Diseases of Animals (Amendment) Act, 2001

Inference in relation to ear-tagging and animal identification.

10.—Where under an order made under the Principal Act, regulations made under section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 , or a Regulation of an institution of the European Communities—

(a) an ear-tag is required to be attached to an animal, and it is not attached to the animal or has been tampered with or has been replaced with another ear-tag, or

(b) any other form of animal identification is required to be kept in respect of the animal, and is not so kept or has been forged or tampered with or has been replaced with another form of identification,

it may be inferred, unless the contrary is shown, in any proceedings for a contravention of the order or regulation, in which it is alleged against the accused that he or she—

(i) unlawfully brought the animal into the State from a place outside the State, that the animal was brought unlawfully into the State from a place outside the State,

(ii) unlawfully removed, tampered with or has unlawfully switched from one animal to another the ear-tag, that the ear-tag has been unlawfully removed, tampered with or switched from one animal to the other, as the case may be, or

(iii) forged, unlawfully kept, tampered with or has unlawfully replaced the identification of the animal, that the identification has been unlawfully kept, forged, tampered with or replaced, as the case may be.