{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/animals-scientific-procedures-act-1986/section-17A",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/animals-scientific-procedures-act-1986/section-17A.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1986/14",
  "legislation_title": "Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/animals-scientific-procedures-act-1986",
  "path": "section/17A",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "17A",
  "heading": "Setting free and re-homing protected animals",
  "text": "(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—\n(a) the Secretary of State has consented to the setting free of the animal; or\n(b) the animal is set free during the course of a series of regulated procedures.\n(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.\n(3) The Secretary of State must not consent to the setting free or re-homing of a relevant protected animal unless satisfied—\n(a) that the animal’s state of health allows it to be set free or re-homed;\n(b) that the setting free or re-homing of the animal poses no danger to public health, animal health or the environment;\n(c) that there is an adequate scheme in place for ensuring the socialisation of the animal upon being set free or re-homed; and\n(d) that other appropriate measures have been taken to safeguard the animal’s well-being upon being set free or re-homed.\n(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.\n(5) For the purposes of this section—\n(a) “relevant protected animal” has the same meaning as in section 15A(11);\n(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a person who holds a licence under this Act includes a reference to a person who held a licence under this Act which is no longer in force;\n(c) an animal is not to be treated as being “re-homed” if it is moved to live in a place which is for the time being specified in a section 2C licence.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "S. 17A inserted (19.12.2012 for specified purposes, 1.1.2013 in so far as not already in force) by The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 Amendment Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/3039), reg. 1(2)(3)(b), 18 (with Sch. 3)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/14/section/17A",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:59:27.371223+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}