
1 

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, if a dog worries livestock on any agricultural land, the owner of the dog, and, if it is in the charge of a person other than its owner, that person also, shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.
(2) For the purposes of this Act worrying livestock means—
(a) attacking livestock, or
(b) chasing livestock in such a way as may reasonably be expected to cause injury or suffering to the livestock or, in the case of females, abortion, or loss of or diminution in their produce; or
(c) being at large (that is to say not on a lead or otherwise under close control) in a field or enclosure in which there are sheep
(2A) Subsection (2)(c) of this section shall not apply in relation to—
(a) a dog owned by, or in the charge of, the occupier of the field or enclosure or the owner of the sheep or a person authorised by either of those persons; or
(b) a police dog, a guide dog, trained sheep dog, a working gun dog or a pack of hounds.
(3) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under this Act by reason of anything done by a dog, if at the material time the livestock are trespassing on the land in question and the dog is owned by, or in the charge of, the occupier of that land or a person authorised by him, except in a case where the said person causes the dog to attack the livestock.
(4) The owner of a dog shall not be convicted of an offence under this Act in respect of the worrying of livestock by the dog if he proves that at the time when the dog worried the livestock it was in the charge of some other person, whom he reasonably believed to be a fit and proper person to be in charge of the dog.
(5) Where the Minister is satisfied that it is inexpedient that subsection (1) of this section should apply to land in any particular area, being an area appearing to him to consist wholly or mainly of mountain, hill, moor, heath or down land, he may by order direct that that subsection shall not apply to land in that area.
(6) A person guilty of an offence under this Act shall be liable on summary conviction—
(a) except in a case falling within the succeeding paragraph, to a fine not exceeding  level 3 on the standard scale;
(b) in a case where the person in question has previously been convicted of an offence under this Act in respect of the same dog, to a fine not exceeding  level 3 on the standard scale.
1A 

(1) Where a person (P) is convicted of an offence under section 1, the court may make an order—
(a) disqualifying P from owning or keeping a dog during such period as the court thinks fit,
(b) requiring P, during such period as the court thinks fit, to prevent any dog of which P has charge from going on to land which P knows, or reasonably ought to know, is agricultural land on which livestock is present or is likely to be present, or
(c) both.
(2) Where P is convicted of an offence under section 1, then for the purposes of any appeal under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (c.46) an order under subsection (1) is to be treated as a sentence.
(3) If P fails to comply with an order under subsection (1), P commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(4) Subsection (5) applies where an order has been made under subsection (1) and at least one year has elapsed since the order was made.
(5) P may, in such manner as may be prescribed by rules of court, apply to the court which made the order for the order to be discharged in whole or in part, or otherwise varied.
(6) If the application in respect of an order is refused, in whole or in part—
(a) P may appeal to the Sheriff Appeal Court, and
(b) no further application in respect of that order shall otherwise be competent unless at least one year has elapsed from the date of the refusal.
2 

(1) As respects an offence under this Act alleged to have been committed in respect of a dog on any agricultural land in England or Wales, no proceedings shall be brought except—
(a) by or with the consent of the chief officer of police for the police area in which the land is situated, or
(b) by the occupier of the land, or
(c) by the owner of any of the livestock in question.
(2) Where in the case of a dog found on any land —
(a) a police officer has reasonably cause to believe that the dog has been  worrying livestock on  that land, and the land  appears to him to be agricultural land, and
(b) no person is present who admits to being the owner of the dog or in charge of it,
then for the purpose of ascertaining who is the owner of the dog the police officer may seize it and may detain it until the owner has claimed it and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention.
(3) Subsections (4) to  (10)  of section three of the Dogs Act, 1906 (which provide for the disposal of dogs seized under subsection (1) of that section if unclaimed after seven days) shall apply in relation to dogs seized  under the last preceding subsection  as they apply in relation to dogs seized under subsection (1) of that section (which provides for the seizure and detention of dogs found in highways and places of public resort and believed to be stray dogs).
2A 
If on an application made by a constable a justice of the peace is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing—
(a) that an offence under this Act has been committed: and
(b) that the dog in respect of which the offence has been committed is on premises specified in the application,he may issue a warrant authorising a constable to enter and search the premises in order to identify the dog.
2B 
Where a dog has been seized by a constable under section 2(2A) or section 2A(4)(c) of this Act, the constable may, without prejudice to any other power and whether or not in the presence of the owner or person in charge of the dog, arrange for the dog to be examined by a veterinary surgeon, and for the veterinary surgeon to take samples from the dog, for the purposes of identifying and securing evidence of the commission of an offence under this Act.
3 

(1) In this Act—
 “agricultural land” means land used as arable, meadow or grazing land, or for the purpose of poultry farming, pig farming, market gardens, allotments, nursery grounds or orchards; and
 “livestock” means cattle, sheep, goats, swine, horses, or poultry, and for the purposes of this definition “cattle” means bulls, cows, oxen, heifers or calves, “horses” includes asses and mules, and “poultry” means domestic fowls, turkeys, geese or ducks.
(2) In this Act the expression “the Minister” as respects England and Wales means the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and as respects Scotland means the Secretary of State.
(3) The power of the Minister to make orders under subsection (5) of section one of this Act shall be exercisable by statutory instrument and shall include power, exercisable in the like manner, to vary or revoke any such order.
4 

(1) This Act may be cited as the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act, 1953.
(2) This Act shall not extend to Northern Ireland.