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DOG ACT 1966 - SECT 4 Definitions

This legislation has been repealed.

DOG ACT 1966 - SECT 4

Definitions

4 Definitions

(1) In this Act, unless the context or subject matter otherwise indicates or requires:


"Administrator" , in relation to prescribed land, means the person prescribed, whether by reference to the person being the holder of an office or otherwise, as the administrator of that land for the purposes of this definition.


"Animal" includes poultry and domesticated birds.


"Area" has the same meaning as it has in the Local Government Act 1993 .


"Collar" means a collar of leather or other durable material.


"Council" has the same meaning as it has in the Local Government Act 1993 .


"Disc" means a disc or badge of metal or plastic or such other material as may be prescribed.


"Dog" includes a bitch and a desexed dog or bitch.


"Greyhound" means a dog that is wholly or partly of the species or kind commonly known as "greyhound" or that belongs wholly or partly to any variety of that species or kind by whatever name the variety is known.


"Owner" , in relation to a dog, means (whether or not the dog is a registered dog), the person by whom the dog is ordinarily kept and includes:
(a) where the dog (whether or not it is a registered dog) is, at any particular time, ordinarily kept on any land or on any premises, the person who is the occupier of that land or those premises at that time, and
(b) where the dog is, at any particular time, a registered dog, the person recorded under section 16 as the registered owner of the dog at that time.

"Prescribed land" means any public place, or any part of a public place, which is prescribed for the purposes of this definition.


"Provocation" of a dog:
(a) by a person--includes:
• teasing, tormenting or abusing the dog, or
• any act of cruelty towards the dog, or
• entry without lawful excuse on any land, vehicle or premises of which the owner of the dog is an occupier or on which the dog is ordinarily kept, or
• attacking the owner of the dog, or any person towards whom the dog could reasonably be expected to be protective, in front of the dog, and
(b) by another animal--includes:
• an attack on the dog made by the other animal, or
• the entry of the other animal on any land, vehicle or premises of which the owner of the dog is an occupier or on which the dog is ordinarily kept.

"Public place" means:
(a) any pathway, road, bridge, jetty, wharf, road-ferry, reserve, park, beach or garden, and
(b) any other place,
which the public are entitled to use.


"Registered dog" means a dog which is for the time being registered under this Act.


"Registered owner" , in relation to a dog, means a person nominated as the registered owner of the dog for the purposes of this Act and recorded as the registered owner of the dog under section 16.


"Registration badge" means a disc issued by a registration clerk pursuant to section 14.


"Registration clerk" means an employee of a council of an area appointed by the council to be the registration clerk for that area.


"Registration collar" means a collar to which a registration badge is attached.


"Regulations" means regulations under this Act.


"Road" means the whole of a road, including the footways, the carriageway, any bridge and any gardens, reserves and the like.
(1A) A reference in this Act to a prescribed form is, if the form is not prescribed by the regulations, a reference to:
(a) the form (if any) approved by the Director-General of the Department of Local Government and Co-operatives for the purposes of the provision in relation to which the expression is used, or
(b) if no form is approved by the Director-General, the form approved by the council for the purposes of the provision in relation to which the expression is used.
(2) A reference in this Act to the owner of a dog or to the owner of a registered dog is, except where otherwise expressly provided, a reference to any person who is an owner of the dog.
(2A) In any prosecution of, or action against, the owner of a dog arising under this Act:
(a) where a person is the occupier of any land or premises on which the dog is ordinarily kept at any particular time, the person shall not be treated, by virtue of paragraph (a) of the definition of
"Owner" in subsection (1), as being the owner of the dog at that time if the person satisfies the court that at that time the dog is ordinarily kept by some other person of or over the age of 18 years, or
(b) where a person is recorded under section 16 as the registered owner of a dog at any particular time, the person shall not be treated, by virtue of paragraph (b) of the definition of
"Owner" in subsection (1), as being the owner of the dog at that time if the person satisfies the court that at that time the person who made the application or gave the notice by virtue of which that person became so recorded has ceased to be the owner of the dog.
(2B) In any prosecution of the owner of a dog in respect of an offence against this Act it shall be a sufficient defence if the defendant proves that:
(a) another owner of the dog has been convicted of an offence arising out of the same circumstances, or
(b) the commission by another owner of the dog of an offence arising out of the same circumstances has been proved but a court has made an order under section 556A of the Crimes Act 1900 in respect of the offence, or
(c) another owner of the dog has paid the amount of the penalty prescribed under section 22A for an alleged offence arising out of the same circumstances.
(3) For the purposes of the definition of
"Owner" (paragraph (b) excepted) in subsection (1), where a dog is ordinarily kept by an employee on behalf of his or her employer the employer shall be deemed to be the owner of the dog.
(4) A reference in this Act to the occupier of land or premises shall be construed as a reference to the person who is entitled to occupy that land or those premises as owner or mortgagee in possession or under a lease, licence or permit.
(5) A reference in this Act to an adequate chain, cord or leash, is, in relation to a dog of a species, kind or class in respect of which a type of chain, cord or leash has been prescribed, a reference to that type of chain, cord or leash.
(6) A reference in this Act, other than in this section, to prescribed land includes a reference to any part of the land.