Wildlife Act 1953

2A: Meaning of possession

You could also call this:

"What it means to have something in your care or control, like an animal or pet"

When you have an animal or thing, you are said to be in possession of it. This means you have control over the animal or thing, or you have control over the place where it is, like a vehicle or a container. You can have possession of something on your own or with someone else.

If you are with other people and you all have animals together, the number of animals you have is shared among you. This is important if there is a rule about how many animals you can have. The total number of animals is divided by the number of people with them.

If someone finds an animal or thing with you, but you did not know it was there, you can say that as a defence. You can also say you did not know how many animals were there if that is against the rules. You can say someone else was in charge of the animal or thing if that is true.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM277085.


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2AA: Transitional, savings, and related provisions, or

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2AMeaning of possession

  1. Subject to the provisions of subsections (2) and (3), any animal or thing shall be deemed to be in the possession of any person when that person has, alone or jointly or in association with any other person, possession of or control over the animal or thing, or possession of or control over any vessel, vehicle, container, package, or place in or on which the animal or thing is.

  2. In any proceedings for an offence against this Act or any regulations under this Act, being an offence relating to the possession by the defendant of more than a specified number of animals, then, in any case where the defendant is acting jointly or in association with 1 or more other persons, the number of animals deemed pursuant to subsection (1) to be in the possession of the defendant for the purposes of those proceedings shall be ascertained by dividing by the number of persons acting jointly or in association the total number of animals found in the possession or under the control of the defendant and the other person or persons or in or on any vessel, vehicle, container, package, or place in the possession or under the control of the defendant and the other person or persons.

  3. In any proceedings for an offence against this Act or any regulations under this Act, being an offence relating to the possession of any animal or thing found in or on any vessel, vehicle, container, package, or place in the possession or under the control of the defendant, alone or jointly or in association with any other person, it shall be a good defence if the defendant satisfies the court that—

  4. he did not know and had no reasonable opportunity of knowing that the animal or thing was in or on the vessel, vehicle, container, package, or place; or
    1. in the case of any animal or thing found in or on any vessel or vehicle or place, the animal or thing was in the possession or under the control of some other person in or on that vessel or vehicle or place; or
      1. in the case of an offence relating to the possession of more than a specified number of animals, he did not know and had no reasonable opportunity of knowing that the number of those animals in or on any vehicle, vessel, container, package, or place exceeded that specified number.
        Notes
        • Section 2A: inserted, on , by section 2(1) of the Wildlife Amendment Act 1964 (1964 No 63).