Slaughter of Animals (Amendment) Act 1954
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1954 c. 59 |
| Year | 1954 |
Slaughter of Animals (Amendment) Act , 1954
(2 & 3 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 59
An Act to implement certain recommendations of the Committee of Inquiry into the Slaughter of Horses, and otherwise to amend the enactments relating to the slaughter of animals.
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 Licensing of premises for slaughter of animals.
(1) In relation to the use of any premises for or in connection with the slaughter of horses, a licence granted after the commencement of this Act under section fifty-seven of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938 (which provides for the licensing of slaughterhouses and knackers' yards), shall be of no effect unless the licence expressly authorises 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 outside the curtilage of the premises used or to be used for the slaughter, separate licences may be granted under the said section fifty-seven authorising the use of those premises for those purposes respectively.
(3) A licence under the said section fifty-seven shall not be granted in respect of any premises unless the local authority are satisfied that the requirements of any regulations in force under this Act with respect to the construction, lay-out and equipment of premises are complied with or will be complied with before the date on which the licence or renewed licence comes into force in respect of those premises; but nothing in this subsection shall be taken as affecting—
(a ) so much of the said section fifty-seven as confers a right of appeal on a person aggrieved by the refusal of a local authority to grant a licence under that section; or
(b ) paragraph 2 of the First Schedule to the Slaughterhouses Act, 1954 (under which a slaughterhouse licence is, in the case of certain classes of premises, to be granted as of right subject to the application for the licence being made before the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-five).
(4) In the application of this section to Scotland—
(a ) in subsections (1) and (2), for any reference to a licence granted under section fifty-seven of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, in so far as that section relates to the licensing of slaughterhouses, there shall be substituted a reference to a registration under section nine of the Slaughterhouses Act, 1954 (which provides for registration in respect of slaughterhouses), and in so far as the said section fifty-seven relates to the licensing of knackers' yards there shall be substituted a reference to a licence under section thirty-three of the Public Health (Scotland) Act, 1897 (which provides for the licensing of knackers' yards);
(b ) in subsection (3), for any reference to section fifty-seven of the said Act of 1938 there shall be substituted a reference to section thirty-three of the Public Health (Scotland) Act, 1897; and
(c ) where a local authority refuse to grant a registration in respect of premises under section nine of the Slaughterhouses Act, 1954, expressly authorising the use of the premises in question for or in connection with the slaughter of horses, any such refusal shall, for the purposes of subsection (8) of section ten of the said Act (which allows to a person aggrieved by a decision of a local authority under that section an appeal to the Secretary of State) be treated as a refusal of registration under the said section.
2 Regulations for securing humane conditions in slaughterhouses, etc.
(1) The Minister may make such regulations as appear to him to be expedient for securing humane conditions and practices in connection with the slaughter of animals at slaughterhouses and knackers' yards; and such regulations may in particular—
(a ) prescribe requirements as to the construction, lay-out and equipment of premises used as slaughterhouses or knackers' yards;
(b ) prescribe conditions to be observed in connection with the confinement and treatment of animals while awaiting slaughter in such premises, and in connection with the slaughter of animals therein.
(2) Regulations made under this section may make different provision in relation to different kinds of animals and in relation to premises used for different purposes in connection with the slaughter of animals and may—
(a ) so far as they are made for the purposes mentioned in paragraph (a ) of the last foregoing subsection, be made to apply subject to exceptions or modifications in relation to premises constructed or adapted for use before the date on which the regulations come into force;
(b ) in any case be made without applying, or applying subject to exceptions or modifications, in relation to slaughterhouses forming part of an imported animals wharf or approved landing place for the purposes of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1950, or applying (with or without exceptions or modifications) only in relation to any such slaughterhouse of that description as may be specified in the regulations.
(3) Regulations made under this section may make provision corresponding (with or without modifications) with any of the provisions in force immediately before the commencement of this Act under subsection (1) of section five of the Protection of Animals Act, 1911, section four of the Slaughter of Animals Act, 1933, and section one of the Slaughter of Animals (Amendment) Act, 1951; and, without prejudice to the foregoing provision, regulations so made in relation to horses shall in particular make provision with respect to the matters specified in the First Schedule to this Act.
(4) Regulations made under this section may prescribe penalties for offences against the regulations, not exceeding those specified in section five of this Act, and may impose on the occupiers of premises to which the regulations apply responsibility for compliance with any of the provisions of the regulations.
(5) In the application of this section to Scotland, for the reference to the Minister there shall be substituted a reference to the Secretary of State; and for the reference to subsection (1) of section five of the Protection of Animals Act, 1911, there shall be substituted a reference to subsection (2) of section five of the Protection of Animals (Scotland) Act, 1912.
(6) The enactments mentioned in subsection (3) and subsection (5) of this section shall cease to have effect.
3 Licensing of slaughtermen.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, any licence granted after the commencement of this Act under section three of the Slaughter of Animals Act, 1933 (which provides for the licensing of slaughtermen by local authorities), shall specify—
(a ) the kinds of animals which may be slaughtered or stunned by the holder of the licence; and
(b ) the types of instrument which may be used by him for slaughtering or stunning any such animals;
and may, in such cases as may be prescribed by regulations under this section, be granted subject to a condition prohibiting the slaughter of any animal in pursuance of the licence except under the supervision of a person being the holder of a licence in force under the said section three which is not subject to a like condition.
(2) In relation to the slaughter of animals by the Jewish method for the food of Jews or by the Mohammedan method for the food of Mohammedans, so much of the last foregoing subsection as requires a licence under the said section three to specify the matters referred to in paragraph (a ) and paragraph (b ) of that subsection shall not apply.
(3) The period for which a licence may from time to time be granted after the commencement of this Act under the said section three shall not exceed one year, and any licence so granted and authorising the holder to slaughter or stun horses (whether or not it also authorises him to slaughter or stun other animals) shall, notwithstanding anything in subsection (4) of that section, be in force only within the district of the local authority by whom it is granted.
(4) The Minister may make regulations for prescribing qualifications for holding licences, or licences of any class, under the said section three, and for prohibiting the grant of such licences to persons not having the prescribed qualifications.
(5) Without prejudice to the provisions of the said section three, a local authority may refuse an application for the grant of a licence under that section, or revoke or suspend the operation of such a licence, if the applicant or holder has failed to comply with any condition of his licence granted by that or any other local authority under the said section three, or has been convicted of an offence under—
(a ) the Slaughter of Animals Acts, 1933 to 1954, or the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Acts, 1928 to 1954;
(b ) the Protection of Animals Act, 1911, or the Protection of Animals (Scotland) Act, 1912; or
(c ) any regulations made under this Act, or any order made under section twenty of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1950, regulating the transport of animals.
(6) In the application of this section to Scotland, subsection (3) shall be omitted; for references to section three of the Slaughter of Animals Act, 1933, there shall be substituted references to section two of the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act, 1928; and for the reference to the Minister there shall be substituted a reference to the Secretary of State.
4 Extension of s. 1 of Slaughter of Animals Act, 1933.
(1) Subsection (1) of...
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