reg 18 Setting free and re-homing protected animals
After section 17 insert— Setting free and re-homing protected animals (17A) (1) A person who holds a licence under this Act must not set free a relevant protected animal, or permit any person acting on their behalf to do so, unless— (a) the Secretary of State has consented to the setting free of the animal; or (b) the animal is set free during the course of a series of regulated procedures. (2) A person who holds a licence under this Act must not re-home a relevant protected animal, or permit any person acting on their behalf to do so, unless the Secretary of State has consented to the re-homing of the animal. (3) The Secretary of State must not consent to the setting free or re-homing of a relevant protected animal unless satisfied— (a) that the animal’s state of health allows it to be set free or re-homed; (b) that the setting free or re-homing of the animal poses no danger to public health, animal health or the environment; (c) that there is an adequate scheme in place for ensuring the socialisation of the animal upon being set free or re-homed; and (d) that other appropriate measures have been taken to safeguard the animal’s well-being upon being set free or re-homed. (4) The Secretary of State must not consent to the setting free of a relevant protected animal which has been taken from the wild unless the Secretary of State is also satisfied that the animal has undergone a programme of rehabilitation or that it would be inappropriate for the animal to be required to undergo such a programme. (5) For the purposes of this section— (a) “ relevant protected animal ” has the same meaning as in section 15A(11); (b) a reference to a person who holds a licence under this Act includes a reference to a person who held a licence under this Act which is no longer in force; (c) an animal is not to be treated as being “re-homed” if it is moved to live in a place which is for the time being specified in a section 2C licence.