Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980
| Year | 1980 |
Slaughter of Animals(Scotland) Act 1980
1980 CHAPTER 13
An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to slaughterhouses, knackers' yards and the slaughter of animals in Scotland.
[20th March 1980]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Power of local authorities to provide public slaughterhouses.
1. Subject to sections 3 and 8 of this Act, a local authority may provide and, if they think fit, operate a slaughterhouse and may dispose of any slaughterhouse belonging to them by feu, sale, lease or excambion; and any slaughterhouse so disposed of shall be deemed to be disposed of under Part VI of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
2 Acquisition of land for purposes relating to slaughterhouses.
(1) A local authority may be authorised by the Secretary of State to purchase compulsorily any land, whether situated within or outside its area, for the purpose of any of their functions under section 1, 3, 4, 5 or 8 of this Act.
(2) In relation to the compulsory purchase of land under this section, the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) (Scotland) Act 1947 shall apply as if subsection (1) above had been in force immediately before the commencement of that Act.
3 Management of public slaughterhouses.
(1) A local authority by whom a slaughterhouse has been provided under section 1 of this Act or under any other enactment—
(a ) may make charges in respect of the use of the slaughterhouse and in respect of any services provided by them in connection therewith; and
(b ) may provide plant or apparatus for disposing of or treating waste matter or refuse, or processing by-products resulting from the slaughter of animals in such a slaughterhouse.
(2) In fixing or varying any such charges as aforesaid a local authority shall consult with such persons or organisations as appear to them to be representative of interests substantially affected by such charges.
4 Registration in respect of private slaughterhouses.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and section 5 of this Act, no person other than a local authority shall use any premises as a slaughterhouse for the slaughter of any kind of animal unless he is registered in respect of the premises for that purpose by the local authority.
(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) above shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(3) An application for registration under this section in respect of any premises shall be made by the person who proposes to use the premises; and in the case of an application in respect of premises not yet erected, or of premises to be reconstructed, shall be accompanied by plans showing the proposed works.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this section and section 5 of this Act the local authority shall, on an application for registration under this section being duly made by a person in respect of any premises, register that person in respect of the premises; and they shall, upon so registering him, issue to him a certificate to that effect.
(5) A local authority may for the protection of the public health prohibit the slaughter, on any premises in respect of which a person is to be registered in pursuance of this section, of any kind of animal other than that specified in the certificate, relating to those premises, to be issued under subsection (4) above.
5 Refusal and cancellation of registration in respect of private slaughterhouses.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, if it appears to the local authority in the case of—
(a ) an application for registration under section 4 of this Act that in connection with the premises specified in the application;
(b ) a registration under that section that in connection with the premises specified, or business carried on in the premises specified, in the registration,
the requirements of any enactment relating to slaughterhouses are not, and are not likely within a reasonable time to be, complied with, the authority shall refuse or as the case may be cancel the registration.
(2) A local authority may for the protection of the public health vary any registration under section 4 of this Act by prohibiting the slaughter on any premises to which the registration relates of any kind of animal other than that which may be specified by the authority.
(3) If the local authority refuse cancel or vary a registration they shall forthwith give the applicant or the person registered in respect of the premises notice of their decision in the matter; and any such notice shall state the grounds on which the decision is based and the time within which an appeal may be brought in accordance with the provisions of subsection (5) of this section.
(4) An application for registration shall, if not already determined by the local authority, be deemed to have been refused by the authority at the expiry of three months from the date upon which the application was made.
(5) A person aggrieved by a local authority's decision under this section to refuse, cancel or vary any registration under section 4 of this Act may appeal to the sheriff; and any such appeal shall be disposed of in a summary manner and shall be made within one month from the date on which notice of the said decision was served upon the person desiring to appeal or from the date on which a refusal is, under subsection (4) above, deemed to have been made.
(6) For the purposes of subsection (5) above, any—
(a ) prohibition under subsection (5) of section 4 of this Act;
(b ) refusal of express authorisation under subsection (1) of section 7 of this Act,
shall be treated as a refusal of a registration under the said section 4.
6 Licensing of knackers' yards.
(1) A person carrying on the business of slaughterman or knacker shall not use any premises as a knacker's yard without a licence from the local authority; and if he does he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds and the fact that animals (other than asses or mules) have been taken into unlicensed premises shall be prima facie evidence that an offence under this section has been committed.
(2) A licence under this section shall expire on such day in every year as the local authority fix and when a licence is first granted shall expire on the day so fixed which secondly occurs after the grant of the licence; and a fee not exceeding twenty-five pence may be charged for the licence or any renewal thereof.
(3) Not less than twenty-one days before a new licence for any premises is granted under this section, notice of the intention to apply for it shall be advertised as provided in section 32(2) of the Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897 by the local authority in whose area the premises are situated; and any person interested may show cause against the grant or renewal of the licence.
(4) An objection shall not be entertained to the renewal of a licence under this section unless seven days previous notice of the objection has been served on the applicant:
Provided that, on an objection being made of which notice has not been given, the local authority may, if they think it just to do so, direct notice thereof to be served on the applicant, adjourn the question of the renewal to a future date, require the attendance of the applicant on that day, then hear the case and consider the objection as if the said notice had been duly given.
(5) For the purposes of this section a licence shall be deemed to be renewed where a further licence is granted in immediate succession to a prior licence for the same premises.
(6) Where any person has been refused a renewal of a licence under this section, such person may appeal to the Secretary of State against such refusal; and the decision of the Secretary of State shall be final.
7 Further provisions in relation to registration in respect of slaughterhouses and to licensing of knackers' yards.
(1) In relation to the use of any premises for or in connection with the slaughter of horses—
(a ) a licence granted under section 6 of this Act;
(b ) a registration under section 4 of this Act,
shall be of no effect unless expressly authorising the use of the premises for that purpose.
(2) Where any premises used or to be used for the confinement of animals awaiting slaughter in a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard are situated...
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