                          DOGS ġ CAP. 312.        1
CHAPTER 312
 DOGS ACT
Cap. 40.
provisions of the Dogs Ordinance.
(15th November, 1985) *
Enacted by ACT XXI of 1985, as amended by Act VIII of 1990.
Short title.
Interpretation. 
"keeper" includes any person having the charge of or who
habitually feeds or looks after a dog;
G.N. No. 846 of 
1949.
"prescribed fee" means the fee prescribed under the Police
Licences Regulations, 1949.
 Licence.
over without a licence issued in accordance with this Act.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section every
person in whose custody or possession, or in whose house or
premises, any such dog shall be found, shall be deemed to be the
person who keeps such dog, unless the contrary is proved.
(3) The proof that a dog is not over six months old shall lie
upon the person who keeps the dog.
(4) A blind person who keeps a dog which is used for his
guidance shall be exempt from the payment of the prescribed fee.
Application for 
licence.
 4. (1) Licences to keep dogs shall be issued by the
Commissioner of Police and may be obtained on application to the
officer in charge of such licences against payment of the prescribed
fee. 
(2) A separate licence shall be required in respect of each dog. 
(3) No person shall be qualified for obtaining a licence under
this Act unless he has completed eighteen years of age and is
capable of taking charge of a dog:
Provided that the qualification of eighteen years of age shall
not apply to blind persons.
Restrictions 
regarding the 
keeping of dogs. 
Cap. 10.
5. (1) The Commissioner of Police may forbid a licensee
from keeping more than one dog in any house which is situated in
an inhabited area within the meaning of the Code of Police Laws.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section every
person in whose house such dogs are found, shall be deemed to be
the person who keeps such dogs, unless the contrary is proved. 
(3) In the case of houses let by apartments, each part of any
such house separately let, shall, for the purposes of subsection (1)
* See  Government Notice No. 667 of the 15th November, 1985.
  2      CAP. 312. ħ                DOGS
of this section, be deemed to be a house.
Cap. 10.
(4) Nothing in this section contained shall affect any provisions
of the Code of Police Laws relating to the keeping of dogs in
common tenement-houses.
Badges. 6. (1) There shall be delivered with every licence issued or
renewed under this Act a metal badge to be worn by the dog to
which the licence refers.
(2) Every badge shall bear a number and the year of issue
thereof, shall be valid for the year during which it is issued, and
may be renewed for periods of twelve months each beginning on
the 1st January of any one year.
(3) The licence fee shall include the cost of the badge.
(4) A second or subsequent badge may, where necessary, be
issued for the same dog during any year for which a licence is in
force, against payment of the prescribed fee.
(5) The number of each badge shall be entered on the licence
by the issuing officer.
Name and address 
on badge.
7. The Commissioner of Police may, upon application,
include in the badge the name and address of the licensee, subject
to the payment of the prescribed fee.
Use of badge. 8. No person shall use for any dog a badge which was issued
or renewed for another dog, and the owner or keeper of any dog
wearing such badge shall be deemed to be the person who has used
that badge contrary to the provisions of this section, unless the
contrary is proved.
Production of 
badge.
9. (1)  Any Police officer may seize and detain any dog for
the purpose of examining the badge worn by the dog.
(2) Any Police officer may require the owner or keeper of a
dog to produce and deliver to him within seven days, for
examination, the licence relating to the dog.
Claim for recovery 
of dog.
10. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, any
Police officer may seize any stray dog and detain it until its owner
or keeper claims it, produces the licence relating to such dog, and
pays all expenses incurred by reason of its detention.
(2) If the dog is not claimed or the licence relating to such dog
is not produced or the expenses mentioned in subsection (1) of this
section are not paid within seven days of seizure, the dog shall be
destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the Police.
(3) The payment of expenses as provided in subsection (1) of
this section shall not exempt the owner or keeper of the dog from
any other liability incurred under this Act.
Power to seize 
dogs in certain 
cases.
11. Any Police officer may also seize and detain a dog which
assaults any person, or any horse or other animal while being
ridden or driven in a vehicle, or runs foul of any vehicle in motion
in such manner as to cause annoyance or danger, and in any such
case the provisions of section 10 of this Act shall apply.
                          DOGS ġ CAP. 312.        3
Police officer to 
include authorised 
persons.
12. For the purposes of sections 9, 10 and 11 of this Act
"Police officer" shall include any person authorised by the Minister
responsible for the Police to perform any of the functions by a
Police officer under the provisions of those sections.
Person finding 
stray dog.
13. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, any
person other than a Police officer, who takes possession of a stray
dog shall:
( a ) return the dog to its owner or keeper, if known, or
( b ) take the dog to the nearest police station and inform
the Police officer in charge of that station as to the
place where the dog was found and thereupon the
provisions of section 10 of this Act shall apply to such
dog.
Dangerous dogs.
dangerous to persons, fails to keep the dog under control, he shall
be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine
( ammenda ) of five liri and the court shall order the Police to
destroy the dog at the expense of its owner or keeper
notwithstanding that the dog may have a new owner or keeper.
(2) For the court to order the destruction of a dog as provided
in subsection (1) of this section, it shall not be necessary for the
prosecution to prove that the owner or keeper knew that the dog
was dangerous.
(3)  If the person charged as provided in subsection (1) of this
section is for any reason acquitted of the charge, the court shall,
nevertheless, if satisfied that the dog is dangerous, order its
destruction.
(4) A dog which has bitten or assaulted a person shall be
considered to be dangerous, unless the contrary is proved.
Appeal by 
Attorney General. 
Amended by: 
VIII. 1990. 3. 
Cap. 9.
15. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Criminal Code, the
Attorney General shall always have a right of appeal to the Court of
Criminal Appeal from any judgment given by the Court of
Magistrates in respect of proceedings arising out of the provisions
of section 14 of this Act.
Suspicion of rabies 
and other 
communicable 
disease. 
Cap. 36.
16. (1) Saving the provisions of the Prevention of Disease
Ordinance, and of any other law, whenever any person having a
suspicion that a dog is affected with rabies or with any other
disease communicable to man informs any Police officer of his
suspicion and of the whereabouts of the dog, or any Police officer
has such a suspicion about a dog, that officer shall forthwith
communicate the information received by him to the Principal
Veterinary Surgeon or other Government Veterinary Surgeon and
shall act on his advice.
(2) If the Veterinary Surgeon so informed is of the opinion that
there is a valid cause to suspect rabies or any other disease
communicable to man he shall inform forthwith the Superintendent
of Public Health who shall give such directives as may be
necessary to safeguard public health.
  4      CAP. 312. ħ                DOGS
Offences and 
penalties.
17. Any person who acts in contravention of or fails to comply
with any provision of this Act shall be guilty of an offence and
shall, on conviction, be liable for each offence, unless a higher
punishment is provided for in any other law, to the punishment of a
fine ( ammenda ) of five liri.
Application of 
section 321 of the 
Police Laws. 
Cap. 10.
18. The provisions of section 321 of the Code of Police Laws
shall apply to any offence under this Act or any regulations made
thereunder.
 Regulations. 19. The Minister responsible for the Police may from time to
time make regulations for giving effect to the provisions of this Act
and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, may make
regulations - 
( a ) for prescribing the muzzling and keeping of dogs
under control;
( b ) for prescribing and regulating the wearing by dogs,
while in certain public places, of a collar with the
name and address of the owner or keeper inscribed on
the collar or on a plate or badge attached thereto;
( c ) for preventing dogs or any class of dogs from straying
during all or any of the hours between sunset and
sunrise;
( d ) for regulating and controlling the keeping of dogs in
any particular circumstances;
( e ) for preventing the soiling by dogs of pavements and
streets;
( f ) for prescribing and regulating the seizure, detention
and disposal, including destruction, of stray dogs and
of dogs not muzzled or not being kept under control;
( g ) for prescribing the fees and expenses for the detention
of dogs and the recovery of such fees and expenses
from the owners or keepers;
( h ) for prescribing the book which shall be kept by
licensees of pet shops and dealers in dogs, and the
particulars which shall be recorded in such book in
respect of every dog sold and of the purchaser;
( i ) for providing that any person who contravenes or fails
to comply with any regulations made under this Act
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on
conviction, to punishments not exceeding a fine
( ammenda );
( j ) for prescribing anything that may be prescribed; and 
( k ) generally for any other purpose connected with the
operation of the provisions of this Act.
