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PET ANIMALS ACT. 1951,
The Pet Animals Act, 1951, which came into operation on the 1st April,1952,
provides for a system of licensing and inspection by local authorities of pet
shops, the main purpose being the enforcement of the Protection of Animals Acts
in their application to the business of selling pets.
Under section 1 of the Act, no person may keep a pet shop unless he obtains
a licence from the local authority, on payment of a fee not exceeding ten
shillings.
In deciding whether to grant a licence, the local authority is required
to have regard to the need for securing that there will be provided accommodation
suitable as regards size, temperature, lighting, ventilation and cleanliness;
that there will be an adequate supply of suitable food and drink; that the
animals will not be sold at too early an age; that all reasonable precautions
will be taken to prevent the spread of infectious diseases; and that
appropriate steps will be taken in case of fire or other emergency. The local
authority has, however, a discretion to withhold a licence on other grounds,
and is given power to specify in the licence such conditions as they think
necessary or expedient in a particular case.Any person aggrieved by the
refusal of the local authority to grant such a licence or by the conditions
imposed in the licence may appeal to a court of summary jurisdiction
It is made an offence under section 2 to sell animals as pets in any
part of a street or public place,, except at a stall or a barrow in a market,
and it is laid down in section 3 that it shall be an offence to sell pets
to children under twelve years of age.
Under section 4 a local authority may authorise in writing any of its
officers or any veterinary surgeon or veterinary practitioner to inspect any
premises in respect of which a licence has been granted. This would also
include inspection of any animals found on the premises.
Section 5 deals with the penalties for offences under the Act and
disqualifications The penalty for an offence under any provision of the
Act, other than section is a fine not exceeding £25 or imprisonment for
a term not exceeding three months, or both. The penalty for an offence
under section 4 is a fine not exceeding £25. Where a person is convicted
of an offence under the Act, or under the protection of Animals Act, 1911,
the court may cancel any licence held by him under the Act and may
disqualify him from keeping a pet shop for such period as the court thinks
fit„
Section 7 provides that references in the Act to the keeping of a pet
shop shall be construed as references to the carrying on, in premises of
any nature (including a private dwelling), of a business of selling
animals as pets and as including references to the keeping of animals with
a view to their being sold in the course of such a business, subject to
provisions exempting persons who keep or sell pedigree animals bred by them,
or the offspring of an animal kept as a pet.
During the year two persons were licensed to keep pet shops in the
borough and in each case a fee of ten shillings was paid.