1990, c. 21

[Assented to June 19, 1990]

An Act respecting diseases and toxic substances that may affect animals or that may be transmitted by animals to persons, and respecting the protection of animals

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

1. This Act may be cited as the Health of Animals Act.

2. (1) In this Act,

“analyst” means a person designated as an analyst pursuant to section 32;

“animal” includes an embryo and a fertilized egg or ovum;

“animal by-product” includes blood or any of its components, bones, bristles, feathers, flesh, hair, hides, hoofs, horns, offal, skins and wool, and any thing containing any of those things;

“animal deadyard” means a place where animal carcasses, animal by-products or disabled or diseased animals are brought when they are not to be prepared for human consumption;

“animal food” means any thing that is capable of being a nutriment for animals and includes any of the constituent elements of an animal ration;

“animal product” includes cream, eggs, milk, non-fertilized ova and semen;

“Assessor” means the Assessor or any Deputy Assessor appointed under Part II of the Pesticide Residue Compensation Act;

“conveyance” means any aircraft, carriage, motor vehicle, trailer, railway car, vessel, cargo container or other contrivance used to move persons, animals or things;

“customs officer” means a person employed in the administration and enforcement of the Customs Act and includes any member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police;

“disease” includes

(a) a reportable disease and any other disease that may affect an animal or that may be transmitted by an animal to a person, and

(b) the causative agent of any such disease;

“dispose” includes slaughter or otherwise destroy, bury or render;

“hatchery” means, subject to any regulations made under subsection (2), a place where eggs are incubated or chicks are hatched;

“infected place” means a place that is constituted to be an infected place under section 22 or 23 or under the regulations;

“inspector” means a person designated as an inspector pursuant to section 32;

“justice” means a justice as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code;

“Minister” means the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food;

“officer” means a person designated as an officer pursuant to section 32, but does not include an analyst;

“peace officer” means a peace officer as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code;

“penalty” means an administrative monetary penalty imposed under the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act for a violation;

“place” includes a conveyance;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulation;

“rendering plant” means a place

(a) where animal by-products are prepared or treated for use in, or converted into, fertilizers, animal food, fats or oils, other than fats or oils used for human consumption,

(b) where a substance resulting from a process mentioned in paragraph (a) is stored, packed or marked, or

(c) from which a substance resulting from a process mentioned in paragraph (a) is shipped;

“reportable” means prescribed as reportable by the Minister;

“toxic substance” means a substance prescribed as toxic by the Minister;

“Tribunal” means the Review Tribunal continued by subsection 4.1(1) of the Canada Agricultural Products Act;

“vector” means an animal that has the potential to transmit a disease, directly or indirectly, from one animal or its excreta to another animal;

“veterinary biologic” means

(a) a helminth, protozoa or micro-organism,

(b) a substance or mixture of substances derived from animals, helminths, protozoa or micro-organisms, or

(c) a substance of synthetic origin

that is manufactured, sold or represented for use in restoring, correcting or modifying organic functions in animals or for use in the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of a disease, disorder or abnormal physical state, or the symptoms thereof, in animals;

“veterinary inspector” means a veterinarian designated as an inspector pursuant to section 32;

“violation” means

(a) any contravention of any provision of this Act or of a regulation made under this Act, or

(b) any refusal or neglect to perform any duty imposed by or under this Act,

that may be proceeded with in accordance with the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act.

(2) The Minister may make regulations excluding places from the definition “hatchery” and prescribing reportable diseases and toxic substances.

(3) Toxic substances may be prescribed

(a) in terms of the quantity or concentration in which substances are contained in other substances; and

(b) by reference to substances specified in any published document, as amended from time to time.

1990, c. 21, s. 2; 1994, c. 38, s. 25; 1995, c. 40, s. 54; 1997, c. 6, s. 67; 2001, c. 4, s. 173(F).

3. This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

4. The Governor in Council may, by order, define the limits of ports and of other places for the purposes of this Act.

5. (1) A person who owns or has the possession, care or control of an animal shall notify the nearest veterinary inspector of the presence of a reportable disease or toxic substance, or any fact indicating its presence, in or around the animal, immediately after the person becomes aware of the presence or fact.

(2) Immediately after a person who is a veterinarian or who analyses animal specimens suspects that an animal is affected or contaminated by a reportable disease or toxic substance, the person shall so notify a veterinary inspector.

6. (1) The operator of a cheese factory, creamery or dairy shall, when requested to do so by the Minister, supply in the prescribed manner samples of milk or cream, identified as to the herd of origin, for inspection by an inspector.

(2) A person who owns or has the possession, care or control of an animal or of any other thing that is capable of being affected or contaminated by a disease or toxic substance shall supply in the prescribed manner such samples from the animal or other thing as the Minister may request.

7. (1) Where

(a) there exists in an area a disease or toxic substance that is capable of affecting animals, and

(b) reasonable steps have been taken by the Minister to

(i) bring the existence of the disease or toxic substance to the attention of persons having the possession, care or control of animals in the area, and

(ii) make those persons aware of the requirements of this subsection,

every person in that area who owns or has the possession, care or control of an animal shall affix at the entrance to the building or other enclosed place in which the animal is kept a notice forbidding entry without the person’s permission.

(2) A person who owns or has the possession, care or control of an animal shall affix at the entrance to the building or other enclosed place in which the animal is kept a notice forbidding entry without the permission of an inspector or officer where there exists in the area a disease or toxic substance that is capable of affecting the animal and the inspector or officer requires such a notice to be so affixed.

(3) No person shall knowingly enter a building or other enclosed place in contravention of a notice affixed under this section, unless the person has a right of entry or way into the building or place or any part thereof or an inspector or officer has authorized the entry.

8. No person shall conceal the existence of a reportable disease or toxic substance among animals.

9. No person shall turn out, keep or graze on any undivided or unenclosed land any animal that the person knows is affected or contaminated by, or has been exposed to, any reportable disease or toxic substance.

10. No person shall, without a licence issued by an inspector or officer, bring into any market, fair or other place any animal that is known by the person to be affected or contaminated by, or has been exposed to, any reportable disease or toxic substance.

11. No person shall, without a licence issued by an inspector or officer, sell or offer or expose for sale or otherwise transfer the ownership of

(a) any animal or any part of an animal that the person knows is affected or contaminated by, or has been exposed to, any reportable disease or toxic substance, or

(b) any animal product or animal by-product that the person knows was obtained from an animal that was affected or contaminated by, or was exposed to, any reportable disease or toxic substance at the time of its death,

whether or not the person is the owner of the animal, animal product or animal by-product.

12. No person shall throw or place in any body of water the carcass or any part of an animal that at the time of its death was to the person’s knowledge affected or contaminated by, or was exposed to, any disease or toxic substance, or that was destroyed because it was, or was suspected of being, affected or contaminated by a disease or toxic substance.

13. (1) No person shall, without lawful authority or excuse, dig up all or any part of the buried carcass of an animal that died or is suspected of having died as a result of being affected or contaminated by a disease or toxic substance, or that was destroyed because it was, or was suspected of being, affected or contaminated by a disease or toxic substance.

(2) The Minister may

(a) reserve for experimentation an animal required to be destroyed under this Act or the carcass of an animal destroyed under this Act; and

(b) authorize an inspector or officer to perform a post mortem examination of the carcass of an animal that has died or is suspected of having died from a disease or toxic substance and, if the carcass is buried, to dig it up for the purpose of the examination.

14. The Minister may make regulations prohibiting the importation of any animal or other thing into Canada, any part of Canada or any Canadian port, either generally or from any place named in the regulations, for such period as the Minister considers necessary for the purpose of preventing a disease or toxic substance from being introduced into or spread within Canada.

15. (1) No person shall possess or dispose of an animal or thing that the person knows was imported in contravention of this Act or the regulations.

(2) In any prosecution for an offence under subsection (1), an accused who is found to have been in possession of an animal or thing that was imported in contravention of this Act or the regulations shall be considered, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to have known that the thing was so imported.

16. (1) Where a person imports into Canada any animal, animal product, animal byproduct, animal food or veterinary biologic, or any other thing used in respect of animals or contaminated by a disease or toxic substance, the person shall, either before or at the time of importation, present the animal, animal product, animal by-product, animal food, veterinary biologic or other thing to an inspector, officer or customs officer who may inspect it or detain it until it has been inspected or otherwise dealt with by an inspector or officer.

(2) The Minister may make regulations for exempting animals or things from the application of this section and respecting the manner of presenting things for inspection.

17. Subject to section 18, where an animal or thing is imported or is attempted to be imported into Canada in contravention of this Act or the regulations, it shall be forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be disposed of as the Minister may direct.

18. (1) Where an inspector or officer believes on reasonable grounds that an animal or thing has been imported into Canada and that it

(a) was imported in contravention of this Act or the regulations,

(b) is or could be affected or contaminated by a disease or toxic substance, or

(c) is a vector,

the inspector or officer may, whether or not the animal or thing is seized, require the owner or the person having the possession, care or control of the animal or thing to remove it from Canada.

(2) A requirement under subsection (1) shall be communicated by personal delivery of a notice to the person being required to remove the animal or thing or by sending the notice to the person, and the notice may specify the period within which and the manner in which the animal or thing is to be removed.

(3) An animal or thing that is required to be removed from Canada shall be deemed not to have been forfeited under section 17.

(4) Where the animal or thing is not removed from Canada as required under this section, it shall, notwithstanding section 45, be forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be disposed of as the Minister may direct.

19. (1) No person shall export an animal from Canada by vessel or aircraft unless

(a) prior notice of the export of the animal has been given to a customs officer in charge of the place where the animal is to board the vessel or aircraft and the animal has been presented to a veterinary inspector in accordance with subsection (2) at that place; and

(b) a certificate of the veterinary inspector has been received by the person certifying that all the prescribed requirements respecting the health, protection and transportation of the animal have been complied with.

(2) An animal that is required to be inspected shall be presented in such manner and under such conditions as the veterinary inspector considers necessary to carry out the inspection.

(3) A copy of the certificate referred to in paragraph (1)(b) shall be delivered to

(a) the master or agent of the vessel or the pilot in command or operator of the aircraft; and

(b) the chief officer of customs of the port or airport from which the vessel or aircraft is to depart.

(4) Where a vessel or aircraft that is to depart from Canada has an animal on board,

(a) no person shall send the vessel to sea or the aircraft on its flight, and

(b) no person in charge of the vessel or aircraft shall take the vessel to sea or the aircraft on its flight,

unless a copy of a certificate in respect of the animal has been delivered in accordance with subsection (3).

(5) The chief officer of customs referred to in paragraph (3)(b) shall detain animals until a copy of the certificate referred to in paragraph (1)(b) has been delivered to that officer.

(6) The Minister may make regulations exempting animals or categories of animals and shipments and categories of shipments from the application of this section.

20. Nothing in this Act affects

(a) the provisions of the Canada Shipping Act respecting port wardens,

(b) chapter 33 of the Statutes of Canada, 1871, entitled An Act to provide for the appointment of a Port Warden for the Harbor of Quebec,

(c) chapter 11 of the Statutes of Canada, 1873, entitled An Act to amend the Acts relating to Port Wardens at Montreal and Quebec, or

(d) chapter 45 of the Statutes of Canada, 1882, entitled An Act to amend and consolidate the Acts relating to the office of Port Warden for the Harbour of Montreal,

and this Act shall, with respect to the ports to which the Acts referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) apply, be construed as having been enacted in addition to and not in derogation from those Acts.

21. The Minister may provide assistance, both financial and technical, to any person or government outside Canada in controlling or eradicating a disease or toxic substance that affects or could affect persons or animals in Canada.

22. (1) Where an inspector or officer suspects or determines that a disease or toxic substance exists in a place and is of the opinion that it could spread or that animals or things entering the place could become affected or contaminated by it, the inspector or officer may in writing declare that the place is infected and identify the disease or toxic substance that is believed to exist there, and such a declaration may subsequently be amended by the inspector or officer.

(2) When the declaration is delivered to the occupier or owner of the place to which it relates, the place, together with all contiguous lands, buildings and other places occupied or owned by the occupier or owner, constitutes an infected place.

23. (1) For the purpose of preventing the spread of a disease or toxic substance, an inspector or officer may in writing declare that any land, building or other place, any part of which lies within five kilometres of the limits of a place declared to be infected under section 22, is infected and identify the disease or toxic substance that could spread there.

(2) When the declaration has been delivered to the occupier or owner of any land, building or other place mentioned in subsection (1), the land, building or other place, together with all contiguous lands, buildings and other places occupied or owned by the same occupier or owner, constitutes an infected place.

24. Where an inspector or officer cannot, after the exercise of due diligence, find the occupier or owner of any land, building or other place, delivery of a declaration may be effected by posting it on the building or on any building or conspicuous object on the land or at the place.

25. (1) Subject to any regulations made under paragraph 64(1)(k), no person shall, without a licence issued by an inspector or officer, remove from or take into an infected place any animal or thing.

(2) Where an inspector or officer believes on reasonable grounds that any animal or thing has been removed from or taken into an infected place in contravention of subsection (1), the inspector or officer may, whether or not the animal or thing is seized,

(a) return it to or remove it from the infected place, or move it to any other place; or

(b) require its owner or the person having the possession, care or control of it to return it to or remove it from the infected place, or move it to any other place.

(3) A requirement under paragraph (2)(b) shall be communicated by personal delivery of a notice to the owner or person having the possession, care or control of the animal or thing or by sending the notice to the owner or person, and the notice may specify the period within which and the manner in which the animal or thing is to be returned or removed.

26. A place, or any part of a place, that has been constituted to be an infected place by the delivery of a declaration under section 22 or 23 ceases to be an infected place when an inspector or officer declares in writing that the disease or toxic substance described in the declaration

(a) does not exist in, or will not spread from, the place or the part of the place; or

(b) is not injurious to the health of persons or animals.

27. (1) Where the Minister believes that a disease or toxic substance exists in an area, the Minister may declare the area to be a control area, describe the area and identify the disease or toxic substance that is believed to exist there.

(2) The Minister may take all reasonable measures consistent with public safety to remedy any dangerous condition or mitigate any danger to life, health, property or the environment that results, or may reasonably be expected to result, from the existence of a disease or toxic substance in a control area.

(3) The Minister may make regulations for the purposes of controlling or eliminating diseases or toxic substances in a control area and of preventing their spread, including regulations

(a) prohibiting or regulating the movement of persons, animals or things, including conveyances, within, into or out of a control area;

(b) providing for the establishment of zones within a control area and varying measures of control for each zone; and

(c) authorizing the disposal or treatment of animals or other things that are or have been in a control area.

(4) Where an inspector or officer believes on reasonable grounds that any animal or thing has been removed from, moved within or taken into a control area in contravention of a regulation made under subsection (3), the inspector or officer may, whether or not the animal or thing is seized,

(a) return it to or remove it from the control area, or move it to any other place; or

(b) require its owner or the person having the possession, care or control of it to return it to or remove it from the control area, or move it to any other place.

(5) A requirement under paragraph (4)(b) shall be communicated by personal delivery of a notice to the owner or person having the possession, care or control of the animal or thing, or by sending the notice to the owner or person, and the notice may specify the period within which and the manner in which the animal or thing is to be returned or removed.

28. For greater certainty, a declaration under section 22, 23, 26 or 27 is not a statutory instrument for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act, but the Minister shall take such steps as may be practicable in the circumstances to bring any declaration under section 27 to the notice of persons likely to be affected by it.