Branding of Stock Act

This Act may be cited as the Branding of Stock Act.

Defines terms used in the Act (e.g. “brand”, “branding directory”, “branding-iron”, “brand­ing instrument”, “cattle”, “distinctive mark”, “holding”, “horse”, “inspector”, “register”, “registrar”, “residence”, “stock”).

The registrar must publish in the Gazette, as soon as possible after 1st January each year, a Form A statement of all brands registered during the preceding year with owners' names and addresses.

The registrar must compile an annual brand directory and forward copies to specified police and brand officials.

Transfers of registered brands require both transferor and prospective transferee to sign Form D and send it to the registrar with a fee; the registrar may cancel and re-register or return fees and refuse, and on certain sales shall not transfer the brand.

Owners may surrender a registered brand; the registrar must cancel on receipt of notice and may cancel unused brands after notice and a three‑month show‑cause period.

The registrar must keep a book recording all transfers, surrenders and cancellations of brands, and must notify the Gazette as soon as practicable.

Section 15 was repealed by ActNo. 8 of 1968, Sch.

Vendors or transferors must immediately brand each head of sold or transferred stock with the reverse of their registered brand when the stock bears a brand registered under this Act.

Section 17 has been repealed.

The registrar must allot and register a brand for every public pound; poundmasters must brand impounded stock on sale; failure to comply is an offence punishable by a fine up to 1,500 shillings or imprisonment up to six months in default of payment.

The Director of Veterinary Services may register brands for use on stock by the Veterinary Department; authorised persons may lawfully use those brands on stock.

Local authorities may register brands for devices; authorised persons may lawfully use those brands on stock in accordance with by-laws.

Stock owners must not use letters or figures as part of a distinctive mark.

The registrar may prohibit the use of distinctive marks similar to registered brands; anyone marking stock with such a prohibited mark commits an offence punishable by up to six months' imprisonment and possible confiscation of the marked stock.

The Cabinet Secretary may appoint a registrar of brands (whose office must be in Nairobi) and inspectors; the Director of Veterinary Services may also appoint inspectors of brands.

The registrar must keep a register (Form A, First Schedule) of all brands allotted under this Act.

The registrar may, at the request of the owner, allot another vacant combination in the register for the same district.

When a brand is registered, the registrar must give the applicant a certificate of registration.

Every registered brand must be in the form specified by the registrar.

Limits brands to one per person per district; allows a public body to be allocated multiple brands as the registrar may determine; sets minimum branded character height of one and a quarter inches for horses, cattle and ostriches.

The first brand must be imprinted on the animal's near hind leg below the stifle joint; each second or subsequent brand, when there is sufficient space, must be imprinted on the same part and at least one and a half inches directly below the last brand.

The Cabinet Secretary may, by notice in the Gazette, prescribe or change the dominant letter or other mark for brands in districts or subdistricts and may add or remove districts or subdistricts from the Second Schedule.

Butchers, poundmasters and auctioneers must keep a book recording brands on animals; persons who slaughter or dispose of animals with altered, blotched or defaced branded hides must report the matter in writing to the nearest inspector of brands within forty-eight hours or face offence and penalties.

Persons who slaughter livestock for sale must keep the hides with brands or ear marks intact for five days; inspectors or police may inspect those hides; contravention is an offence punishable by a fine up to seven hundred shillings or up to three months' imprisonment, or both.

Inspectors of brands and police officers may enter premises where stock is kept, inspect and seize stock and related branding items for breaches; obstructing or refusing inspection is an offence punishable by a fine up to two thousand shillings, imprisonment up to six months, or both; a magistrate may forfeit seized animals when the offender is unknown after giving owner an opportunity to show cause.

Inspectors of brands (except police officers) must keep current copies of the brands directory and Gazettes with registered brands, and must permit searches of those copies on receipt of a fee of five shillings at all reasonable hours.

Provides rules about the shape and pattern of branding-irons and other marking instruments.

Service of notices: personally upon the person to whom the notice is addressed.

Anyone who makes, offers for sale, uses, attempts to use, permits use of, or possesses certain branding instruments contrary to the Act commits an offence punishable by a fine up to two thousand shillings or up to six months' imprisonment.

It is an offence for a person to wilfully brand or imprint with their distinctive mark any stock they do not own, or to cause such branding; punishable by a fine up to 3,000 shillings or imprisonment up to 12 months, or both.

Anyone who brands livestock with marks other than brands made and registered under the Act is guilty of an offence and may be fined up to two thousand shillings or imprisoned up to six months; the owner of a registered brand may mark stock on the cheek, horns or ears only to note age, class or description.

Any person who wilfully blotches, defaces, renders illegible, alters a brand or distinctive mark on stock, or causes or permits this, commits an offence punishable by a fine up to two thousand shillings, imprisonment up to six months, or both.

Makes it an offence to knowingly and unlawfully insert or permit the insertion of any false entry or diagram about a brand in registers, certificates, brands directories, quarterly statements, or extracts.

On trial for theft or receiving stolen hides/stock, the prosecution may give evidence identifying the brand on the hide or animal as that of the alleged owner or a person through whom the owner derived title; a registrar’s certificate or Gazette copy of the owner’s brand is prima facie proof of the facts stated.

When a hide has been mutilated so brands or marks are illegible, the accused must prove they owned the animal or hide in prosecutions for theft.

Any person who wilfully fails to comply with or offends against the Act where no penalty is provided is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding six hundred shillings, or in default of payment to imprisonment for up to two months.