Australian Capital Territory Current Acts Australian Capital Territory Current Acts(1) A person commits an offence if the person releases an animal from captivity.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units.
(2) An offence against this section is a strict liability offence.
(3) This section does not apply to the release of a dog or a cat if the release would not constitute an offence under the Domestic Animals Act 2000
.
Note The defendant has an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (3) (see Criminal Code
, s 58).
(4) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against this section if the defendant proves that the defendant took all reasonable precautions and exercised all appropriate diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.
(5) A person also has the benefit of the chapter 6 exceptions for an offence against this section.
Note The chapter 6 exceptions are set out in s 153.