Animals and Birds Act 1965

Animals and Birds Act 1965 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act for preventing the introduction into, and the spreading within, Singapore of diseases of animals, birds or fish; for the control of the movement of animals, birds or fish into, within and from Singapore; for the prevention of cruelty to animals, birds or fish; for measures pertaining to the general welfare and improvement of animals, birds or fish in Singapore and for purposes incidental thereto. [22 October 1965: Except section 71 ; 20 May 1966: Section 71 ] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act is the Animals and Birds Act 1965. Interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “aircraft” includes any kind of craft which may be used for the conveyance of animals or birds by air; “animal” means any mammal (other than man) or fish and includes any other living creature that is prescribed as an animal for the purposes of this Act or that falls within a class of animals that is prescribed for those purposes; “animal quarantine station” means a quarantine station established under section 57; “authorised examiner” means any authorised officer and includes any person who has been designated as an authorised examiner by the Director‑General under section 4; “authorised officer” means any person appointed by the Director‑General to be an authorised officer under section 3(2); “bird” includes domestic fowls, ducks, geese, turkeys, guinea fowls and pigeons of any age or sex and the eggs thereof; “Board” means the National Parks Board established by the repealed National Parks Act (Cap. 198A, 1991 Revised Edition) as in force before 1 July 1996 and continued by section 3 of the National Parks Board Act 1996; “building” includes any house, hut, shed, stable or enclosure, whether roofed or not, used for sheltering or confining any animal or bird and any pen, cage, wall, gate, pillar, post, paling, frame, boarding, fence, platform, roadway, path, steps, staging, slip, wharf, dock, piles, jetty, landing stage or bridge, or any structure connected with the foregoing; “carcase” means the dead body of an animal or bird and includes any part thereof and the meat, bones (whether whole, broken or ground), offal, hide, skin, wool, hair, feathers, hoof, horns or other part of an animal or bird, separately or otherwise, or any portion thereof; “cat” means a domesticated cat of any breed or sex; “contact” means any animal or bird which has by contact, direct or indirect, with a diseased animal or bird been exposed to the risk of contracting a disease; “Director‑General” means the Director‑General, Animal Health and Welfare appointed under section 3(1); “disease” means any disease that is infectious or contagious among animals or birds and includes any other disease which the Minister may, from time to time, by notification in the Gazette, declare to be a disease for the purposes of this Act; “dog” means a domesticated dog of any breed or sex; “examine”, in relation to any animal or bird or the carcase thereof, means to carry out in respect of such animal, bird or carcase, such manner of inspection, examination and test as may be necessary for the purposes of determining whether the animal, bird or carcase thereof is infected with any disease; “fish” includes any of the varieties of marine, brackish water or fresh water fishes, crustacea, aquatic mollusca, turtles, marine sponges, trepang and any other form of aquatic life and the young and eggs thereof; “fodder” means any substance used for food of animals or birds; “genetically modified organism” means any organism (other than a human being or a plant), whether living or dead, or parts of any such organism, containing genetic material or protein or both which have been derived or modified as a result of manipulation or experimentation of genetic material, or any means other than by natural process; “goods in transit” means goods that are brought into Singapore solely for the purpose of taking them out of Singapore and that remain at all times on the vehicle, aircraft or ship that brought them into Singapore; “import” includes the import into Singapore of goods in transit and goods which are to be transhipped; “infected” means infected with any disease; “licence” means any licence issued by the Director‑General; “litter” means any substance used for bedding or otherwise for or about animals or birds; “master” means the captain of any ship or aircraft and includes any person for the time being in charge of any ship (other than a pilot) or aircraft; “officer of customs” has the meaning given by the Customs Act 1960; “owner” includes any person for the time being in charge of any animal or bird and any person for the time being in occupation of any building; “permit” means a permit issued by the Director‑General; “port” has the meaning given by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act 1996; “public place” means any place or premises to which at the material time the public or any section of the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission; “quarantine” means the compulsory detention in isolation of any animal, bird or thing; “quarantine station” means any building or place where quarantine is carried out, and includes an examination station or hulk; “ship” includes every description of vessel or craft, however propelled, which may be used in the water; “tranship” means to remove any goods imported into Singapore from the vehicle, aircraft or ship in which they were imported and either return them to the same vehicle, aircraft or ship or transfer them to another vehicle, aircraft or ship before being exported, whether such goods are to be transferred directly between such vehicles, aircraft or ships or whether they are to be landed in Singapore after their import and kept at any place pending export; “veterinary biologics” means any viruses, serums, toxins, and analogous products of natural or synthetic origin, including genetically modified organisms, diagnostics, antitoxins, vaccines, live micro‑organisms, killed micro‑organisms, and the antigenic or immunising component of micro‑organisms intended for use in the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of diseases of animals and birds, or for purposes of research in animals or birds; “veterinary centre” means any premises used for the purpose of providing any of the following services to members of the public: (a) the diagnosis of disease in, and injuries to, animals or birds, including tests performed for diagnostic purposes; (b) the treatment, vaccination or inoculation of animals or birds. [46/2014; 10/2019] (2) Nothing in this Act affects a police officer’s powers or duties under the Criminal Procedure Code 2010. [46/2014] Appointment of Director‑General and authorised officers 3.—(1) The Board is responsible for the administration of this Act, and to that end, the Board must appoint an officer of the Board to be the Director‑General, Animal Health and Welfare. [10/2019] (2) The Director‑General may, subject to the directions of the Board, appoint any of the following persons to be an authorised officer for the purpose of assisting the Director‑General in administering and carrying out the provisions of this Act or any other written law which confers powers on the Director‑General: (a) an employee of the Board; (b) an employee of another statutory authority; (c) a public officer; (d) an auxiliary police officer appointed under the Police Force Act 2004. [10/2019] (3) The Director‑General may delegate the exercise of all or any of the powers conferred or duties imposed upon the Director‑General by any provision of this Act or any other written law (except the power of delegation conferred by this subsection) to an authorised officer; and any reference in the provision of this Act or other written law to the Director‑General includes a reference to such an authorised officer. [10/2019] (4) Any delegation under subsection (3) may be general or in a particular case and may be subject to such conditions or limitations as set out in this Act or as the Board may specify. [10/2019] (5) The Director‑General may, for any reason that appears to him or her to be sufficient, at any time revoke a person’s appointment as an authorised officer. [10/2019] (6) A person mentioned in subsection (2)(d) who is appointed as an authorised officer does not, by virtue only of the appointment, become an employee or agent of the Board. [10/2019] Designation of authorised examiners 4. The Director‑General may, subject to any general or special directions of the Board, in writing designate any suitably qualified person as an authorised examiner to carry out, at any appointed place, any examination, treatment or certification and any other similar, related or ancillary functions which are required by this Act to be carried out. [10/2019] Public servants 5. All authorised officers are deemed to be public servants for the purposes of the Penal Code 1871. Identification card to be produced 6.—(1) Every authorised officer, officer of customs or police officer when exercising any powers under this Act must — (a) if not in uniform, declare his or her office; and (b) on demand, produce to any person affected by the exercise of those powers such identification card as the Director‑General, the Director‑General of Customs or the Commissioner of Police respectively may direct to be carried by the authorised officers, officers of customs or police officers. [4/2003] (2) It is not an offence for any person to refuse to comply with any request, demand or order made or given by any authorised officer, officer of customs or police officer not in uniform, who fails to declare his or her office and refuses to produce his or her identification card on demand being made by that person.