Animals Act 1971 (Amendment) Bill

I think that my hon. Friend will find that that does not follow because that Act creates criminal liability, not civil liability, and that is a rather different kettle of fish. The same issue arises from the Guard Dogs Act 1975 because it creates criminal liability, not civil liability. In the end, that is the basic problem. We have strict liability in relation to product liability, and certain aspects of occupiers' liability involve strict liability, so it is nothing new. However, the feature that makes something worthy of strict liability is an imbalance between the parties: the victim and the person who owns—that is ““owns”” in the broadest sense—the hazard. Under the Factories Act, strict liability is applied because of the imbalance of the relationship between the owner of the machine in the factory and their employee. In product liability, there is strict liability between a product's manufacturer and its consumer. In occupiers' liability, there is strict liability in certain circumstances between the owner of the land and the visitor to it. In those examples, there is a significant power imbalance between the groups concerned. I believe that there is a power imbalance between the owner of an animal, who is in a position to insure for what the animal might do—even if the way in which they look after the animal is not negligent—and the victim who is injured. That makes the argument in favour of strict liability in this case.