Animal Welfare Act
(AniWA)

¹ If it is found that an­im­als are be­ing neg­lected or housed un­der com­pletely un­suit­able con­di­tions, the com­pet­ent au­thor­it­ies must in­ter­vene im­me­di­ately. They may con­fis­cate the an­im­als as a pre­cau­tion­ary meas­ure and house them in a suit­able place at the ex­pense of the an­im­al keep­er; if ne­ces­sary, they shall ar­range for the an­im­als to be sold or eu­th­an­ised. In do­ing so, they may en­list the as­sist­ance of po­lice au­thor­it­ies.

² The pro­ceeds of the sale of the an­im­als shall be giv­en to the an­im­al keep­er after the costs of the pro­ced­ure have been de­duc­ted.

³ If crim­in­al of­fences un­der this Act come to light, the au­thor­it­ies re­spons­ible for en­force­ment must re­port the of­fence.³¹

⁴ In minor cases, the au­thor­it­ies re­spons­ible for en­force­ment may de­cide not to re­port the of­fence.³²