Cinematograph_Films_(Animals)_Act_1937
Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937
United Kingdom legislation
The Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (1 Edw. 8. & 1 Geo. 6. c. 59). It defines a criminal offence of distributing or exhibiting a film that was "organised or directed in such a way as to involve the cruel infliction of pain or terror on any animal or the cruel goading of any animal to fury"[1] - in other words, one in which actual cruelty to animals (as distinct from simulated, e.g. through the use of special effects or CGI) was photographed and/or occurred during the production.
Offences under the Act are punishable by a fine and/or up to three months' imprisonment. Section 2 of the Act creates a valid defence that the defendant "had reasonable cause to believe" that scenes of animal cruelty in a film were simulated, not actual. The definition of an animal under the Act is that of the Protection of Animals Act 1911.