New Zealand: Acts affecting Native Lands, 1886, 1888-91 and 1894-95

Possession of Infected Sheep

Possession of Infected Sheep.

23.	Inspector to take immediate possession of infected sheep, and clean the same at expense of owner. If any Inspector is satisfied that any sheep are infected sheep, he shall give the owner of such sheep notice that such sheep are infected sheep, and shall notify the same to the Chief Inspector of the district, who on receipt of such notification shall, without further notice of any sort to any one, enter into immediate possession of such sheep, and take such steps as may be necessary to clean the same; and any expenses thereby incurred by the Inspector may be recovered from the owner of such sheep in any Court of competent jurisdiction. For the purpose of the exercise of the powers conferred by this section, such Inspector may enter upon the run and premises on which such sheep are kepi, with such assistauce as he may require, and every owner or occupier who obstructs any Inspector in the discharge of, or neglects to afford all reasonable facilities for the discharge of, such duty shall, for every day during which he shall so offend, be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds. Such Inspector shall not be liable for any loss or damage occasioned to such owner by any act of such Inspector, unless such damage shall be occasioned by his wilful neglect or default.
24.	Infected sheep may be destroyed. Notwithstanding anything contained in the last-preceding section, the Chief Inspector shall at once report his proceedings in the matter to the Minister, who may authorise such sheep to be destroyed. Compensation. In the latter case, the owner, on satisfying the Inspector that he has made a complete muster of all the sheep on the run, shall be entitled to receive as compensation for such destruction the value of all such infected sheep which he shall muster and deliver to the Inspector at the nearest available sheep-yard or sheep-yards on the run, and which shall be so destroyed, such value to be determined by-two arbitrators, one to be appointed by the said owner and the other by the Inspector, and, in case of difference, by a referee to be appointed by the said arbitrators. But in no case in which knowing and wilful concealment of the existence of scab shall be proved shall such owner be entitled to any compensation whatever for such destruction. page 9
25.	All sums to be paid as compensation in respect of any sheepCompensation-moneys to be deemed part of cost of administration of Act. destroyed under the authority of this Act may be paid out of any moneys from time to time appropriated for the purposes of the administration of this Act.
26.	When a Chief Inspector has taken possession of any infectedScabby sheep to be branded "S." sheep as aforesaid he shall, as soon as practicable, cause all the sheep in the flock to be distinctly wool-branded with the letter "S," and shall cause all rams to be kept separate from the ewes in such flock untilSeparation of rams from ewes. the same is clean.
27.	It any Inspector shall be satisfied that any sheep depasturingLicense of run may be suspended without compensation if sheep infected. on Crown lands occupied under a license as a run have become infected with scab, he shall report the fact to the Minister, and the Governor may direct the Commissioner of Crown Lands of the district wherein the run is situate forthwith to issue a notice in the Gazette suspending the license issued in respect of the said run, or any portion thereof, and such license shall be thereupon absolutely suspended in part or in whole, as the case may be, until such time as the Minister shall be advised that sheep may be permitted to depasture thereon without fear of infection. No licensee of any run shall be entitled to any compensation by reason of the suspension of his license as to the whole or any portion of his run under the authority of this section.
28.	Whenever the owner of any sheep shall become aware, orOwners of infected sheep to give notice of disease. shall have reasonable grounds to suspect, that the same have become infected, he shall, within forty-eight hours thereafter, give personal notice thereof in writing to the owners of all the adjoining runs, and shall also, within forty-eight hours, give notice thereof to the Inspector. Every person offending against the provisions of this section shall, for every case in which he shall fail to give such notice, be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds nor less than ten pounds, and to a separate penalty not exceeding ten pounds for every twenty-four hours for which he shall fail to give such notice after such period of forty-eight hours. It shall be the duty of the Inspector, upon receiving any notice as in this section mentioned, immediately to examine such sheep, and, if he shall find the same to be infected, forthwith to publicly notify the name of the run upon' which such infected sheep are depastured and the flock or flocks which are so infected.
29.	If any infected sheep shall be found, after a period of oneInfected sheep to be kept in enclosures or shepherded. week after they are known by the owner to be infected, not being at the time herded by a shepherd, depasturing upon a run not being substautially fenced or protected by a natural sheep-proof boundary, the owner of such sheep shall be subject to a penalty not exceeding five shillings nor less than threepence for every sheep so depasturing as aforesaid.
30.	When any owner of sheep shall have several flocks of sheepOwner having Several flocks depasturing on same run and one is infected. depasturing upon any run, or upon adjoining runs, and one of such flocks shall be infected, it shall not be lawful for such owner to remove any sheep from any such run or runs for a period of three months after he shall have obtained from an Inspector a clean certificate for all the flocks in his possession and depasturing upon such page 10run or runs, unless with the written permission of an Inspector upon each occasion of removal, and unless the sheep required to be removed shall be dipped under the supervision and to the satisfaction of an Inspector; and every person offending against the provisions of this section is liable to a penalty of fifty pounds.
31.	Penalty for abandoning infected sheep. Every person who abandons any infected sheep, whether the same be live or dead, upon or along any highway, or upon any land whatever not being in the actual occupation of such person, and does not, in the case of any such infected sheep which may become helpless or die, immediately destroy or bury the same, is liable to a penalty of fifty pounds, or to be imprisoned for any period not exceeding six months; and any Inspector, or the occupier of such land, or of any land adjoining such highway, may seize, destroy, or burv such sheen, or cause the same to be seized, destroyed, or buried.
32.	Penalty for removing skins taken from infected sheep. Every person who removes or causes to be removed from any land in his occupation any skin taken from a sheep which at the time of its death was infected with scab, unless such skin shall be well and securely packed in a bale or bag, is liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds nor less than five pounds.
33.	Infected sheep in pound or public yards may be destroyed. If any infected sheep shall be found in any pound, or in any public yard or yards, or in any yard or yards at which sheep are offered for sale, any Inspector may cause every sheep which he may consider to be so infected, and every sheep in such pound, or in such yard or yards, belonging to the same flock, to be forthwith destroyed, and all other sheep for the time being in such pound, or in such yard or yards, to be forthwith wool-branded with the letter "S" on the back, by or at the expense of the owner thereof, and to be forthwith removed to such place or places as such Inspector may appoint, and, at the like expense, to be twice dipped under his supervision, and to be kept and maintained in some convenient and proper place until such Inspector shall grant a clean certificate for such sheep; and the owner of any such sheep shall not be entitled to any compensation whatsoever for any sheep so destroyed.