ANIMALS

(1) This Act may be cited as the Animals Act.

(2) Parts I, II, III, IV and VI shall come into operation on the 20th day of August, 1962, and Part V* of this Act shall come into operation, throughout Sri Lanka or in each such part of Sri Lanka as the Minister may determine by Order published in the Gazette, on such later date* as the Minister may appoint by Order so published.(* Part V not in operation on 31st December, 1980.)

(1) No person shall slaughter, or cause or permit to be slaughtered, any cow (other than a cow imported for slaughter) unless that cow is certified by the appropriate authority to be

(2) No person shall slaughter, or cause or permit to be slaughtered, any cow-calf.

(3) In this section, “cow” includes a female buffalo and the expression “cow calf” shall be construed accordingly.

(1) the prohibition, restriction, control or regulation, of the transport of animals within, to or from, any administrative district;

(2) the conditions subject to which the slaughter of animals may be permitted;

(3) the stoppage and examination of vehicles in which animals are being “transported ;”; and

(4) the establishment of checking stations at which any vehicles may be required to stop to enable the officer in charge of such station to examine the vehicle for the purpose of ascertaining whether any animals are being transported in contravention of any regulation made under this Part;

(5) procedure to be observed in applying for permits for the transport of animals; and

(6) prescription of tees in respect of transport permits.

(1) The Government Agent or the Director or any officer not below the rank of divisional Assistant Government Agent or Government Veterinary Surgeon, empowered in that behalf by the Government Agent or the Director, as the case may be, may accept from any person reasonably suspected of having committed any offence under this Part or any regulations made thereunder, any sum of money by way of composition for the offence which may have been committed.

(2) In any case where a sum of money is accepted under subsection (1), the officer compounding the offence shall forthwith release to the offender any animal in respect of which the offence has been committed or the vehicle used in the commission of the offence, and no further proceedings shall be taken against the offender.

(3) Where any offence is compounded under this section, the full facts of the case shall forthwith be reported to the Director.

(4) All sums of money received under this section shall be credited to the Consolidated Fund.

(1) No person shall transport any animal within, to, or from, any administrative district except under the authority of a transport permit issued by the Assistant Government Agent of a division of that Administrative District, for that purpose.

(2) Every application for a transport permit shall be made to the Assistant Government Agent of the division of that administrative district within, or from, which any animal is to be transported, in such form as may be prescribed and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

(3) Every transport permit shall, unless it is cancelled earlier, be in force for a period of three months from the date of its issue.

(a) maintain, in such form as may be prescribed, a register of the description of, and the brand marks on, cattle within his area; and

(b) issue, or cause to be issued, to the owner of cattle branded in accordance with such regulations as may be in force under this Act relating to the branding of cattle a voucher in the prescribed form in respect of each head of such cattle.

(1) A voucher issued in respect of a head of cattle under the regulations in force under the Cattle Ordinance* shall, unless the brand marks specified in that voucher as those on that head of cattle have become indistinct, be deemed to be in force as if it were a voucher issued under section 7.

(2) Where in any legal proceedings any question arises as to the ownership of any animal, the voucher issued or deemed to be issued under section 7 shall be admissible in evidence and shall be sufficient prima facie evidence of any fact stated therein as to the ownership of that animal.

(a) all matters stated or required by this Part to be prescribed ;

(b) the procedure to be observed in the branding of cattle;

(c) the imposition and recovery of fees for the branding of cattle and the disposal of such fees;

(d) the procedure to be observed in the sale and transfer of animals which have been branded ; and

(e) all matters necessary for the identification of animals and for the verification of their ownership.

(1) No person who is the owner, or who is in charge, of any animal shall permit that animal to commit trespass on any private land which is under cultivation, or any irrigation work, aerodrome, saltern, line of railway or land appertaining thereto, public road, public park or State land, other than a jungle or a land set apart for the grazing of animals.

(2) For the purposes of this section and the succeeding sections of this Part, ” irrigation work” shall have the same meaning as in the Irrigation Ordinance.

(a) the full amount of the damages, if any, occasioned by the trespass and assessed in the prescribed manner, and

(b) the fair expenses of maintenance of that animal during detention after seizure, are paid to him by the owner or the person in charge of that animal or are recovered as hereinafter provided from such owner or person and paid to him.

(1) It shall be lawful for the Government Agent of any administrative district or any person authorized in that behalf by such Government Agent to seize any animal trespassing, within that district, on any irrigation work, aerodrome, saltern, line of railway or land appertaining thereto, public road, public park or State land, other than a Jungle or a land set apart for the grazing of animals, and to tie up and detain it until

(2) All sums of money received by a Government Agent under subsection (1) shall be credited to the Consolidated Fund.

(1) Where any animal is seized under section 15 by any person authorized thereto by a Government Agent, the owner or person in charge of that animal shall pay, in addition to the sums referred to in that section, a penalty not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(2) The amount of any penalty referred to in subsection (1) shall, when paid, be credited to the Consolidated Fund.

(a) in any case where the sale is in respect of an animal detained for trespassing on private land, the amount of the damages occasioned by the trespass and assessed in the prescribed manner and the fair expenses of maintenance of that animal during; the period of detention shall be paid to the owner or occupier of such land, out of the proceeds of such sale, and the balance if any shall be credited to the Consolidated Fund.

(b) in any ease where the sale is in respect of an animal trespassing on any land other than private land, the proceeds of sale, shall be credited to the Consolidated Fund.

(a) drives any animal into or upon any private land in the occupation of, or cultivated by, another person and who does not take steps to prevent that animal from feeding upon or damaging any growing crop or produce of that land ; or

(b) drives any animal into or upon any irrigation work, aerodrome, saltern, line of railway or land appertaining thereto, public road, public park or State land and who does not take steps to prevent that animal damaging such work, aerodrome, saltern, line of railway or land appertaining thereto, road, park or State land, shall be guilty of an offence.

(a) may authorize any person to seize such animal while so trespassing or to identify it, and

(b) may, if such person finds after reasonable exertion that it is impracticable to seize or identify such animal, in writing permit such person to shoot such animal within such specified area within thirty days after the grant of such permission.

(1) It shall be lawful for the owner or occupier of any cultivated private land, or for any person duly authorized by such owner or occupier, to shoot or otherwise destroy any pig or poultry trespassing on such land, if a notice warning the owners of pigs or poultry not to allow such animals to stray on such land is exhibited in a conspicuous place on such land.

(2) In this section, the terms ” poultry ” means domestic fowl, turkeys, geese, or ducks.

(1) Where any animal is seized and detained under section 14 or section 15, the Government Agent of the administrative district in which such animal is detained shall by notice in writing, require the owner or person in charge of the animal to pay any sum due from him as damage or expenses under that section to such Government Agent within such period as may be specified in such notice.

(2) Any sum paid to a Government Agent under subsection (1) shall-

(1) Any person who fails to pay any sum due from him as damages or expenses under section 14 or section 15, or as a penalty under section 18 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(2) On the conviction of any person for an offence under subsection (1), the court shall, if satisfied that payment of any sum due as damages or expenses under section 14 or section 15 or as a penalty under section 18 has not been made, or that such sum cannot be recovered under subsection (3), make order that such sum shall, in addition to any fine that may be imposed on him under subsection (1), be paid by him within the time specified in the order, and, if such sum is not so paid, it shall be recovered upon an order of the court as if it were a fine imposed by the court.

(3) The court shall have power to order any animal seized under this Part to be sold by public auction, and where any animal is so sold, the proceeds of the sale shall, by order of court, be disposed of in the prescribed manner.

(a) all matters stated or required under this Part to be prescribed ;

(b) the giving of notice of the seizure or destruction of any animal causing trespass and the person or persons to whom such notice should be given;

(c) the custody and maintenance of animals seized, in cases where the person seizing the animals is unable to maintain the animals ;

(d) the production in court of animals seized, the sale of such animals and the disposal of proceeds of sale; and

(e) all matters relating to the seizure and destruction of animals committing trespass.

(a) ” State land ” does not include any land which is in the possession or occupation of any person by or under the authority of a permit, grant, or any other instrument by whatsoever name or designation called, issued or made by or on behalf of the State under any written law;

(b) ” private land” includes any State land which is in the possession or occupation of any person by or under the authority of a permit, grant, or any other instrument by whatsoever name or designation called, issued or made by or on behalf of the State under any written law;

(c) ” owner or occupier “, in relation to any private land, includes any person in possession or occupation of that land by or under the authority of a permit, grant or any other instrument by whatsoever name or designation called, issued or made by or on behalf of the State under any written law. or any other person acting by or under the direction of such owner or occupier.(*Section 27 repealing the Cattle Trespass Ordinance, is omitted.)

(a) has been castrated within three months after attaining the age of one year; or

(b) has been certified by a veterinary surgeon or an authorized officer to be fit for breeding.

(1) A veterinary surgeon or an authorized officer shall, upon a request made by the owner of any male animal above the age of one year or by any other person on behalf of such owner, if he is satisfied that such animal is fit for breeding, issue to such owner or other person a certificate to the effect that the animal is fit for breeding.

(2) A certificate issued under subsection (1) shall contain the prescribed particulars relating to the identity and the description of the animal in respect of which the certificate is issued.

(3) Every person in possession of a certificate issued under subsection (1) shall upon demand made therefor by any veterinary surgeon or authorized officer produce the certificate for inspection.

(4) For the purposes of the certificate to be issued under subsection (1) in respect of any animal, a veterinary surgeon or an authorized officer may fix the age of that animal after inspection if the owner thereof is unable to establish the age of that animal.

(a) is no longer fit for breeding by reason of senility or other infirmity, or

(b) is suffering from any contagious or infectious disease.

(1) Where any veterinary surgeon or authorized officer is of the opinion that any male animal over the age of one year is unfit for breeding, that veterinary surgeon or authorized officer may direct the owner of, or the person in possession of, that animal by notice in writing addressed to such owner or person, to castrate that animal, and such owner or person shall carry out such direction.

(2) The castration of any male animal in pursuance of a notice issued under subsection (1) may

(a) all matters stated or required under this Part to be prescribed ;

(b) a scheme for the grading of animals and the use by the public of the stud and artificial insemination services provided by the Government.

(1) The Minister may make regulations for all matters for which regulations are required or authorized to be made under this Act.

(2) Every regulation made by the Minister shall be published in the Gazette and shall come into operation on such date as may be specified in the regulation or, if no such date is so specified, on the date of such publication.

(3) Every regulation made by the Minister shall be brought before Parliament as soon as may be after the publication thereof by a motion that such regulation be approved.

(4) Any regulation which Parliament refuses to approve shall be deemed to be rescinded, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder. The date on which a regulation shall be deemed to be so rescinded shall be the date on which Parliament refuses to approve such regulation.

(5) Notification of the date on which any regulation made by the Minister is deemed to be rescinded shall be published in the Gazette.

(1) Any offence under this Act committed by reason of a contravention of any of the provisions of Part IV of this Act, or of any regulation made under this Act in respect of any matter for which such regulation is authorized to be made by that Part, shall,

(2) Any Primary Court trying an offence under this Act shall be deemed to have power to inflict the full penalty provided for that offence notwithstanding any limitation of its ordinary powers of jurisdiction.