CHAPTER 253
PUBLIC POUNDS AND TRESPASS ACT
Arrangement of Sections
Section
PART I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title
2. Interpretation
PART II
ESTABLISHMENT AND CONTROL OF POUNDS
3. Establishment of pounds
4. Management and control of pounds
5. Appointment of pound-masters
6. Duties of pound-masters
7. Receipts to be given for animals impounded
8. Separate enclosures of pound
9. Segregation of infected sheep and goats
10. Care of animals impounded
11. Use of animals impounded an offence
12. Death of animals impounded
13. Destruction of impounded animals when diseased, etc.
14. Disease occurring in a pound
15. Records of disease
16. Impounding of animals when more than one pound situate in same District
17. Notice to owners of impounded animals
18. Duties of pound-master when impounded animals are branded
19. Brand Directory and scale of fees, etc., to be exhibited
20. Pound book and details to be entered therein
21. Pound book to be open for inspection
22. Copies of entries to be forwarded to District Secretary
23. Offences by pound-master
24. Penalties for making false entries, etc.
25. Pound book to be available for inspection at sales
PART III
TRESPASS
26. Trespass on private property
27. Destruction of dogs, pigs, poultry or pigeons found committing damage
28. Tender by owner of amount of damage
29. Wrongful use or conversion of animals trespassing, etc.
30. Food and water to be supplied to animals confined
31. Duties of landowners in connection with stray animals
32. Rescue of animals
33. Payment of mileage in respect of animals impounded
34. Payment of trespass money in respect of cultivated land
35. Payment of trespass money in respect of uncultivated land
36. Double damages for repeated trespass
37. Release of animals impounded
38. Assessment of damages if otherwise inadequate
39. Award by assessors
40. Copy of award to complainant
41. Trespass by infected sheep or goats
42. Infection of one animal to be deemed infection of whole flock
43. Claim for damages in respect of infected sheep or goats
44. Reference of question as to infection to assessors
45. Trespass by stallions, etc.
46. Saving as to young stallions, etc.
47. Reference to assessors
48. Castration of impounded stallion
49. Payment of fee for castration
50. Postponement of castration
51. Release of stallion without castration
52. Trespass on outspans and State Land
53. Impounding of animals so trespassing
54. Trespass at dams or tanks
55. Increased penalties for continued trespass as in section 54
PART IV
POUND FEES
56. Fees receivable by pound-master
57. Sustenance fees
58. Fees for animals separately herded
59. Fees to be a charge on the animals
60. Fee for attending sale
61. Additional fee for unbranded horses and cattle
62. Alteration of fees
63. Validation of alteration of fees
64. Altered fees to be gazetted
65. Copies to be furnished to pound-masters
66. Sale of impounded stock
67. Notice of sale to be published in newspaper
68. Posting of notice
69. Arrangements for sales
70. Pound-master to act as auctioneer
71. Animals to be impounded for at least three weeks before sale
72. Manner of conducting sale
73. Cash sale only and disposal of proceeds
74. Consequences of illegal impounding
75. Rates at which fees payable when more than one pound is concerned
PART V
GENERAL
76. Penalty for molesting or scattering animals
77. Saving as to other remedies for trespass
78. Penalties
79. Impounding of animals alleged to have been stolen, etc.
80. Application of Act
81. Saving of rights of owner not within a declared area
82. Other offences by pound-masters and others
83. Regulations in respect of other portions of Zambia not within a declared area
AN ACT
to provide for the establishment, management and control of public pounds; to provide for the assessment of damages and trespass money in respect of animals found trespassing; to prescribe pound fees; and to provide for matters incidental to or connected with the foregoing.
[28th April, 1920]
Act 2 of 1920,
Act 36 of 1933,
Act 47 of 1963,
Act 57 of 1964,
Act 13 of 1994,
GN 319 of 1964,
GN 497 of 1964,
SI 29 of 1964.
PART I
PRELIMINARY
This Act may be cited as the Public Pounds and Trespass Act.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“animal” includes cattle, horses, sheep, goats and pigs;
“cattle” means any bull, cow, ox, steer, heifer or calf;
“declared area” means any portion of Zambia to which the provisions of this Act have been declared to apply;
“flock” means any number of sheep or goats, more than one, which are in one lot, or under the charge of one person;
“goat” means any ram, ewe, wether or kid;
“horse” means any horse, mare, gelding, colt, filly, ass or mule;
“owner”, in relation to land, includes a lessee or occupier and, in relation to any animal, an agent or caretaker;
“pound” means a pound established under the provisions of this Act;
“pound assessor” means any person appointed by a District Secretary as a pound assessor for his District;
“sheep” means any ram, ewe, wether or lamb;
“stallion” means any male horse, ass or mule not castrated;
“sufficient fence”, when applied to wire fences, means a fence of so many wires and of such construction as the District Secretary shall from time to time decide; in other cases, a wall fence or barrier at least one hundred and thirty-seven centimetres high and through which no animal could pass without breaking the same.
[S 2 am by SI 29 of 1964.]
PART II
ESTABLISHMENT AND CONTROL OF POUNDS
The Minister may, by statutory notice, establish a pound at any place within a declared area and may similarly abolish any pound so established.
[S 3 am by GN 319 of 1964.]
4. Management and control of pounds
The management and control of every pound shall be vested in the District Secretary of the District in which such pound is situated.
5. Appointment of pound-masters
The District Secretary may appoint—
(a) a pound-master of any pound in his District subject to the terms of the contract entered into between the District Secretary and such pound-master:
Provided that—
(i) no person shall at the same time be pound-master of more than one pound; and
(ii) no person shall be appointed or continue as pound-master who is a licensed dealer in intoxicating liquor;
(b) as many pound assessors as may be requisite;
and such District Secretary may dismiss any such pound-master or pound assesor.
(1) It shall be the duty of every pound-master to receive into his charge all animals tendered at his pound between sunrise and sunset by any owner, or by the caretaker for any owner, or by any person authorised in writing thereto by such owner or caretaker, in order to be impounded, as having been found trespassing upon the land of such owner.
(2) Any pound-master who refuses or neglects to receive animals tendered as aforesaid shall be liable on each occasion to the penalty prescribed by section 78, and shall in addition be liable for any damage caused to the owner of the said animals, or to any other person by reason of such refusal or neglect.
(3) In case any horses or cattle suffering from any contagious disease shall be sent to the pound, such horses or cattle shall be kept separate from all other impounded stock, and the pound-master may, subject to the provisions of section 13, cause the same to be destroyed.
7. Receipts to be given for animals impounded
The pound-master, or someone acting on his behalf, shall give to the person delivering animals into his charge a written receipt, setting forth the number and description of the animals so delivered, and specifying the trespass for which the said animals are reported to be impounded.
8. Separate enclosures of pound
Every pound-master shall maintain in good repair, and as far as possible free from all infection, not less than three separate and sufficient enclosures, that is to say, one for horses, one for cattle, and one for sheep, goats and pigs:
Provided that the District Secretary may, in regard to any pound in his District, give permission to the pound-master to maintain in manner aforesaid a lesser number of such enclosures.
9. Segregation of infected sheep and goats
(1) Every pound-master shall, with regard to sheep or goats which are infected with scab when received at his pound, or which become infected during their detention, keep such sheep or goats entirely separate, at all times, from other impounded animals not so infected, and shall dip or dress, with one of the recognised dips, every such infected sheep or goat as often as may be reasonably necessary.
(2) The owner of every such infected sheep or goat shall be bound to pay to the pound-master, in respect of such dipping or dressing, such sum as may be due under a tariff framed for that purpose by the District Secretary.
(1) Every pound-master shall take proper care of any animal impounded, and shall be responsible to the owner of any such animal for any damage or injury sustained by reason of any neglect or default on the part of himself or any person acting for him or on his behalf.
(2) In case any animal received into a pound shall prove to be dangerously vicious, the pound-master shall apply to the District Secretary, who shall make such order thereon as he shall deem fit, and may order its destruction.
11. Use of animals impounded an offence
Any pound-master who shall ride or otherwise work or use any impounded animal shall be liable for every such offence to the penalty prescribed by section 78.
12. Death of animals impounded
In case of the death or injury of any impounded animal, the pound-master shall enter in his pound book a description of such animal, and the cause of its death or injury; and the absence of any such entry, or its falsity in any material respect, shall be held to be prima facie proof of the fact that the death or injury in question was due to the default of the pound-master.
13. Destruction of impounded animals when diseased, etc.
A. Any pound-master may destroy, subject to the exceptions hereinafter stated, any impounded animal suffering from a contagious disease, or likely to prove dangerous to human life, or destructive to other animals impounded:
Provided that—
(i) the pound-master shall completely and effectually isolate any diseased animal away from any road;
(ii) no such animal shall be destroyed until a Government Veterinary Officer or a pound assessor or two disinterested landowners shall have examined it, and shall agree with the pound-master as to the necessity for its destruction;
(iii) the pound-master shall summon the owner of such animal, if known, to attend the examination aforesaid, which summons may be by letter duly sent through the post;
(iv) if the owner of the animal objects to its destruction, the pound-master may release it. If such owner shall give an undertaking to destroy the animal the pound-master shall release at the same time all other animals belonging to him which may have been impounded on the same occasion as the animal proposed to be destroyed;
(v) —
A. every pound assessor or landowner attending for the purpose of the inspection aforesaid, shall be paid by the pound-master the sum of seventy-five ngwee, together with railway fare, or if and so far as no railway shall be available, horse-hire at eight ngwee per mile or bicycle hire at five ngwee per mile;
B. the amount so paid may be recovered by the pound-master from the owner of the animal if it be destroyed;
C. if the animal be not destroyed or if the owner be unknown, or if it be impossible to recover from the owner the whole or any part of such amount, then the said amount, or the portion of it unrecovered, as the case may be, shall be paid to the pound-master by the Government;
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