CATTLE TRESPASS ACT, 1871

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THE CATTLE – TRESPASS ACT, 1871 
(I of 1871) 
CONTENTS 
1. Title and extent 
2. Repealed 
3. Interpretation – clauses 
4. Establishment of pounds 
5. Control of pounds, rates of charge for feeding impounded cattle 
6. Appointment of pound – keeper 
7. Duties of pound - keepers 
8. To register seizures 
9. To take charge of and feed cattle 
10. Cattle damaging land 
11. Cattle damaging public roads, canals and embankments 
12. Fines for cattle impounded 
13. Procedure when owner claims the cattle and pays fine and charges 
14. Procedure if cattle be not claimed within a weak 
15. Delivery to owner disputing legality of seizure but making deposit 
16. Procedure when owner refuses or omits to pay the fines and expenses 
17. Disposal of fines, expenses and surplus proceeds of sales 
18. Repealed 
19. Officers and pound-keepers not to purchase cattle at sale under act 
20. Power to make complaints 
21. Procedure on complaint 
22. Compensation for illegal seizure or detention 
23. Recovery  of compensation  
24. Penalty for forcibly opposing the seizure of cattle or rescuring the same 
25. Recovery of penalty for mischief committed by causing cattle to 
trespass 
26. Penalty for damage caused to land or crops or public roads by pigs 
27. Penalty on pound-keeper failing to perform duties 
28. Application of fines recovered under section 25,26 or 27. 
29. Saving or right to sue for compensation 
30. Set-off 
31. Power for provincial government to transfer certain functions to local 
authority and direct credit of surplus receipts to local fund 
 
TEXT 
THE CATTLE – TRESPASS ACT, 1871 
(I of 1871) 
[13th January, 1871]  
An 
Act 
to consolidate and amend the law Relating to trespasses by cattle 
Preamble.– WHEREAS it is expedient to consolidate and amend the law relating to 
trespasses by cattle; It is hereby enacted as follows:– 
CHAPTER-I 
PRELIMINARY 
1
1. Title and extent .– (1) This Act may be called the Cattle - trespass Act, 1871; 
and 
 (2) It extends to
2
 all the Provinces and the 
3
Capital of the Federation except 
4
such loc al areas as the 
5
Provincial Government, by notification in the Official 
Gazette, may from time to time exclude from its operation. 
 
6
[(3) * * * * * * * * * * *   ] 
2. (Repealed).– (By repealing Act-I of 1938) 
3. Interpretation – Clauses.– In this Act, 
 “Officer of police” includes also village-watchmen and  
 “cattle” includes also elephants, camels, buffaloes, horses, mares, geldings, 
ponies, colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs rams, ewes, sheep, lambs, goats and 
kids, and 
 “local authority” means anybody of persons for the time being invested by law 
with the control and administration of any matters within a specified local area, 
 
7
“local fund” means any fund under the control or management of a local 
authority. 
                                                 
1Subs. By Cattle-Trespass Act (1971) (Amendment) Act, 1891 (I of 1891) 
2Subs by the Central Laws (Statute Reform) Ordinance, 1960 (21 of 1960), S. 3 and 2 nd Sch. (with effect from the 14th October, 
1955) for all the Provinces and the Capital of the Federation” which subs. For “the whole of British India” by A.O. 1949, Ar ts. 3 
92) & 4. 
3This Act has been declared in force in Baluchistan by the British Baluchistan Laws Regulation, 1913 (2 of 1913). 
4The words “the Presidency-towns and” omitted by A.O. 1949, Sch. 
5Subs. By A.O. 1937 for “Local Government”. 
6Sub-section (3) repealed by the Repealing and Amending Act, 1914 (10 of 1914). 
7Ins. By Act I of 1891, S.2. 
CHAPTER-II 
POUNDS AND POUND KEEPERS 
4. Establishment of pounds .– Pounds shall be established at such places as 
the Magistrate of the District, subject to the general control of the Provincial 
Government, from time to time directs. The village by which every pound is to be 
used shall be determined by the Magistrate of the District. 
5. Control of pounds; Rates of charge for feeding impounded cattle .– The 
pounds shall be under the control of the Magistrate of the District; and he shall fix, 
and may from time to time alter, the rates of charge for feeding  and watering 
impounded cattle. 
6. Appointment of pound – keeper.– The Provincial Government shall appoint 
a pound-keeper for every pound. 
POUND – KEEPER MAY HOLD OTHER OFFICES 
Any pound – keeper may hold simultaneously any other office under the Crown. 
POUND – KEEPERS TO BE PUBLIC SERVANTS 
Every pound keeper shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of 
the Pakistan Penal Code. 
7. DUTIES OF POUND – KEEPERS:– 
To keep registers and furnish returns 
Every pound -keeper shall keep such registers a nd furnish such returns as the 
Provincial Government from time to time directs. 
8. To register seizures .– When cattle are brought to a pound, the pound -
keeper shall enter in his register– 
(a) The number and description of the animal, 
(b) The day and hour on and at which they were so brought, 
(c) The name and residence of the seizer, and 
(d) The name and residence of the owner, if known, and shall give the 
seizer or his agent a copy of the entry. 
9. To take charge of and feed cattle .– The pound-keeper shall take charge of, 
feed and water the cattle until they are disposed of as hereinafter directed. 
CHAPTER-III 
IMPOUNDING CATTLE 
10. Cattle damaging land.– The cultivator or occupier of any land,  or any person 
who has advanced cash for the cultivation of the cr op or produce of any land, or the 
vendee or mortgagee of such crop or produce of any part thereof may seize or cause 
to be seized any cattle trespassing on such land, and doing damage thereto or to 
any crop or produce thereon, and send them or cause them t o be sent within twenty-
four hours to the pound established for the village in which the land is situated. 
Police to aid seizures:– 
All officers of police shall, when required, aid in preventing 
 (a) Resistance to such seizures, and 
 (b) Rescues from persons making such seizures. 
11. Cattle damaging public roads, canals and embankments .– Persons in 
charge of public roads, pleasure -grounds, plantation canals, drainage -works, 
embankments and the like and officers of police, may seize, or cause to be seized 
any cattle doing damage to such roads, grounds, plantations, canals, drainage -
works, embankments and the like, or the sides or slopes of such roads, canals, 
drainage-works embankments or found straying thereon. 
And shall send them or cause them to be sent wi thin twenty- four hours to the 
nearest pound. 
8
12. Fines for cattle impounded .– For every head of cattle impounded as 
aforesaid, the pound -keeper shall levy a fine in accordance with the scale for the 
time being prescribed by the Provincial Government in t his behalf by notification in 
the Official Gazette, Different scales may be prescribed for different local areas, 
All fines so levied shall be sent to the Magistrate of the District through such 
officer as the Provincial Government may direct. 
LIST OF FINES AND CHAGES FOR FEEDING 
A list of the fines and of the rates of charge for feeding and watering cattle 
shall be posted in a conspicuous place on or near to every pound. 
CHAPTER-IV 
DELIVERY OR SALE OF CATTLE 
13. Procedure when owner claims the cattle and p ays fine and charges .– If 
the owner of the impounded cattle or his agent appears and claims the cattle, the 
pound-keeper shall deliver them to him on payment of the fines and charges incurred 
in respect of such cattle. 
 The owner or his agent, on taking ba ck the cattle – shall sign a receipt for 
them in the register kept by the pound-keeper. 
14. Procedure if cattle be not claimed within a week .– If the cattle be not 
claimed within seven days form the date of their being impounded, the pound -keeper 
shall report the fact to the officer -in-charge of the nearest police -station, or to such 
other officer as the Magistrate of the District appoints in this behalf. Such officer shall 
thereupon stick up in a conspicuous part of his office a notice stating:– 
 (a) The number and description of the cattle. 
                                                 
8Subs. By the Cattle-trespass (amendment) Act, 1921, (17 of 1921) S 2 for the original S. 12. Reference may be made to s. 71 
of the Forest Act, 1927 (16 of 1927) und er which the Provincial government may fix a different scale of fines for cattle 
impounded under section 70 of that Act. 
 (b) The place where they were seized. 
 (c) The place where they are impounded. 
And shall cause proclamation of the same to be made by beat of drum in the 
village and at the market place nearest to the place of seizure.  If the cattle be not 
claimed within seven days from the date of the notice they shall be sold by public 
auction by the said officer, or an officer of his establishment deputed for that 
purpose, at such place time and subject to such conditions as the Magi strate of the 
District by general or special order from time to time directs: 
Provided that, if any such cattle are, in the opinion of the Magistrate of the 
District, not likely to fetch a fair, price if sold as aforesaid, they may be disposed of in 
such manner as he thinks fit 
15. Delivery to owner disputing legality of seizure but making deposit.– If the 
owner or his agent appears and refuses to pay the said fines and expenses, on the 
ground that the seizure was illegal and that the owner is about to make  a complaint 
under section 20, then upon deposit of the fines and charges incurred in respect of 
the cattle, the cattle shall be delivered to him.  
16. Procedure when owner refuses or omits to pay the fines and expenses .– 
If the owner or his agent appears and refuses or omits to pay or (in the case 
mentioned in section 15) to deposit the said fines and expenses, the cattle, or as 
many of them as may be necessary, shall be sold by public auction by such officer at 
such place and time, and subject to such conditions, as are referred to in section 14. 
DEDUCTION OF FINES AND EXPENSES 
The fines leviable and the expenses of feeding and watering, together with the 
expenses of sale, if any, shall be deducted from the proceeds of the sale. 
DELIVERY OF UNSOLD CATTLE AND BALANCE OF PROCEEDS 
The remaining cattle and the balance of the purchase -money, if any , shall be 
delivered to the owner or his agent, together with an account showing.– 
 (a) The number of cattle seized, 
 (b) The time during which they have been impounded. 
 (c) The amount of fines and charges incurred, 
 (d) The number of cattle sold. 
 (e) The proceeds of sale, and 
 (f) The manner in which those proceeds have been disposed of. 
 The owner or his agent shall give a receipt for the cattle delivered to him an d 
for the balance of the purchase money (if any) paid to him according to such 
account. 
17. Disposal of fines, expenses and surplus proceeds of sales .– The Officer 
by whom the sale was made shall send to the Magistrate of the District the fines so 
deducted. 
The charges for feeding and watering deducted under section 16 shall be paid 
over to the pound-keeper, who shall also retain and appropriate all sums received by 
him on account of such charges under section 13.  The surplus unclaimed proceeds 
of the sale of cattle shall be sent to the Magistrate of the District, who shall hold them 
in deposit for three months, and, if no claim thereto be preferred and established 
within that period, shall, at its expiry, be deemed to hold them as part of revenues of 
the Province. 
18. (Repealed).– (By A.O.1937) 
19. Officers and pound -keepers not to purchase cattle at sale under Act .– 
No officer of police or other officer or pound -keeper appointed under the provisions 
herein contained shall, directly or indirectly, purchase any cattle as a sale under this 
Act. 
POUND-KEEPERS WHEN NOT TO RELEASE IMPOUNDED CATTLE 
No pound -keeper shall release or delivery any impounded cattle otherwise 
than in accordance with the former part of this Chapter, unless such release or 
delivery is ordered by a Magistrate or Civil Court. 
CHAPTER-V
9 
COMPLAINTS OF ILLEGAL SEIZURE OR DETENTIOIN 
20. Power to make complaints .– Any person whose cattle have been seized 
under this Act, or having been so seized, have been detained in contravention of this 
Act, may, at any time within ten days from the date of the seizure, make a complaint 
to the Magistrate of the District or any Magistrate authorized to receive and try 
charges without reference by the Magistrate of the District. 
21. Procedure on complaint.– The complaint shall be made by the complainant 
in person, or by an agent personally acquainted with the circumstances.  It may be 
either in writing or verbal.  If it be verbal, the substance of it shall be taken down in 
writing by the Magistrate. 
If the Magistr ate, on examining the complainant or his agent, sees reason to 
believe the complaint to be well founded he shall summon the person complained 
against, and make an enquiry into the case. 
22. Compensation for illegal seizure or detention .– If the seizure or detention 
be adjudged illegal, the Magistrate shall award to the complainant, for the loss 
caused by the seizure or detention, reasonable compensation, not exceeding one 
hundred rupees, to be paid by the person who made the seizure or detained the 
cattle t ogether with all fines paid and expenses incurred by the complainant in 
procuring the release of the cattle, 
RELEASE OF CATTLE 
And, if the cattle have not been released. The Magistrate shall, besides 
awarding  such compensation, order their release and dir ect that the fines and 
                                                 
9Chapter V is in the form as substituted by Act I of 1891. 
expenses leviable under this Act shall be paid by the person whom made the seizure 
or detained the cattle 
23. Recovery of compensation .– The compensation, fines and expenses 
mentioned in section 22 may be recovered as if they were fi nes imposed by the 
Magistrate. 
CHAPTER-VI 
PENALTIES 
24. Penalty for forcibly opposing the seizure of cattle or rescoring the 
same.– Whoever forcibly opposes the seizure of cattle liable to be seized under this 
Act, and whoever rescuers the same after seizu re, either from a pound or form any 
person taking or about to take them to a pound, such person being near at hand and 
acting under the powers conferred by this Act.  Shall, on conviction before a 
Magistrate, be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months, or 
with fine not exceeding five hundred rupees, or with both.   
25. Recovery of penalty for mischief committed by causing cattle to 
trespass.– Any fine imposed under the next following section or for the offence of 
mischief by causing cattle to trespass on any land may be recovered by sale of all or 
any of the cattle by which the trespass was committed.  Whether they were seized in 
the act or trespassing or not, and whether they are the property of the person 
convicted of the offence, or were only in his charge when the trespass was 
committed. 
26. Penalty for damage caused to land or crops or public roads by pigs .– 
10
[Any owner or keeper of pigs who, through neglect or otherwise damages or causes 
or permits to be damaged any land, or any  crop or produce of land, or any public 
road, by allowing such pigs to trespass thereon, shall , on conviction before a 
Magistrate, be punished with fine not exceeding ten rupees.  The Provincial 
Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, may fro m time to time, with 
respect to any local area specified in the notification, direct that the foregoing portion 
of this section shall be read as if it had reference to cattle generally, or to cattle of a 
kind described in the notification, instead of to pi gs only, or as if the words “fifty 
rupees” were substituted for the words “ten rupees” or as if there were both such 
reference and such substitution.] 
27. Penalty on pound -keeper failing to perform duties .– Any pound -keeper 
releasing or purchasing or deliv ering cattle contrary to the provisions of section 19, 
or omitting to provide any impounded cattle with sufficient food and water, or failing 
to perform any of the other duties imposed upon him by this Act, shall, over and 
above any other penalty to which he may be liable, be punished, on conviction 
before a Magistrate, with fine not exceeding fifty rupees.  Such fines may be 
recovered by deductions from the pound-keeper’s salary. 
28. Application of fines recovered under section 25, 26 or 27 .– All fines 
recovered under section 25, section 26, or section 27 may be appropriated in whole 
                                                 
10Ins, by Act I of 1891. 
or in part as compensation for loss or damage proved to the satisfaction of the 
convicting Magistrate. 
CHAPTER-VII 
SUITS FOR COMPENSATION 
29. Saving or right to sue for compensa tion.– Nothing herein contained 
prohibits any person whose crops or other produce or land have been damaged by 
trespass of cattle from suing for compensation in any competent Court. 
30. Set-Off.– Any compensation paid to such person under this Act by order  of 
the convicting Magistrate shall be set -off and deducted from any sum claimed by or 
awarded to him as compensation in such suit. 
CHAPTER-VIII
11 
SUPPLEMENTAL 
31. Power for Provincial Government to transfer certain functions to local 
authority and direct c redit of surplus receipts to local fund .– The Provincial 
Government may, from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette.– 
(a) Transfer to any local authority within any part of the territories under its 
administration in which this Act is in op eration, all or any of the 
functions of the Provincial Government or the Magistrate of the District 
under this Act, within the local area subject to the jurisdiction of the 
local authority. 
                                                 
11New chapter VIII added by Act I of 1891, S.9