IMPOUNDING OF STOCK

Taupo Times, Volume IV, Issue 174, 27 May 1955, Page 8

IMPOUNDING OF STOCK

Power To Shoot Wild Horses The Impounding Bill recently read a first time in Parliament revises existing legislation with regard to the impounding of stock, the changes being designed to meet present-day needs. The present Impounding Act has for some considerable time been regarded as hopelessly out of date. Important changes proposed in the Bill include increases in the fees and charges . payable under. the existing legislation, it having long been recognised that the fact that the existing Act was largely inoperative was in the main due to the inadequacy of the fees provided. The proposed charges under the new Bill are at least double f ormer charges, and in some cases higher. Damages for stock trespass on land in a city or borough may, under the provisions of the new Bill, be claimed whether the land is fenced or not. The Municipal Association has strongly represented that under modern conditions a person who keeps stock inside a Borough or Town District should be obliged to fence them in, or if he fails to do so should be liable for damage done to property, even if that property is unfenced. Another change is that when stock are straying on the roads the fine provided is - applicable whether the stock are impounded or merely returned to their owner-. A new provision deals with wild cattle and horses straying on roads. Because of their wildness these cannot always be impounded and it is proposed to give power for them to be destroyed, if the ownership is not known to the local authority or cannot reasonably be ascertained, providing a certificate authorising the destruction has been signed by two members of the local authority. This provision is designed to deal with the serious problem of wild horses in some areas, and has been widely sought by local bodies affected. A provision that will be of considerable help in counties is one allowing the local authority to declare any paddock or yard on private property to be a pound with the owner's consent. The fime for which impounded stock must be dield before sale is reduced, and unclaimed impounded stock may be sold at any place notified by the local authority. Previously they had to be sold at the pound. The l^ill will come before Parliament when the session resumes after the recess.