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Inspectors found that the persons concerned were willing to
co-operate and in only seven cases was the service of a Notice
found to be necessary.
Diseases of Animals Acts.—No case of notifiable disease,
within the meaning of these Acts, was reported to the Authority
during the year. There were, however, a number of
Orders made by the Ministry of Agriculture, particularly with
regard to outbreaks of foot and mouth disease. A number of
enquiries were dealt with by the Department. In a few instances
licences for the movement of animals were issued.
Shops Acts, 1912-1934.—In addition to general surveys of
the shops during holiday periods, and in connection with
evening closing hours, two hundred and sixty-nine visits were
made for the purpose of observing contraventions of the Acts,
for advising shopkeepers regarding the Regulations in force,
and for the investigation of complaints. In two cases, both
"mixed" shops, legal proceedings were instituted, with the
following results:—
(a) For selling non-exempted articles after the statutory
evening closing hour—Fined £1 and £1 1s. 0d. costs.
(b) For selling non-exempted articles after the statutory
evening closing hour—Fined 10/-.
It should be emphasised again that the type of offence most
difficult to detect is that in connection with the "mixed" shop,
where exempted and non-exempted goods are sold. Observations
are kept over long periods without an offence being detected,
whilst at the same time it is known that breaches of the
Act are being committed. It is more in the nature of an
accident that an offender is caught red-handed, and in such
a case it is usually followed by a plea of a first offence.
The hawkers who come into the district on the weekly
half-holiday continue to receive attention, and quite a number
received written warnings from the Department that further
contraventions would result in proceedings being taken
against them.
Some difficulty was experienced in connection with canvassers
making house to house calls for orders on the weekly
half-holiday. In each case the canvasser was warned and a
communication was afterwards sent to the employer, setting out
details of the contravention.
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