Section 3: Offences of cruelty to animals

3. Offences of cruelty to animals (1) Subject to subsection (2), any person who — (a) tortures or otherwise treats an animal in such a manner as to subject it to distress, pain or suffering, or causes or permits an animal to be so treated; (b) being the owner of an animal, fails to provide the animal with sufficient food, drink or shelter; (c) administers an injurious drug or substance to an animal, or wilfully causes or permits any such drug or substance to be taken by an animal; (d) conveys or carries an animal, in or on a vehicle, in such a manner or position as to subject it to distress, pain or suffering; [Issue 7] A17A – 4 Revised Laws of Mauritius (e) keeps or confines an animal in a cage or other similar structure which is too small to provide the animal with a reasonable opportunity for its natural movement; (f) keeps an animal chained or tethered with a short or heavy chain or cord, in close confinement or with hobbles on its legs; (g) employs an animal in any work or labour, or causes an animal to be so employed, in such a manner as to subject it to distress, pain or suffering; (h) wilfully or negligently allows an animal to stray, or abandons an animal in circumstances which expose it to distress, pain, suffering or illness; (i) wilfully or negligently causes or permits — (i) an animal, of which he is the owner, to stray in a public place while the animal is afflicted with a contagious or infectious disease; or (ii) a diseased, disabled or injured animal, of which he is the owner, to die in a public place; (j) not being a veterinary surgeon, mutilates or kills an animal in any manner, or performs ear cropping, tail docking, defanging, declawing, branding, piercing, dehorning, nose roping, or castration on an animal; (k) confines an animal, or causes or permits an animal to be confined, or baits an animal to make it an object of prey for any other animal, or incites an animal to fight any other animal or any human being; (l) organises animal fighting, keeps or uses, participates or acts in the management of, any place for animal fighting or for the purpose of baiting an animal, or permits or offers any place to be so used, or contributes or receives consideration for the promotion of such animal fighting or admission of any other person to a place kept or used for any such purpose; (m) promotes or takes part in a shooting match, or competition, in which animals are released from captivity for the purpose of shooting them; or (n) causes, procures, or subjects an animal to, or being the owner, permits his animal to be subjected to, a surgical operation which is performed without due care and in an inhumane manner, shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 15,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months. (2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to the commission of an act in the course of the destruction, or the preparation for destruction, of an animal as food for mankind, where the destruction or preparation is not accompanied by the infliction of unnecessary suffering on the animal. A17A – 5 [Issue 6] Animal Welfare Act