22.— (1) The owner, occupier and operator of a dog breeding establishment that is not registered in the register maintained by the local authority in whose functional area the dog breeding establishment is situated shall each be guilty of an offence.

(2) This section shall not apply to the operator of a dog breeding establishment to which subsection (3) of section 9 applies—

(a) during the period referred to in that subsection, or

(b) where the operator of the dog breeding establishment has made an application under that subsection, during that period and such further period as begins on the expiration of the first-mentioned period and ends when the local authority to which it has made the application notifies the operator in writing of its decision in relation to the application.