Dogs Act 1871
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1871 c. 56 |
Dogs Act, 1871
(34 & 35 Vict.) CHAP. 56.
An Act to provide further Protection against Dogs.
[24th July 1871]
Whereas it is expedient that further protection should be provided against dogs:
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 Stray dogs may be detained and sold or destroyed.
1. From and after the passing of this Act any police officer or constable may take possession of any dog that he has reason to suppose to be savage or dangerous straying on any highway, and not under the control of any person, and may detain such dog until the owner has claimed the same, and paid all expenses incurred by reason of such detention.
Where the owner of any dog taken possession of by any constable is known, a letter, stating the fact of such dog having been taken possession of, shall be sent by post or otherwise to the owner at his usual or last known place of abode.
When any dog taken in pursuance of this Act has been detained for three clear days where the owner is not known as aforesaid, or for five clear days where he is so known, without the owner claiming the same, and paying all expenses incurred by its detention, the chief officer of police of the district in which such dog was found may cause such dog to be sold or destroyed.
Any moneys arising from the sale of any dogs in pursuance of this section shall be paid to the account of the local rate, and be applied to the purposes to which that rate is applicable.
All dogs detained under this section shall be properly fed and maintained at the expense of the local rate.
2 Dangerous dogs may be destroyed.
2. Any court of summary jurisdiction may take cognizance of a complaint that a doe, is dangerous, and not kept under proper control, and if it appears to the court having cognizance of such complaint that such dog is dangerous, the court may make an order in a summary way directing the dog to be kept by the owner under proper control or destroyed, and any person failing to comply with such order shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty shillings for every day during which he fails to comply with such order.
3 Restriction upon dogs being at large if danger from mad dogs is apprehended.
3. The local authority may, if a mad dog or a dog suspected of being mad is found within their jurisdiction, make, and when made vary or revoke, an order placing such restrictions as they think expedient on all dogs not being under the control of any person during such period as may be prescribed in such order throughout the whole of their jurisdiction, or such part thereof as may be prescribed in such order.
Any person who acts in contravention of any order made in pursuance of this section shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty shillings.
Due notice of such order shall be published, at the expense of the local rate.
The provisions in this Act contained as to the detention and sale or destruction of dogs found straying on the highway shall apply to dogs found at large in contravention of any order made in pursuance of this section.
4 Penalty how to be recovered.
4. In England and Ireland any penalty under this Act may be recovered in manner provided by the Summary Jurisdiction Acts, and in Scotland all such penalties shall be prosecuted and recovered before a court of summary jurisdiction under the provisions of the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1864.
5 Definition of terms.
5. In this Act,—
For the purposes of this Act, and in reference to the districts mentioned in the first column of the schedule annexed hereto, ‘local authority’ and ‘local rate’ mean the bodies of persons mentioned in the second column and the rate mentioned in the third column of the said schedule:
‘Summary Jurisdiction Acts’ mean as follows:
As to England the Act of the session of the eleventh and twelfth years of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter forty-three, intituled ‘An Act to facilitate the performance of the duties of justices of the peace out of sessions within England and Wales with respect to summary convictions and orders,’ and any Acts amending the same;
As to Scotland, ‘The Summary Procedure Act, 1864;’
As to Ireland, within the police district of Dublin metropolis, the Acts regulating the powers and duties of justices of the peace for such district, or of the police of such district; and elsewhere in Ireland, ‘The Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851,’ and any Act amending the same:
‘Court of summary jurisdiction’ means, in England and Ireland, any two justices of the peace or any...
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