Wild Animals in Circuses Act 2019
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 2019 c. 24 |
| Year | 2019 |
(1) A circus operator may not use a wild animal in a travelling circus in England.(2) For the purposes of this section, a circus operator uses a wild animal in a travelling circus if the animal performs or is exhibited as part of the circus.(3) A circus operator who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine.to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the body corporate, orto be attributable to any neglect on the part of an officer of the body corporate,(5) In this Act—The Schedule makes provision about inspections for the purposes of this Act. In section 5(2) of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (exemption from Act for animals kept in circuses) , after “circus” insert (1) This Act extends to England and Wales only, except that the amendment made by section 3 also extends to Scotland.(2) This Act comes into force on 20 January 2020.(3) This Act may be cited as the Wild Animals in Circuses Act 2019.(1) The Secretary of State may appoint a person to be an inspector for the purposes of this Act.that an offence under section 1 is being, has been or is about to be committed on the premises, orthat evidence of the commission of an offence under section 1 may be found on the premises.An inspector may enter premises used only as a dwelling if a justice of the peace has issued a warrant authorising the inspector to enter those premises.that an offence under section 1 is being, has been or is about to be committed on the premises, orthat evidence of the commission of an offence under section 1 may be found on the premises; andthat any of the conditions in sub-paragraph (3) is satisfied.that entry to the premises is unlikely to be granted unless a warrant is produced and that notice of intention to apply for a warrant has been given to the occupier;that an application for admission to the premises or the giving of notice of intention to apply for a warrant might defeat the object of entry;that the premises are unoccupied;that the occupier is temporarily absent and it might defeat the object of entry to wait for the occupier's return.produce evidence of the inspector's identity, andoutline the purpose for which the power is exercised.produce a copy of the warrant, andsupply the occupier (if present) , or any other person appearing to the inspector to be in charge of the premises, with a copy of the warrant.If neither the occupier nor any other person appearing to the inspector to be in charge of the premises is present, the inspector must leave a copy of the warrant in a prominent place on the premises.(5) An inspector exercising a power of entry must do so at a reasonable hour unless it appears to the inspector that the purpose of entry would be frustrated by entry at a reasonable hour.if necessary, use reasonable force to enter the premises;take up to two other persons on to the premises;take such
- “animal” has the meaning given by section 1(1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006;
- “circus operator”, in relation to a circus, means—
- (a) the owner of the circus,
- (b) any other person with overall responsibility for the operation of the circus, and
- (c) if neither the owner of the circus nor any person with overall responsibility for its operation is present in the United Kingdom, the person in the United Kingdom who is ultimately responsible for the operation of the circus;
- “officer”, in relation to a body corporate, means—
- (a) a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, and
- (b) any person purporting to act in any such capacity;
- “wild animal” means an animal of a kind which is not commonly domesticated in Great Britain.
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