Animals Act 1971 (Amendment) Bill

I sense that the hon. Gentleman is trying to broaden the discussion from what my Bill is designed to achieve, which is to clarify the circumstances in which strict liability will apply. It is not about removing strict liability and leaving it all to the common law; it is about being clear about those cases where strict liability should rightly apply. My Bill clarifies the circumstances in which strict liability should apply. It reflects the idea that it is desirable that the keepers of animals that do not belong to a dangerous species should be strictly liable for damage or harm caused by an animal when they know that the animal in question may be dangerous at the time that the damage is caused, either because of its temperament or because of the circumstances applying at the time, such as when it has young to protect. The Bill replaces the wording of section 2(2) with a new formulation referring to the damage being caused by an"““unusual or conditional characteristic of the animal””." Unusual characteristics are defined as those that are not shared by the species generally, while conditional characteristics are those that are shared generally by the species, but only in particular circumstances. The new wording requires that for strict liability to apply in cases where an unusual characteristic was the cause of the damage, the keeper of the animal at the time that the damage was caused must have known of the characteristic in the animal. Where the damage is due to a conditional characteristic of the animal, it provides a defence to strict liability where the keeper of the animal when the incident took place is able to show that there was no particular reason to expect that the particular circumstances that provoked the conditional characteristic would arise at the time. The intention here is to allow the courts to distinguish between a continuing generalised risk that the keeper knows may occur at some time—for example, a horse shying at a plastic bag blowing in the wind near it—but does not know when it may occur, and a heightened specific risk over a specific period that the keeper knows will increase the possibility of the animal displaying dangerous behaviour, such as a cow with calves or a horse in a field next to a shoot. It is important to stress again that victims of negligent behaviour by keepers of animals would still have recourse to the usual avenues. Riding schools, farmers and pet owners would still be subject to the usual common-law negligence and health and safety laws. In that way, the Bill, by striking the appropriate balance between imposing strict liability for identifiable risks and protecting careful animal owners against risks that cannot be foreseen, would safeguard the rights of the injured.