Live Stock Breeding Act, 1925

Restrictions on keeping bulls.

1.—(1) On and after the appointed day it shall not be lawful for any person to keep or have in his possession any bull to which this Act applies save in so far as such keeping or possession is authorised by a licence or permit granted to such person under this Act and for the time being in force.

(2) Every person who shall keep or have in his possession any bull to which this Act applies in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

(3) In any prosecution for an offence under this section the burden of proof that a licence or permit had been granted under this Act in respect of the bull and was in force and (where the age of the bull is in issue) the burden of proof of the age of the bull shall lie on the person prosecuted and unless and until the contrary is proved it shall be presumed that no such licence or permit had been granted or that if such licence or permit had been granted it was no longer in force on the day on which the offence was alleged to have been committed and also that the bull was on that day a bull to which this Act applies.

(4) For the purpose of a prosecution for an offence under this section a bull shall be deemed to be kept by and to be in the possession of each and every of the following persons, that is to say:—

(a) the owner of the bull; and

(b) a person to whom the bull has been lent, hired or leased for a period exceeding one month, and

(c) the owner or the person having the charge or management of the lands or premises on which the bull was when the offence was alleged to have been committed, unless such owner or person proves that the bull was then on the said lands without his knowledge or connivance.