Welfare of Deer Regulations, 1994

WELFARE OF DEER REGULATIONS 1994 I, JOE WALSH, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the Protection of Animals Kept for Farming Purposes Act, 1984 (No. 13 of 1984), as adapted by the Agriculture and Food (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1993 (S.I. No. 11 of 1993), hereby make the following Regulations: REG 1 1. These Regulations may be cited as the Welfare of Deer Regulations, 1994. REG 2 2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1994. REG 3 3. In these Regulations "deer" means a cervine animal. REG 4 4. No person shall remove, or cause or permit to be removed, the antlers of a deer or any part of them while those antlers are in live velvet. REG 5 5. Nothing in Regulation 4 of these Regulations shall apply to the removal of the antlers of a deer or any part of them if the removal is carried out— ( a ) under and in accordance with a licence under section 8 of the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876, as amended and adapted, ( b ) in an emergency, for the purpose of saving life, treating an injury or relieving pain in that or any other animal or in man, or ( c ) by a veterinary surgeon where, in his opinion— (i) disease or injury is present, and (ii) the proper treatment for the disease or injury is, or includes, such removal: Provided however that nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to authorise the removal of the antlers of a deer or any part of them without the use of an anaesthetic so administered by a veterinary surgeon as to prevent any pain during the removal. GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 29th day of August, 1994. JOE WALSH, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry. EXPLANATORY NOTE. These Regulations prohibit the removal of deer antlers in velvet except in certain limited cases.