32   Offence of abandoning article, or leaving animal unattended, in public place

(1)  A person who abandons an article in a public place is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.

(2)  A person who causes or permits an animal to be unattended in a public place is guilty of an offence unless the person establishes that the person took all reasonable precautions to prevent the animal from being unattended.

Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.

(3)  A person is not to be regarded as having abandoned an article in a public place or as having caused or permitted an animal to be unattended in a public place:

(a)  if the article or animal is in the public place in response to an invitation contained in a notice published by the relevant public authority and in accordance with any conditions specified in that notice, or

(b)  if the article or animal is in the public place with the consent of the relevant public authority, or

(c)  if the presence of the article or animal in the public place is authorised by or under an Act, or

(d)  in the case of an animal that is stock (as defined in Part 10 of the Rural Lands Protection Act 1998) that is unattended on a road or travelling stock reserve, in any circumstances prescribed by section 138 of that Act,

(e)  in the case of an animal, in any circumstances prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of section 9.

(4)  A court that convicts a person of an offence under this section may order the person to pay to an impounding authority the fees and charges payable in respect of the impounding, holding and disposing of the item concerned (whether or not the court imposes a penalty for the offence).