8.—(1) A person who has in his or her possession or under his or her control a farm animal shall, having regard to the animal’s nature, type, species, breed, development and environment, take all reasonable measures to ensure that—

(a) the animal is unable to stray from the land or premises where it is kept, and

(b) all buildings, gates, fences, hedges, boundary walls and other structures used to contain the animal are constructed and maintained in a manner that minimises—

(i) the risk that the animal will stray,

(ii) the risk, or spread, of disease onto or from the land or premises on which the animal is kept, and

(iii) the risk that the animal will damage the flora and fauna of the surrounding environment where the animal is F4[contained].

(2) A person shall not, without lawful excuse, damage or interfere with a building, gate, fence, hedge, boundary wall or other structure used to contain a farm animal.

(3) A person who fails to comply with subsection (1) or contravenes subsection (2) commits an offence.

(4) Where a person having possession or control of a farm animal fails to comply with subsection (1) and that person is not the owner of the farm animal, then the owner of the animal shall also have committed an offence under subsection (3), unless the owner shows that he or she took all reasonable steps to ensure that all necessary measures in the circumstances were taken to comply with subsection (1).