(1)A person who holds a licence under this Act must not set free a relevant protected animal, or permit any person acting on their behalf to do so, unless—
(a)the Secretary of State has consented to the setting free of the animal; or
(b)the animal is set free during the course of a series of regulated procedures.
(2)A person who holds a licence under this Act must not re-home a relevant protected animal, or permit any person acting on their behalf to do so, unless the Secretary of State has consented to the re-homing of the animal.
(3)The Secretary of State must not consent to the setting free or re-homing of a relevant protected animal unless satisfied—
(a)that the animal’s state of health allows it to be set free or re-homed;
(b)that the setting free or re-homing of the animal poses no danger to public health, animal health or the environment;
(c)that there is an adequate scheme in place for ensuring the socialisation of the animal upon being set free or re-homed; and
(d)that other appropriate measures have been taken to safeguard the animal’s well-being upon being set free or re-homed.
(4)The Secretary of State must not consent to the setting free of a relevant protected animal which has been taken from the wild unless the Secretary of State is also satisfied that the animal has undergone a programme of rehabilitation or that it would be inappropriate for the animal to be required to undergo such a programme.
(5)For the purposes of this section—
(a)“relevant protected animal” has the same meaning as in section 15A(11);
(b)a reference to a person who holds a licence under this Act includes a reference to a person who held a licence under this Act which is no longer in force;
(c)an animal is not to be treated as being “re-homed” if it is moved to live in a place which is for the time being specified in a section 2C licence.]