Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) In this Act,
unless the context otherwise requires —
attack , in relation to the behaviour of a dog,
does not include behaviour which was an immediate response to, and was induced
by, provocation, but includes —
(a)
aggressively rushing at or harassing any person or animal; or
(b)
biting, or otherwise causing physical injury to, a person or an animal; or
(c)
tearing clothing on, or otherwise causing damage to the property of, the
person attacked; or
(d)
attempting to attack, or behaving in such a manner toward a person as would
cause a reasonable person to fear physical injury,
unless the owner establishes that the behaviour
was justified by a reasonable cause;
authorised person means a person who is appointed
by a local government, to exercise powers on behalf of the local government,
under section 29(1);
dangerous dog means a dog which is the subject of
a declaration under section 33E declaring it to be a dangerous dog;
district means an area of the State that has been
declared to be a district under the Local Government Act 1995 , and
includes for certain purposes provided for in this Act other areas which
although not being within the boundaries of a district are regarded for those
purposes as being part of the district;
guide dog means a dog trained by a guide dog
training institution recognized by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association of
Western Australia Incorporated which is used as a guide by a person who is
blind or partially blind, and for certain purposes provided for in this Act
includes a dog which is in the course of such training;
metropolitan region has the meaning given to that
term in the Planning and Development Act 2005 section 4;
owner in relation to a dog
means —
(a) the
person by whom the dog is ordinarily kept; or
(b) a
person who is deemed by subsection (2) to be the owner of the dog;
person liable for the control of the dog means
each of the following —
(a) the
registered owner of the dog;
(b) the
owner of the dog;
(c) the
occupier of any premises where the dog is ordinarily kept or ordinarily
permitted to live; or
(d) a
person who has the dog in his possession or under his control,
but does not include —
(e) a
registered veterinary surgeon, or a person acting on his behalf, in the course
of his professional practice; or
(f) a
police officer or other person acting under a statutory duty or in the
administration of this Act;
premises shall, for the purpose of determining who
is the occupier, be taken to refer to any land or building, or part of any
land or building, that is or is intended to be occupied as a separate
residence from any adjacent tenement;
provocation , in relation to the behaviour of a
dog, includes —
(a) on
the part of a person, other than a person liable for the control of the
dog —
(i)
any teasing, tormenting, or abuse of the dog; or
(ii)
any assault on, or act of cruelty towards, the dog; or
(iii)
entry without lawful excuse on any land or premises of
which the owner of the dog is an occupier or on which the dog is ordinarily
kept; or
(iv)
any intrusion into or upon any vehicle in which the dog
is present; or
(v)
any threat to, or attack upon, another person or animal
towards whom the dog could reasonably be expected to be protective;
or
(b) on
the part of another animal —
(i)
an attack on the dog made by any other animal; or
(ii)
the entry of that other animal on any land or premises of
which the owner of the dog is an occupier or on which the dog is ordinarily
kept; or
(iii)
any threat to, or attack upon, another person or animal
towards whom the dog could reasonably be expected to be protective,
but does not include an intentional provocation of
the dog by a person liable for the control of the dog;
public place means any place to which the public
has access;
registered owner means the person in whose name
the dog is registered under this Act;
registered veterinary surgeon means a veterinary
surgeon registered under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1960 ;
registration officer means a person authorised by
the local government to effect the registration of dogs pursuant to this Act;
sterilized means rendered
sterile —
(a) in
the case of a female dog, by ovariectomy or ovariohysterectomy; and
(b) in
the case of a male dog, by castration;
townsite means —
(a) land
constituted, defined, or reserved as the site of a town or village under the
Land Administration Act 1997 ;
(b) land
subdivided or laid out as the site for a townsite, township, or village, in
accordance with the subdivisional plan, lodged with the Western Australian
Land Information Authority established by the Land Information
Authority Act 2006 section 5 or with the department principally assisting
in the administration of the Land Administration Act 1997 ; and
[(c) deleted]
(d) land
within a town or city under the Local Government Act 1995 that is outside
the metropolitan region.
(2) A person who is
shown in the register maintained by a local government under this Act as being
the last person recorded by the local government as the registered owner of a
dog is deemed to be the owner of that dog, whether or not the registration in
his name continues in force, unless he proves that he is not the owner of the
dog.
[Section 3 amended by No. 23 of 1987
s. 4; No. 14 of 1996 s. 4; No. 24 of 1996 s. 4;
No. 81 of 1996 s. 153(1); No. 31 of 1997 s. 141;
No. 10 of 1998 s. 29(1); No. 38 of 2005 s. 15; No. 60
of 2006 s. 132.]
[ 4. Deleted by No. 23 of 1987 s. 5.]
[ 5. Omitted under the Reprints Act 1984
s. 7(4)(f) and (g).]