S.I. No. 171/1997 - Control of Horses Regulations, 1997

S.I. No. 171 of 1997.

CONTROL OF HORSES REGULATIONS, 1997

I, JIMMY DEENIHAN, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 10 (1), 12 , 20 (4), 22 and 28 of the Control of Horses Act, 1996 (No. 37 of 1996), and the Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order, 1997 ( S.I. No. 65 of 1997 ), hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Control of Horses Regulations, 1997.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"the Act" means the Control of Horses Act, 1996 (No. 37 of 1996);

"approved persons" means a person approved of by the Minister to provide microelectronic devices for the purposes of Regulation 7 and to allot permanent identification numbers in respect of such devices.

(2) In these Regulations a reference to a Regulation is a reference to a Regulation of these Regulations unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulations is intended.

3. It is hereby prescribed that a notice served on a person under section 10 (1) of the Act shall be in the form set out in Part I of the Schedule to these Regulations.

4. It is hereby prescribed that a horse licence shall be in the form set out in Part II of the Schedule to these Regulations.

5. It is hereby prescribed that the fee to accompany an application for a horse licence shall be £25.

6. It is hereby prescribed that a local authority may retain not more than £10 of the prescribed fee where an application for a horse licence is refused.

7. A horse kept in or brought into a control area, other than a horse in respect of which a horse licence is not required by virtue of section 19 of the Act, shall be capable of being identified by having implanted into the nuchal ligament of the horse, in accordance with Regulation 8, a single microelectronic device supplied by an approved person on which is encoded a permanent identification number allotted to the horse by the approved person, being a device which permits the encoded identification number to be ascertained when suitable reading equipment is placed in proximity to it.

8. The implantation of a microelectronic device for the purposes of Regulation 7 shall be carried out by, or under the direct supervision of, a veterinary surgeon and shall be by deep injection into the knuckle ligament on the left-hand side of the neck lateral to the dorsal midline at the crest at a point midway between the poll and the withers.

9. A permanent identification number encoded on a microelectronic device implanted into a horse for the purposes of Regulation 7 shall be shown on the horse licence of that horse by the local authority granting the licence before the licence is issued.

SCHEDULE

PART I

Control of Horses Act, 1996 .

Section 10.

NOTICE IN RELATION TO AN ALLEGED OFFENCE

on the ................ day of ................... 19............ Particulars of the offence are indicated at 'X' ³ below in column (5).

A prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will not be instituted during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of this notice and, if during that

period you pay to ^{4 ............................................................ ..................} the sum of £50 ⁵ accompanied by this notice, a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will not be instituted.

Dated this.....................day of................19......

(Signed)............................................................ .......

Authorised Person/Member of Garda Síochána"

¹ Insert name of local authority.

² Insert the address of the place where the offence is alleged to have been committed.

³ Insert 'X' in column (5) opposite appropriate offence and reference number.

⁴ Insert name of local authority and the address at which the fine can be paid.

⁵ Delete and insert the amount if varied under section 10 (4) of the Act.

⁶ Delete as appropriate.

PART II

Control of Horses Act, 1996 .

Section 20.

HORSE LICENCE.

No. .........

This horse licence is hereby granted by (insert name of local authority)

to keep, during the period of 12 months commencing from the date specified in this licence, in any control area situated in the functional area of the local authority granting this licence and, where that authority has entered into any arrangements with another local authority to grant licences on behalf of the other authority, such control area of part thereof of the other authority to which the arrangements relate, the horse described below:

The horse described in this licence is ordinarily kept at the premises stated below:

ANY TERMS OR CONDITIONS UNDER SECTION 20(2)

(here set out any such terms or conditions)

 Note: It is an offence under section 21 of the Control of Horses Act, 1996 , to forge or fraudulently alter or use or permit the fraudulent alteration or use of this licence punishable with a maximum fine of £1,500 or up to 6 months imprisonment or both.

GIVEN under my hand, this 24th day of April, 1997.

JIMMY DEENIHAN,

 Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The Regulations prescribe the form of the "fine-on-the-spot" notice under section 10 (1) and of the horse licence under section 20 (4) of the Act. A fee of £25 to accompany an application for a horse licence is prescribed. Provision is made for a local authority to retain not more than £10 of the prescribed fee where an application for a horse licence is refused. The Regulations also prescribe the use of a microelectronic system for the identification of horses under the Act.