Written answers

Thursday, 15 February 2007

Department of Agriculture and Food

Animal Welfare

4:00 pm

Photo of Róisín ShortallRóisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 144: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if animal cruelty legislation applies to the act of prescribing harmful substances to race animals; the penalties that apply; and the number of prosecutions taken for such an act in recent years. [5763/07]

Photo of Mary CoughlanMary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Protection of Animals Acts 1911 and 1965 are the principal statutes governing the welfare of animals, including race animals, in this country. The responsibility for pursuing complaints of cruelty under that legislation rests with An Garda Síochána. On receipt of such a complaint, the Gardaí have a statutory basis on which to investigate and bring a prosecution against any person alleged to have committed an act of cruelty against an animal. In view of this, my Department does not have details of prosecutions taken under this legislation.

The Animal Remedies Regulations 2005 regulate the act of prescribing by veterinary practitioners of veterinary medicines. As a general principle, under this legislation, a veterinary practitioner may only prescribe for any animal a medicine which, following evaluation to ensure its quality safety and effectiveness, has been licensed for the species and condition in question. However, as an exception to this general principle and in order solely to avoid unacceptable suffering in an animal, a veterinary practitioner, based on his or her professional judgement, is enabled to prescribe, within certain defined limits, products authorised for other species and other conditions.

However, of its nature, this latter provision could not legitimately be used as a basis for prescribing a product which would be harmful to the animal or to the consumer and any person breaching this provision would be liable to the penalties provided for in the legislation (up to €5,000 and/or 1 years imprisonment on summary conviction or €350,000 and/or 10 years imprisonment on conviction on indictment).

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