New South Wales Consolidated Acts

PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS ACT 1979 - SECT 23A

23A Information required when dogs or cats are advertised for sale or for giving away

(1) A person must not advertise a regulated dog or cat as being available for sale, to be given away, or to be transferred by any other means, unless the advertisement includes at least one of the following--

(a) the microchip identification number allocated to the microchip implanted in the animal--

(i) in connection with the identification of the animal for the purposes of section 8 of the Companion Animals Act 1998 , or

(ii) in compliance with the greyhound racing rules,

(b) the breeder identification number of the person, that is, the number allocated to the person--

(i) under section 83M of the Companion Animals Act 1998 , or

(ii) by any recognised breeders' organisation (within the meaning of Part 9 of the Companion Animals Act 1998 ) of which the person is a member, or

(iii) at the time of registration under the greyhound racing rules of the animal from whose litter the greyhound being advertised was born,

(c) in the case where the dog or cat is being sold or given away by an organisation that is, at the time the advertisement is made, a rehoming organisation (within the meaning of the Companion Animals Act 1998 )--the rehoming organisation number allocated to the organisation under section 83N of that Act.

: Maximum penalty--50 penalty units.

Note--: In order to comply with the requirements of this section, a person who advertises a companion animal must either obtain a breeder identification number or a rehoming organisation number, or have the animal microchipped (in which case the advertisement may include the microchip number). In the case of a companion animal that has not been born yet, the owner must have a breeder identification number or a rehoming organisation number.

(2) A person who, when advertising a regulated dog or cat for sale, or when doing something in relation to that advertising, gives a microchip identification number, breeder identification number or rehoming organisation number that the person knows, or ought reasonably to have known, is false is guilty of an offence.

: Maximum penalty--50 penalty units.

(3) A person is not liable to be convicted in respect of the same act or omission of both an offence under this section and an offence under section 52A (1) or 57A (1) of the Companion Animals Act 1998 .

Note--: Sections 52A (1) and 57A (1) of the Companion Animals Act 1998 make it an offence to sell or advertise the sale of a dangerous, menacing or restricted dog or a dog that is proposed to be a dangerous, menacing or restricted dog.

(4) In this section--

"greyhound racing rules" means the racing rules--

(a) made by Greyhound Racing New South Wales under the Greyhound Racing Act 2009 and in force before the repeal of that Act, or

(b) made by the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission under the Greyhound Racing Act 2017 .

"regulated dog or cat" means any of the following--

(a) a dog or cat that is or will be required by the Companion Animals Act 1998 to be identified (including by being microchipped), including a dog or cat that has not been born or has not yet reached the age at which identification is required,

(b) a greyhound (whether or not it is registered in accordance with the greyhound racing rules), including a greyhound that has not been born,

(c) a dog or cat that is in the custody of a council (including a council pound),

(d) a dog or cat that is in the custody of the Animal Welfare League NSW,

(e) a dog or cat that is in the custody of The Cat Protection Society of NSW Inc,

(f) a dog or cat that is in the custody of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; New South Wales.