Glanders and Farcy Act,1899

The Glanders and Farcy Act, 1899 is a public health law aimed at controlling glanders and farcy — dangerous, contagious diseases affecting horses — and by extension camels, asses, and mules. It only applies where a Provincial Government has formally extended it to a local area under Section 3.

Section 2 defines a diseased animal as one affected by glanders, farcy, or any other epidemic disease the Provincial Government has notified. Section 4 lets the Provincial Government appoint Inspectors, who are treated as public servants under the Pakistan Penal Code. Section 5 gives Inspectors power to enter and search fields, buildings, or other places to look for diseased horses, and Section 6 lets them seize any horse they reasonably believe is diseased.

Section 7 requires a seized horse to be examined by a Veterinary Practitioner. Section 8 provides that if the horse is certified diseased, the Inspector must have it destroyed immediately (except for diseases other than glanders or farcy, where other treatment is allowed); if not certified diseased, the horse is returned to its owner. Section 9 lets an Inspector order the disinfection of any place where a diseased horse has been kept, with the cost recoverable from the owner if they fail to comply. Section 10 requires an owner to report a diseased horse, and Section 11 bars moving any horse that has been near a diseased horse without a licence, except to prevent infection.

Section 12 penalizes an Inspector who vexatiously and unnecessarily searches property or seizes a horse on a false pretence of disease, with imprisonment up to six months or a fine up to five hundred rupees, or both — though prosecution must start within three months. Section 13 penalizes an owner who ignores a disinfection notice or unlawfully moves a horse, with imprisonment up to one month or a fine up to fifty rupees, or both. Section 14 lets the Provincial Government make rules, including making rule violations punishable with the same penalties.

This is an 1899 law and is clearly very old, having been amended by the Glanders and Farcy (Amendment) Act, 1920 and various Adaptation Orders. The fine and imprisonment figures quoted here (e.g., five hundred rupees) date from that era and should be checked against the current official text and any related rules before being treated as current.