1  Licensing of pet shops

(1)   No person shall keep a pet shop except under the authority of a licence
granted in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

(2)   Every local authority may, on application being made to them for that
purpose by a person who is not for the time being disqualified from keeping a
pet shop, and on payment of such fee ... as may be determined by the local
authority, grant a licence to that person to keep a pet shop at such premises in
their area as may be specified in the application and subject to compliance
with such conditions as may be specified in the licence.

(3)   In determining whether to grant a licence for the keeping of a pet shop by
any person at any premises, a local authority shall in particular (but without
prejudice to their discretion to withhold a licence on other grounds) have
regard to the need for securing-

          (a)  that animals will at all times be kept in accommodation
                suitable as respects size, temperature, lighting, ventilation
                and cleanliness;

          (b)  that animals will be adequately supplied with suitable food
                and drink and (so far as necessary) visited at suitable
                intervals;

          (c)  that animals, being mammals, will not be sold at too early
                an age;

          (d)  that all reasonable precautions will be taken to prevent the
                spread among animals of infectious diseases;

          (e)  that appropriate steps will be taken in case of fire or other
                emergency;

and shall specify such conditions in the licence, if granted by them, as appear
to the local authority necessary or expedient in the particular case for securing
all or any of the objects specified in paragraphs (a) to (e) of this subsection.

(4)   Any person aggrieved by the refusal of a local authority to grant such a
licence, or by any condition subject to which such a licence is proposed to be
granted, may appeal to a court of summary jurisdiction having jurisdiction in
the place in which the premises are situated; and the court may on such an
appeal give such directions with respect to the issue of a licence or, as the
case may be, with respect to the conditions subject to which a licence is to be
granted as they think proper.

(5)   Any such licence shall (according to the applicants' requirements) relate
to the year in which it is granted or to the next following year. In the former
case, the licence shall come into force at the beginning of the day on which it
is granted, and in the latter case it shall come into force at the beginning of the
next following year.

(6)   Subject to the provisions hereinafter contained with respect to
cancellation, any such licence shall remain in force until the end of the year to
which it relates and shall then expire.

(7)   Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) of this
section shall be guilty of an offence; and if any condition subject to which a
licence is granted in accordance with the provisions of this Act is contravened
or not complied with the person to whom the licence was granted shall be
guilty of an offence.

(8)   In the application of this section to Scotland, in subsection (4) for the
reference to a court of summary jurisdiction there shall be substituted a
reference to the sheriff.

2  Pets not to be sold in streets, etc.

If any person carries on a business of selling animals as pets in any part of a
street or public place, [or] at a stall or barrow in a market, he shall be guilty of
an offence.

Annotations

"Public place" is not defined by the Act but is usually defined in other Acts as any place to which the public have access whether on payment or otherwise. For further information, see Detailed Discussion.

"Market" is not defined by the Act but is generally defined in common law as a concourse of buyers and sellers. This definition of the term as used in Section 2 of this Act was adopted in Rogers v. Teignbrodge District Council (Torbay Magistrates' Court, 7th November 2000, unreported) in which it was held to include an exotic animals fair to consist of a number of stalls from which animals would be sold. For further information, see Detailed Discussion.

3  Pets not to be sold to children under 12 years of age

If any person sells an animal as a pet to a person whom he has reasonable
cause to believe to be under the age of twelve years, the seller shall be guilty
of an offence.

4 Inspection of pet shops

(1)   A local authority may authorise in writing any of its officers or any
veterinary surgeon or veterinary practitioner to inspect (subject to compliance
with such precautions as the authority may specify to prevent the spread
among animals of infectious diseases) any premises in their area as respects
which a licence granted in accordance with the provisions of this Act is for the
time being in force, and any person authorised under this section may, on
producing his authority if so required, enter any such premises at all
reasonable times and inspect them and any animals found thereon or any
thing therein, for the purpose of ascertaining whether an offence has been or
is being committed against this Act.

(2)   Any person who wilfully obstructs or delays any person in the exercise of
his powers of entry or inspection under this section shall be guilty of an
offence.

5 Offences and disqualifications

(1)   Any person guilty of an offence under any provision of this Act other than
the last foregoing section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not
exceeding [level 2 on the standard scale] or to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(2)   Any person guilty of an offence under the last foregoing section shall be
liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [level 2 on the standard
scale].

(3)   Where a person is convicted of any offence under this Act or of any
offence under the Protection of Animals Act 1911, or the Protection of
Animals (Scotland) Act 1912, the court by which he is convicted may cancel
any licence held by him under this Act, and may, whether or not he is the
holder of such a licence, disqualify him from keeping a pet shop for such
period as the court thinks fit.

(4)   A court which has ordered the cancellation of a person's licence, or his
disqualification, in pursuance of the last foregoing subsection may, if it thinks
fit, suspend the operation of the order pending an appeal.

6 Power of local authority to prosecute

A local authority in England or Wales may prosecute proceedings for any
offence under this Act committed in the area of the authority.

7 Interpretation

(1)   References in this Act to the keeping of a pet shop shall, subject to the
following provisions of this section, be construed as references to the carrying
on at premises of any nature (including a private dwelling) of a business of
selling animals as pets, and as including references to the keeping of animals
in any such premises as aforesaid with a view to their being sold in the course
of such a business, whether by the keeper thereof or by any other person:

Provided that-

          (a)  a person shall not be deemed to keep a pet shop by
                reason only of his keeping or selling pedigree animals bred
                by him, or the offspring of an animal kept by him as a pet;

          (b)  where a person carries on a business of selling animals
                as pets in conjunction with a business of breeding pedigree
                animals, and the local authority are satisfied that the animals
                so sold by him (in so far as they are not pedigree animals
                bred by him) are animals which were acquired by him with a
                view to being used, if suitable, for breeding or show
                purposes but have subsequently been found by him not to
                be suitable or required for such use, the local authority may
                if they think fit direct that the said person shall not be
                deemed to keep a pet shop by reason only of his carrying
                on the first-mentioned business.

(2)   References in this Act to the selling or keeping of animals as pets shall
be construed in accordance with the following provisions, that is to say-

          (a)  as respects cats and dogs, such references shall be
                construed as including references to selling or keeping, as
                the case may be, wholly or mainly for domestic purposes;
                and

          (b)  as respects any animal, such references shall be
                construed as including references to selling or keeping, as
                the case may be, for ornamental purposes.

(3)   In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following
expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is
to say:-

          "animal" includes any description of vertebrate;

          "local authority" means the council of any . . . county district, the
          council of a . . . borough or the Common Council of the City of
          London and in Scotland means [a council constituted under
          section 2 of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994];

          "pedigree animal" means an animal of any description which is by
          its breeding eligible for registration with a recognised club or
          society keeping a register of animals of that description;

          . . .

          "veterinary surgeon" means a person who is for the time being
          registered in the Register of Veterinary Surgeons;

          "veterinary practitioner" means a person who is for the time being
          registered in the Supplementary Veterinary Register.

8 Short title, extent and commencement

(1)   This Act may be cited as the Pet Animals Act 1951.

(2)   This Act shall not extend to Northern Ireland.

(3)   This Act shall come into operation on the first day of April, nineteen
hundred and fifty-two.