New South Wales Consolidated Acts

NON-INDIGENOUS ANIMALS ACT 1987 - SECT 25

25 Seizure of animals

(1) An authorised officer may seize and take charge of an animal belonging to a controlled category which is unlawfully in any person’s keeping or charge or which is at large. When seizing an animal in any person’s keeping or charge, the authorised officer may also seize and take charge of any cage or other transportable container that may reasonably be suspected of having been used to keep the animal, and may retain any such cage or container for as long as is reasonably necessary to deal further with the animal in accordance with this Act.

(2) An animal seized under this section becomes, upon seizure, the property of the Crown and may be dealt with in accordance with directions given by the Director-General.

(3) An animal belonging to a controlled category which is at large and poses an immediate threat to life or property may be destroyed by an authorised officer or any other person.

(4) Any costs and expenses incurred on behalf of the Crown as a result of the efforts (whether successful or not) of an authorised officer to seize or destroy an animal pursuant to this section, or in keeping it after seizure and before its disposal, may be recovered, to an amount not greater than $10,000, in the Local Court as a debt due to the Crown from:

(a) a person in whose unlawful keeping or charge the animal was at the time of seizure or attempted seizure, or

(b) a person whose contravention of section 13 caused the animal to be at large.

(5) A document purporting to be a certificate of the Director-General stating the amount of any costs and expenses referred to in subsection (4) shall, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be accepted as proof of that amount in any legal proceedings for their recovery.

(6) An authorised officer attempting to capture an animal which is at large shall afford any person entitled to keep or take charge of the animal a reasonable opportunity to effect or assist in its recapture and return to the place where it is authorised to be kept.