Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980 Power of local authorities to provide public slaughterhouses. 1 Subject to section 3 of this Act, a local authority may provide and, if they think fit, operate a slaughterhouse and may dispose of any slaughterhouse belonging to them by ... sale, lease or excambion; and any slaughterhouse so disposed of shall be deemed to be disposed of under Part VI of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Acquisition of land for purposes relating to slaughterhouses. 2 1 A local authority may be authorised by the Secretary of State to purchase compulsorily any land, whether situated within or outside its area, for the purpose of any of their functions under section 1, or 3 of this Act. 2 In relation to the compulsory purchase of land under this section, the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) (Scotland) Act 1947 shall apply as if subsection (1) above had been in force immediately before the commencement of that Act. Management of public slaughterhouses. 3 1 A local authority by whom a slaughterhouse has been provided under section 1 of this Act or under any other enactment— a may make charges in respect of the use of the slaughterhouse and in respect of any services provided by them in connection therewith; and b may provide plant or apparatus for disposing of or treating waste matter or refuse, or processing by-products resulting from the slaughter of animals in such a slaughterhouse. 2 In fixing or varying any such charges as aforesaid a local authority shall consult with such persons or organisations as appear to them to be representative of interests substantially affected by such charges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Licensing of knackers’ yards. 6 1 A person carrying on the business of slaughterman or knacker shall not use any premises as a knacker’s yard without a licence from the local authority; and if he does he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale and the fact that animals (other than asses or mules) have been taken into unlicensed premises shall be prima facie evidence that an offence under this section has been committed. 2 A licence under this section shall expire on such day in every year as the local authority fix and when a licence is first granted shall expire on the day so fixed which secondly occurs after the grant of the licence; and a fee not exceeding twenty-five pence may be charged for the licence or any renewal thereof. 3 On receiving an application for the grant or renewal of a licence under this section, the local authority must publish notice of the application in one or more newspapers circulating in that local authority’s area specifying— a the address of the premises to which the application relates; b the period, being a period of not less than 21 days beginning with the day on which the notice is published, before the end of which any person may object to the grant or renewal of the licence; and c that any objections are to be made in writing to the local authority and, in the case of an application for renewal of a licence, are to be served on the applicant in accordance with subsection (4). 4 An objection shall not be entertained to the renewal of a licence under this section unless seven days previous notice of the objection has been served on the applicant: Provided that, on an objection being made of which notice has not been given, the local authority may, if they think it just to do so, direct notice thereof to be served on the applicant, adjourn the question of the renewal to a future date, require the attendance of the applicant on that day, then hear the case and consider the objection as if the said notice had been duly given. 5 For the purposes of this section a licence shall be deemed to be renewed where a further licence is granted in immediate succession to a prior licence for the same premises. 6 Where any person has been refused a renewal of a licence under this section, such person may appeal to the Secretary of State against such refusal; and the decision of the Secretary of State shall be final. Further provisions in relation to registration in respect of slaughterhouses and to licensing of knackers’ yards. 7 1 In relation to the use of any premises for or in connection with the slaughter of horses— a a licence granted under section 6 of this Act; b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . shall be of no effect unless expressly authorising the use of the premises for that purpose. 2 Where any premises used or to be used for the confinement of animals awaiting slaughter in a . . . knacker’s yard are situated outside the curtilage of the premises used or to be used for the slaughter— a separate licences may be granted under the said section 6; . . . b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . authorising the use of those premises for those purposes respectively. 3 A licence under the said section 6 shall not be granted in respect of any premises unless the local authority are satisfied that the requirements of any regulations in force . . . with respect to the construction, lay-out and equipment of premises are complied with or will be complied with before the date on which the licence or renewed licence comes into force in respect of those premises; but nothing in this subsection shall be taken as affecting so much of the said section 6 as confers a right of appeal on a person aggrieved by the refusal of a local authority to renew a licence under that section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Securing humane conditions in slaughterhouses and knackers’ yards. 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Further powers of entry. 14 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The local authority shall have a right to enter any knacker’s yard at any hour between nine o’clock in the morning and six o’clock in the evening, or at any hour when business is in progress or is usually carried on therein, for the purpose of examining whether there is any contravention of— i section 6 of this Act; ii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Employment of slaughtermen by local authority. 17 Any local authority who have provided or established a slaughterhouse may, if they think fit, employ persons to slaughter or stun animals . . . and may make such charges as they consider reasonable for the services of the persons so employed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Enforcement. 19 1 It shall be the duty of every local authority to execute and enforce within their area the provisions of— section 7 of this Act; but this subsection shall not be construed as authorising a local authority to institute proceedings for any offence. 1A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 For the purposes of any regulations made under section 16 of the Food Safety Act 1990 (regulations as to food hygiene) in respect of any premises to which the provisions mentioned in subsection (1)(i) above apply, the provisions of section 32 of the said Act of 1990 (power to enter premises) shall apply in relation to an authorised officer of the Secretary of State as they apply in relation to an authorised officer of the local authority who are empowered to enforce those regulations so far as they apply to such premises. Codes of practice. 19A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Regulations. 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defraying of certain expenses. 21 A local authority owning a slaughterhouse may, if they so determine, defray out of the funds from which such slaughterhouse is maintained any expenses incurred by them in the exercise of their powers under section ... . . . 17 of this Act. Interpretation. 22 In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “ animal ” means any description of cattle, sheep, goat, swine or horse; “ constable ” has the same meaning as in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 ; “ enactment ” includes an enactment contained in a local Act and any order, regulation or other instrument having effect by virtue of an Act; “ grant ”, in relation to a licence, includes renew or, as the case may be, renewal; “ horse ” includes ass and mule; “ knacker’s yard ” means any premises used in connection with the business of slaughtering, flaying or cutting up animals the flesh of which is not intended for human consumption; and “ knacker ” means a person whose business it is to carry out such slaughtering, flaying or cutting up “ local authority ” means a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 ; “ premises ”, except in section 6, means a building or any part thereof and any forecourts, yards and places of storage used in connection therewith; and in section 6 extends to any facilities for moving animals and any stall, pen, covered area or field used by the knacker’s yard in order to confine an animal until it is killed or to give it any necessary attention before it is killed ; “ slaughterhouse ” means a place for slaughtering animals, the flesh of which is intended for sale for human consumption, and includes any place available in connection with such a place for the confinement of animals while awaiting slaughter there or keeping , or subjecting to any treatment or process, products of the slaughtering of animals there; and “ slaughterman ” means a person whose business it is to carry out such slaughtering Consequential amendments. 23 The enactments specified in Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments there specified, being amendments consequential upon the provisions of this Act. Transitional provisions, savings and repeals. 24 1 The transitional provisions and savings contained in Schedule 2 to this Act shall have effect. 2 Subject to the provisions of the said Schedule 2, the enactments specified in Schedule 3 to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of the said Schedule 3. 3 Nothing in this Act shall be taken as prejudicing the operation of sections 16 and 17 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (which relate to the effect of repeals). Citation and extent. 25 1 This Act may be cited as the Slaughter of Animals (Scotland) Act 1980. 2 This Act extends to Scotland only.