(1) A person must not
take part in a prohibited activity.
Maximum penalty: $50 000 or imprisonment for 4 years.
(2) A person must not
be present in a place at which a prohibited activity is occurring.
Maximum penalty: $20 000 or imprisonment for 2 years.
(3) For the purposes
of subsection (2), if a person is present in a place at which a
prohibited activity has occurred within the preceding 2 hours, he or she
will, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be taken to have been at the
place at the time the prohibited activity occurred.
(4) In proceedings for
an offence against subsection (2), it is a defence for the defendant to
prove that he or she did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected
to have known, that a prohibited activity was occurring in the place.
(5) For the purposes
of this section, the following are "prohibited activities :
(a)
organised animal fights;
(b)
live baiting;
(c)
releasing an animal from captivity for the purpose of it then being hunted or
killed (whether by a person or otherwise);
(d)
selling or supplying an animal to a person for the purpose of the animal being
used in an activity referred to in a preceding paragraph;
(e)
keeping or preparing an animal for the purpose of using the animal in an
activity referred to in a preceding paragraph.
(6) For the purposes
of this section, a person "takes part in a prohibited activity if he or she
does 1 or more of the following:
(a)
organises the prohibited activity;
(b)
promotes the prohibited activity;
(c)
allows the prohibited activity to occur on premises, or in a place, owned or
occupied by him or her;
(d)
knowingly provides an animal or other thing used, or intended for use, in
relation to the prohibited activity;
(e)
undertakes, without lawful excuse, any other activity relating to the
prohibited activity.
(7) For the purposes
of this section, a reference to a part of an animal does not include a
reference to a part of an animal that has been processed such that it no
longer resembles a part of the relevant kind.
Note—
For example, the skin of an animal which has been processed into a leather
product.
(8) In this
section—
"live baiting" means an activity in which—
(a) a
live animal is introduced into an area for the purpose of being chased
by 1 or more dogs or training a dog to chase real or simulated
animals; or
(b) the
carcass or any part of an animal is introduced into an area or moved around an
area (or both) for the purpose of being chased by 1 or more dogs or
training a dog to chase real or simulated animals,
but does not include an activity declared by the regulations to be excluded
from the ambit of this definition.