{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/welfare-of-animals-act-northern-ireland-2011/section-8",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/welfare-of-animals-act-northern-ireland-2011/section-8.json",
  "legislation": "nia/2011/16",
  "legislation_title": "Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/welfare-of-animals-act-northern-ireland-2011",
  "path": "section/8",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "8",
  "heading": "Fighting etc.",
  "text": "(1) A person commits an offence if that person—\n(a) causes an animal fight to take place, or attempts to do so;\n(b) knowingly receives money for admission to an animal fight;\n(c) knowingly publicises a proposed animal fight;\n(d) provides information about an animal fight to another with the intention of enabling or encouraging attendance at the fight;\n(e) makes or accepts a bet on the outcome of an animal fight or on the likelihood of anything occurring or not occurring in the course of an animal fight;\n(f) takes part in an animal fight;\n(g) owns or has in his or her possession anything designed or adapted for use in connection with an animal fight with the intention of its being so used;\n(h) keeps or trains an animal for use in connection with an animal fight;\n(i) keeps, uses or manages, or permits or assists in the keeping or use or management of, any premises for use for an animal fight.\n(2) A person commits an offence if, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, that person is present at an animal fight.\n(3) A person commits an offence if, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, that person—\n(a) knowingly supplies a photograph, image or video recording of an animal fight;\n(b) knowingly publishes a photograph, image or video recording of an animal fight;\n(c) knowingly shows a photograph, image or video recording of an animal fight to another; or\n(d) possesses a photograph, image or video recording of an animal fight, knowing it to be such a recording, with the intention of supplying it.\n(4) Subsection (3) does not apply—\n(a) in the case of paragraph (a), to the supply of a video recording for inclusion in a programme service;\n(b) in the case of paragraph (b) or (c), to the publication or showing of a video recording by means of its inclusion in a programme service;\n(c) in the case of paragraph (d), by virtue of intention to supply for inclusion in a programme service.\n(5) In this section—\n“animal fight” means an occasion on which a protected animal is placed with an animal, or with a human, for the purpose of fighting, wrestling or baiting;\n“programme service” has the same meaning as in the Communications Act 2003 (c. 21);\n“video recording” means a recording, in any form, from which a moving image may by any means be reproduced and includes data stored on a computer disc or by other electronic means which is capable of conversion into a moving image.\n(6) In this section—\n(a) references to supplying or publishing a video recording are to supplying or publishing a video recording in any manner, including, in relation to a video recording in the form of data stored electronically, by means of transmitting such data;\n(b) references to showing a video recording are to showing a moving image reproduced from a video recording by any means.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2011/16/section/8",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T20:20:48.924782+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."
}