sub-section (2) to insert after the word "cruelty" ["deemed to have permitted cruelty"] the words "within the meaning of this Act."

Mr. BOOTH

I wish to draw attention to a hateful phrase which to my great consternation comes up again and again. I mean the words, "deemed to have permitted a cruelty."

Mr. DEPUTY-SPEAKER (Mr. Emmott)

I do not see what that has to do with the Amendment. The Amendment is merely to add after the word "cruelty" the words "within the meaning of this Act."

Mr. BOOTH

I will move another Amendment in a moment.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr. BOOTH

I wish to move to leave out the Clause.

Mr. DEPUTY-SPEAKER

The hon. Member cannot do that now. It must be done at the beginning. He cannot move to omit any words we have already in the Clause.

Mr. G. GREENWOOD

I beg to move in Sub-section (2), after the word "cruelty" ["convicted of permitting cruelty by reason only"], to insert the words "within the meaning of this Act."

Amendment agreed to.