Section 40Part 7 — Nuisances by, and Control of, Animals
Keeping dogs under proper control
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If a dog is dangerously out of control in a public place, the owner and, if different, the person for the time being in charge of the dog, commits an offence.
If a dog is dangerously out of control in a public place and while so out of control injures any person, the owner and, if different, the person for the time being in control of the dog, commits an aggravated offence.
In proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) or (2) against a person who is the owner of a dog but who was not, at the material time, in charge of it, it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that the dog was, at the material time, in the charge of a person whom the accused reasonably believed to be a fit and proper person to be in charge of it.
If the owner or, if different, the person for the time being in charge of a dog, allows it to enter a place which is not a public place but where it is not permitted to be and while it is there it injures any person or there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will do so, that owner, or person for the time being in charge, commits an offence, or, if the dog injures any person, an aggravated offence under this section.
A person who commits an offence under subsection (1), (2) or (4) other than an aggravated offence is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for six months and to a fine of four thousand dollars; and a person who commits an aggravated offence under any of those subsections is liable —
on summary conviction, to a fine of four thousand dollars or to imprisonment for six months; or
on conviction on indictment to a fine and to imprisonment for two years.