DOG ACT 1976 - SECT 45

DOG ACT 1976 - SECT 45

45 .         Evidentiary provisions

        (1)         In any proceeding for an offence against this Act in relation to a specified dog —

            (a)         an averment in a prosecution notice alleging an offence against this Act that at a particular time —

                  (i)         a specified person was the registered owner of the dog; or

                  (ii)         the dog was ordinarily kept by a specified person; or

                  (iii)         a specified person had the dog in the person’s possession or under the person’s control; or

                  (iv)         a specified person was the occupier of any premises where the dog was ordinarily kept or ordinarily permitted to live; or

                  (v)         the dog was not registered; or

                  (vi)         the dog was of a particular breed or was a mix of particular breeds; or

                  (vii)         the dog was not sterilised; or

                  (viii)         the dog was not microchipped; or

                  (ix)         that a specified person’s name was recorded as the owner of the dog in a microchip database; or

                  (x)         that a specified database was a microchip database; or

                  (xi)         that a specified person or body was a microchip database company in relation to the dog; or

                  (xii)         the dog had reached 3 months of age; or

                  (xiii)         the dog was under 3 months of age; or

                  (xiv)         the dog was the pup of a particular dog,

                is evidence of that fact; and

            (b)         the onus of proving that at a particular time the dog was registered, sterilised, microchipped or was under the age of 3 months lies on the person making that assertion.

        (2A)         In any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, the onus of proving that a particular dog was not a dangerous dog (restricted breed) lies on the person making that assertion.

        (2)         In any proceedings, whether civil or penal, a registration certificate under section 16(6), or a copy of an entry in a register certified by a registration officer, shall, without proof of the signature of the person appearing to have signed the same or that he is a registration officer, be evidence of the matters relevant to the proceedings set out in that registration certificate or certified copy.

        [Section 45 inserted: No. 23 of 1987 s. 36; amended: No. 18 of 2013 s. 51.]