Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011

Fighting etc. N.I.

8—(1) A person commits an offence if that person—

(a) causes an animal fight to take place, or attempts to do so;

(b) knowingly receives money for admission to an animal fight;

(c) knowingly publicises a proposed animal fight;

(d) provides information about an animal fight to another with the intention of enabling or encouraging attendance at the fight;

(e) makes or accepts a bet on the outcome of an animal fight or on the likelihood of anything occurring or not occurring in the course of an animal fight;

(f) takes part in an animal fight;

(g) owns or has in his or her possession anything designed or adapted for use in connection with an animal fight with the intention of its being so used;

(h) keeps or trains an animal for use in connection with an animal fight;

(i) keeps, uses or manages, or permits or assists in the keeping or use or management of, any premises for use for an animal fight.

(2) A person commits an offence if, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, that person is present at an animal fight.

(3) A person commits an offence if, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, that person—

(a) knowingly supplies a photograph, image or video recording of an animal fight;

(b) knowingly publishes a photograph, image or video recording of an animal fight;

(c) knowingly shows a photograph, image or video recording of an animal fight to another; or

(d) possesses a photograph, image or video recording of an animal fight, knowing it to be such a recording, with the intention of supplying it.

(4) Subsection (3) does not apply—

(a) in the case of paragraph (a), to the supply of a video recording for inclusion in a programme service;

(b) in the case of paragraph (b) or (c), to the publication or showing of a video recording by means of its inclusion in a programme service;

(c) in the case of paragraph (d), by virtue of intention to supply for inclusion in a programme service.

(5) In this section—

“animal fight” means an occasion on which a protected animal is placed with an animal, or with a human, for the purpose of fighting, wrestling or baiting;

“programme service” has the same meaning as in the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21);

“video recording” means a recording, in any form, from which a moving image may by any means be reproduced and includes data stored on a computer disc or by other electronic means which is capable of conversion into a moving image.

(6) In this section—

(a) references to supplying or publishing a video recording are to supplying or publishing a video recording in any manner, including, in relation to a video recording in the form of data stored electronically, by means of transmitting such data;

(b) references to showing a video recording are to showing a moving image reproduced from a video recording by any means.