2.—(1) In this Act—

“aircraft” and “airport” have, respectively, the same meanings as they have in the Air Navigation and Transport (Amendment) Act 1998;

“animal” means a member of the kingdom animalae other than a human being;

“animal health levy” has the meaning assigned to it in section 26;

“animal health and welfare notice” has the meaning assigned to it in section 42;

“animal health and welfare regulations” means regulations made under section 36 and orders or regulations continued in force under section 75;

“animal product” means—

(a) the carcass, meat or other food derived from an animal or anything that contains a food derived from an animal,

(b) the semen, egg, ovum, embryo or foetus of an animal,

(c) an animal by-product or anything containing an animal by-product,

F2[(ca) the wool, skin, fur or feathers derived from an animal,]

(d) a sample derived from an animal, or

(e) any thing derived from an animal or that consists of or contains an animal product;

“arbitrator” means a person appointed under section 33;

“authorised officer” means—

(a) a member of the Garda Síochána,

(b) an officer of Customs and Excise, or

(c) a person appointed under section 37 during the period of his or her appointment;

“biosecurity” means the application of measures to reduce the risk of transmission of a disease or disease agent;

“code of practice” means a code of practice established or adopted under section 25;

“compensation” means compensation which may be paid under section 31;

“disease” means a disease including a zoonotic disease, specified in Schedule 2 or in an order made under section 7;

“disease agent” means any vector, prion, virus, rickettsia, bacterium, protozoan, fungus, helminth, arthropod, insect or other pathogen or organism that is capable of spreading a disease to, or causing a disease in, an animal or human being, but does not include an animal remedy (within the meaning of section 1 of the Animal Remedies Act 1993) that is lawfully administered to the animal;

“disqualification order” means an order under section 58(1);

“EU measure” means regulations made under the European Communities Act 1972, after the commencement of Part 7, relating to animals, animal products, animal feed, animal health and welfare or disease;

“farm animal” means an animal—

(a) bred or kept for the production of food, wool, skin, fur or feathers, or

(b) for use in, or for the purposes of, breeding, sport or the farming of land,

and includes (but is not limited to) bovine, ovine, porcine and caprine animals, cervidae, equidae, bees and poultry (including domesticated game birds);

“land” includes land covered by water;

“local authority” means a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act 2001;

“Minister” means Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine;

“premises” includes a building, a dwelling or other structure (whether temporary or permanent) on or under land or in water;

“protected animal” means an animal—

(a) kept for farming, recreational, domestic or sporting purposes in the State,

(b) when it is in the possession or under the control of a human being whether permanently or on a temporary basis, or

(c) that is not living in a wild state;

“public place” means a street, road or other place to which the public have access whether as of right or by permission and whether subject to or free of charge;

“purchase” means to acquire whether or not for consideration;

“record” includes a licence, identity document or passport issued in respect of an animal, memorandum, book, plan, map, drawing, diagram, pictorial or graphic work or other document, a photograph, film or recording (whether of sound or images or both), any form in which data F1[…] are held, any other form (including machine-readable form) or thing in which information is held or stored manually, mechanically, electronically or optically and anything that is a part or a copy, in any form, of any of the foregoing or is a combination of 2 or more of the foregoing;

“sell” includes offer, expose or keep for sale, invite an offer to buy, distribute, barter or exchange;

“supply” includes giving without payment;

“unnecessary suffering” means, in relation to an animal, pain, distress or suffering (whether physical or mental) that in its kind or degree, or in its object, or in the circumstances in which it occurs, is unreasonable or unnecessary;

“valuer” means a person appointed under section 32;

“vehicle” includes a trailer, designed for use or used with a vehicle, or container designed or used for carriage on a vehicle, whether either is attached to or detached from a vehicle;

“vessel” includes a hovercraft;

“veterinary practitioner” means a person registered under Part 4 of the Veterinary Practice Act 2005.

(2) A reference, however expressed, to an act adopted by an institution of the European Union includes an act adopted before 1 November 2009 by an institution of the European Communities.

(3) The person, being of full age, who has actual care and control of a person who is—

(a) under the age of 16 years, and

(b) the apparent owner or person in possession or control of a protected animal,

is, for the purposes of this Act, regarded as owning, possessing or being in control of the animal.

(4) This Act is in addition to and not in substitution for—

(a) the Control of Dogs Acts 1986 to 2010,

(b) the Control of Horses Act 1996,

(c) the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2010, and

(d) the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011.