Vol. 447 No. 11
201 Mr. O'Leary asked the Minister for Justice if she will introduce legislation to provide for fines of £500 in respect of the release of wandering horses picked up in housing estates and subsequently impounded by the local authority; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3914/94]
The Animals Act, 1985, provides that any person who unlawfully releases a horse from a pound commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding £750 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding nine months or to both. I have no plans at present to increase that penalty.
A pound fee must be paid for the recovery of a horse from a pound. Pound fees cover the impounding and care of chattels and, in the case of animals, the care and sustenance of and attendance on the animals, as well as any other expenses incurred by the poundkeeper in relation to impounding the animals, other than the cost of transporting the animals to the pound.
The pound fee in respect of impounding a horse is £23 for each period of 24 hours or part of such period.
Arrangements for a revision of the Pounds (Amendment) Regulations, 1990, to prescribe an increase in pound fees, are at an advanced stage in my Department.
