86AEar-marking or tattooing of animals

86A Ear-marking or tattooing of animals

86A Ear-marking or tattooing of animals

(1) A veterinary practitioner who desexes a female companion animal is to ear-mark or tattoo the animal, for the purpose of indicating that the animal is desexed, at the time that it is under anaesthetic for the desexing procedure.

(2) Subsection (1) does not authorise or require any ear-marking or tattooing procedure to be undertaken without the consent of the owner of the companion animal.

(3) Subsection (1) does not apply if—

(a) the veterinary practitioner has sought the consent of the owner of the companion animal and the owner has denied consent to the ear-marking or tattooing procedure, or

(b) the veterinary practitioner considers that the ear-marking or tattooing procedure cannot be undertaken safely and humanely at that time.

(4) For the purposes of this section, the Departmental Chief Executive may, from time to time, prepare, adopt or vary guidelines relating to ear-marking or tattooing of companion animals.

s 86A: Ins 2018 No 27, Sch 1 [18].