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Sheep Ordinance Amendment Ordinance 1859

11. The Sheep Amendment Ordinance 1859.

Whereas an Ordinance was passed by the Superintendent and Provincial

Council of the Province of Canterbury, entituled " The Sheep Ordinance, Session X., No. 9: " And whereas it is expedient that certain portions of the said Ordinance should be repealed and other provisions made in lieu thereof:

Be it therefore enacted by the Superintendent of the said Province, by and with the consent of the Provincial Council thereof as follows:

1. Repealing Clause.

Sections 2, 5, 11, and 24 of the above recited Ordinance shall be, and they are hereby repealed. All legal proceedings in execution of the said Ordinance, taken before the coming into operation of this Ordinance, shall be as valid to all intents and purposes, and maybe continued, executed and enforced after this Ordinance shall come into operation, in the same manner as if this Ordinance had not been passed.

In lieu of Section 2, above repealed, be it enacted as follows:—

2. All sheep to be branded.

All sheep and lambs above the age of four months, within the Province of Canterbury, shall be branded on the wool thereof with the registered brand of the Owner; which brand shall from time to time be renewed as occasion may require, so that the same shall always be distinct and legible; and every Owner of any such sheep or lambs not so branded, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding Twenty Pounds; and if the said sheep, not being so branded, shall exceed four hundred in number, such Owner shall be liable to a further penalty of not less than Twopence nor more than Sixpence for every such sheep or lamb not being so branded as aforesaid.

And in lieu of Section 5, above repealed, be it enacted as follows:—

3. Registering or using brand of another person.

After any person shall have registered a brand, it shall not be lawful for any other person to register or to brand any sheep with the same brand, or one so nearly similar as in the opinion of the Registrar of Brands to be not readily distinguishable therefrom, or to make or cause to be made any branding-iron bearing the same or nearly similar brand as aforesaid; and any person offending against the provisions of this Section shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding Ten Pounds; and for every day during which, after any person shall have been convicted under the provisions of this Section. his Sheep shall continue to be

Branded with the registeled brand of another person, shall be deemed a separate offence against the provisions of this Section: Provided always, that any person having duly registered a brand, may, by writing, addressed to the Registrar of Brands, relinquish his right to the said brand, and upon the due receipt of such

writing by such Registrar, he shall forthwith cause the registryof such brand, in

his Register of Brands, to be cancelled; and it shall be lawful for any other person to registed such brand in his own name in the office of the Registrar of Brands, and to cause his sheep to be branded therewith as if such brand had not been previously registered.

And in lieu of Section 11, above repealed, be it enacted as follows:—

4. Possession of scabby sheep: fines and penalties.

Every Owner of any sheep infected with scab shall be liable to a fine of not less than One Shilling nor more than Five Shillings for every such infected sheep: Provided that if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Justices before whom any Information under this Clause shall be heard, that the sheep had been clean at any tirne within six months previously to the day on which they shall be stated in such information to have been infected with scab, such Justices shall certify,

upon any conviction to be made on such information, the latest day upon which it shall so appear to their satisfaction that such sheep had been clean, and it shall be lawful for such Justices thereupon to suspend the payment of any penalty by such conviction ordered to be paid; and if at any time within six months subsequently to the date to be certified as above provided, such sheep shall appear, upon the Report of any Inspector of Sheep, deposited with the Clerk of the Court in which such conviction shall have been made,to be again free from scab, such penalty shall be altogether remitted; but if it shall not so appear, then payment of such penalty shall be enforced in the usual way: Provided also, that if at the expiration of such period of six months it shall appear to the satisfaction of any two Justices of the Peace, and upon the Certificate of an Inspector of Sheep, that peculiar and exceptional circumstances, beyond the control of the Owner of such sheep, and such as could not have been met by foresight and exertion on his part, have rendered it impossible effectually to clean such sheep, it shall be lawful for such Justices to extend such period for a further period of four calendar months, but no longer. A separate information under this Section may be laid in regard to every separate flock in the possession of one Owner, and if any one such flock shall exceed 3000 sheep in number, a separate information may be laid for every additional 3000 sheep or fractional part of such number contained

in such flock.

5. Six months to elapse between convictions.

No Owner of sheep who shall have been convicted under the last preceding Section shall, until the expiration of six months after the date of such conviction, be liable to any further penalty under the said Section on account of such disease in any sheep which he shall prove, to the satisfaction of the Justices before whom any Information under the said Section may be heard, to be the same sheep in respect of which he had been so convicted as aforesaid.

And in lieu of Section 24, above repealed, be it enacted as follows:—

6. Scabby sheep trespassing and not removed may be destroyed.

If any sheep infected with scab or catarrh shall be found on any land or Run not in the lawful occupation of the Owner of such sheep, and such Owner shall not remove the same within forty-eight hours after he shall have been served in the manner prescribed for the service of notices by Section 26 of the said recited Ordinance, with written notice that they are so trespassing; or if such Owner cannot, after reasonable inquiry, be discovered, it shall be lawful for the Occupier of such land or Run forthwith to destroy such sheep. If, after such Owner shall have been twice served with such notice within the space of fourteen days, the sheep of such Owner, or any of them, infected as aforesaid, shall afterwards, within the space of one week from the service of the last notice, be again found trespassing on the same land or Run, it shall be lawful for the Occupier of such land or run forthwith and without any further notice to destroy such sheep so trespassing, if they shall be less than one hundred in nuber, but not otherwise: Provided always, that the nature of such reasonable inquiry, together with the number and brands of the sheep so found and destroyed, shall, by the Occupier aforesaid, be certified, in writing, to the Inspector of the district within fourteen days of the destruction of such sheep; and every person offending against the provisions of this Section shall be liable to a penalty of not less than Five Pounds nor more than Twenty-five Pounds.

And be it enacted as follows:—

7. Scabby sheep to be herded in certain cases.

If it shall appear to any Inspector of Sheep, upon his own view, that any sheep are infected with scab or catarrh, and that such sheep may, if suffered to run at large, cause damage to the Owners of neighbouring flocks, it shall be lawful for such Inspector, by Warrant, under his hand, in the form or to the effect set forth in Schedule B to the said recited Ordinance, to order the Owner of such sheep to cause them to be constantly herded by day, and to be kept by night within a sheep-proof enclosure, until it shall appear, upon the Certificate of an Inspector of Sheep, that such sheep are entirely free from the said diseases; and for each day upon wvhich such Owner shall neglect to have such sheep herded as aforesaid, and likewise for each night upon which such Owner shall neglect to have such sheep endosed as aforesaid, he shall be subject to a penalty not exceeding Twenty-five Pounds. It shall be lawful for such Owner, within fourteen days after the receipt of such Warrant as aforesaid, to appeal against the same

to any two Justices of the Peace, who, after ascertaining that due notice of such appeal had been given to the Inspector, and taking such evidence as they may think fit, shall either confirm or reverse the Order given in such Warrant: Provided that any order so apealed against shall, until reversed, continue in full force and effect.

8. Sheep for importation to be branded with Inspector’s brand.

When any Inspector of Sheep shall have examined any sheep Inspector's brand. with a view to their importation into the Province of Canterbury, either by sea or

land, and shall be prepared to grant a Certificate in the form of Schedule C to the said recited Ordinance, he shall, before granting such Certificate, cause such sheep to be distinctly wool branded on the back thereof, at the cost and charges of the Owner of such sheep, with a brand which shall have been registered in the office of the Registrar of Brands as the special brand of such Inspector. The absence of any such brand from any sheep so imported shall be prima facie evidence that they have not been certified for importation as provided in the said recited Ordinance, unless it shall be proved that such sheep have been shorn since their importation. If any person shall, without authority, use the brand of any Inspector of Sheep registered as above, or one so similar as not to be readily distinguishable therefrom, he shall be liable, on coviction before any two Justices of the Peace, to a penalty of not less than Twenty-five nor more than One Hundred Pounds.

9. List of scabby flocks to be published monthly.

There shall be published once in every month, in one or more Newspapers within the Province, a List, certified by the Inspector of each district, of all Stations on which there are at that time any sheep infected with the scab or catarrh.

10. If six months after conviction sheep not clean, all rams to be separated from the ewes.

When any Owner of sheep shall have been convicted under the If, six months after provisions of this Ordinance of having in his possession any sheep infected with the scab, and such sheep shall not, within six months from the date of such conviction, have been certified by an Inspector of Sheep to be entirely free from the said disease, the Owner of such sheep shall, immediately on the expiration of such period of six months, cause all rams to be separated from any ewes in his possession which may be so infected, and shall cause such rams to be kept separate from such ewes until they shall be certified by an Inspector of Sheep to be entirely free from scab; and for every day during which such rams shall not be kept separate from such ewes, such Owner shall be liable to a penalty of not less than One Pound nor more than Ten Pounds in respect of each ram which shall not be kept separate as aforesaid.

11. What deemed infected sheep.

All sheep shall, for the purposes of this Ordinance, or of the said recited Ordinance, be deemed to be infected with scab or catarrh, which shall, within two months, have been placed within any yard or enclosure in which there shall have been, within one month previously, any sheep so infected, unless such yard or enclosure shall, in the meantime, have been scoured with some reputed exective scab-destroying preparation.

12. Fines and penalties may be levied by distress and sale of goods.

All fines and penalties which shall be ordered to be paid under the authority of this Ordinance, or of the said recited Ordinance, or of " The Scab Prevention Ordinance, Session X., No. 10," in case of non-payment thereof either

immediately or within such period as may be appointed for the payment thereof, may be levied (with the costs of all proceedings rendered necessary by such

non-payment), by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the person liable to pay the same, by Warrant, under the hand of any Justice of the Peace; and if no sufficient goods and chattels as aforesaid can be found whereon to levy such distress, such fines or penalties may, after the expiration of one week from the date of a public notice in one or more Newspapers within the Province that such fines and penalties are due and unpaid, be levied, with costs as aforesaid and by Warrant as aforesaid, by distress and sale of the sheep in respect of which such fines or penalties may have been incurred, or of the sheep unde the same charge, control, or management.

13. Persons having advanced money on the security, &c., of any sheep in the Province, may demand repayment within three months after the passing of this Ordinance.

If any person shall, before the passing of this Ordinance, have bona fide made any advance of money upon the security of any bill of sale, mortgage, assignment, or other assurance of or over any sheep within the Province of Canterbury, it shall be lawful for such person, notwithstanding any covenant, proviso, or condition to the contrary, at any time within three months from the passing of this Ordinance, to demand, in writing, from the Owner of such sheep, the repayment of such money so advanced, and if the same shall not be repaid within twelve months from the date of such demand, it shall be competent for such person, at any time thereafter, notwithstanding any such covenant, proviso, or condition, to exercise and put in force such powers and remedies for the recovery of the money so due, and interest, as by such bill of sale, mortgage, assignment, or other assurance, may have been given or reserved in default of payment of such money and interest at the time therein limited.

14. No penalty to exceed One Hundred Pounds

No penalty to be imposed on any one condition under the provisions of this

Ordinance shall exceed the sum of One Hundred Pounds.

15. Interpretation Clause.

This Ordinance shall be interpreted as and considered as part of "The Sheep

Ordinance, Session X., No. 9."

16. Title.

This Ordinance shall be entituled and may be cited as "The Sheep Ordinance

Amendment Ordinance, Session XI., No. 11."

Notes.

This Ordinance was passed by the Canterbury Provincial Council on 20th day of

December 1859, and assented to by the Superintendent on 23rd December.

Also, see “The Sheep Ordinance Amendment Ordinnce, 1861, passed during

Session XVII., No. 6.