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Authorised officers.
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7.— (1) The Principal Act is amended—
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(a) by substituting for section 126 the following:
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“Power to inspect premises for the purposes of section 125(a) or (c).
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126.— (1) An authorised officer, in order to perform his or her functions under section 125(a) or (c), may do all or any of the following:
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(a) enter and inspect, at all reasonable times, a premises in which he or she has reasonable grounds for believing veterinary medicine is carried on or which is otherwise connected with the practice of veterinary medicine;
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(b) at such premises inspect and take copies of any books, records, other documents (including documents stored in non-legible form) or extracts from them, which he or she finds in the course of his or her inspection;
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(c) remove any such books, records or documents from such premises and detain them for such period as he or she reasonably considers to be necessary for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act;
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(d) carry out, or have carried out, such examinations, tests, inspections and checks as he or she reasonably considers to be necessary for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act of—
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(i) the premises,
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(ii) any equipment at the premises,
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(iii) any animal remedies at the premises,
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(iv) any animals at the premises;
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(e) require any person at the premises or the owner or person in charge of the premises and any person employed there to give to him or her such assistance and information and to produce to him or her such books, documents, or other records (and in the case of documents or records stored in non-legible form, produce to him or her legible reproductions of them) that are in that person’s power or procurement, as he or she may reasonably require for the purpose of his or her functions under this Act;
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(f) take samples of any animal remedy or any article used in the practice of veterinary medicine found at the premises for the purposes of analysis and examination;
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(g) secure for later inspection any premises or part of any premises in which an animal is or has been kept or where an animal remedy or an article used in the practice of veterinary medicine is found or ordinarily kept, or records, books or documents are found or ordinarily kept, for such period as may reasonably be necessary for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act;
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(h) take possession of or remove from the premises for examination and analysis any animal found on the premises or any animal remedy or article used in the practice of veterinary medicine and detain them for such period as he or she considers reasonably necessary for the purposes of his or her functions under this Act.
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(2) Where, upon reasonable grounds, an authorised officer believes that a person has committed an offence under this Act he or she may require that person to provide him or her with his or her name and the address at which he or she ordinarily resides.
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(3) An authorised officer shall not, except under a warrant under section 126A or with the consent of the occupier, enter a domestic dwelling for the purposes of this section.
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(4) In this section and section 126A—
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‘premises’ means any place, ship or other vessel, aircraft, railway wagon or other vehicle, and includes a container used to transport animal remedies, animals, or equipment used in the practice of veterinary medicine but does not include a State premises within the meaning of section 105;
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‘record’ includes, in addition to a record in writing—
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(a) a disc, tape, sound-track or other device, including an electronic device, in which information, sounds or signals are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in legible or audible form,
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(b) a film, tape or other device, including an electronic device, in which visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in visual form,
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(c) a photograph,
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and any reference to a copy of a record includes—
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(i) in the case of a record to which paragraph (a) applies, a transcript of the sounds or signals embodied in it,
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(ii) in the case of a record to which paragraph (b) applies, a still reproduction of the images embodied in it, and
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(iii) in the case of a record to which paragraphs (a) and (b) apply, such a transcript together with such a still reproduction;
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‘vehicle’ means any conveyance in or by which any person or thing, or both, is transported which is designed for use on land, or in water or in the air, or in more than one of those ways, and includes—
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(a) part of a vehicle,
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(b) an article designed as a vehicle but not capable of functioning as a vehicle,
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(c) a container or skip designed or used for carriage on a vehicle or a trailer designed for use or used with a vehicle.”,
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and
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(b) by inserting after section 126 the following:
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“Search warrants.
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126A.— If a judge of the District Court is satisfied on the sworn information of an authorised officer that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that information required by an authorised officer for the purpose of section 125(a) or (c) is held at any premises, place or vehicle, the judge may issue a warrant authorising the authorised officer, accompanied if the authorised officer considers it necessary by other authorised officers, at any time or times within one month from the date of issue of the warrant, on production of the warrant if so required, to enter, if need be by reasonable force, the premises, place or vehicle and exercise all or any of the powers conferred on an authorised officer under section 126.”.
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(2) Section 127 of the Principal Act is repealed.
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