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1904] 224
to animals which are destined for human food, and above all to sheep, whose
instant slaughter requires the greatest skill, so that it be accomplished quickly
and without pain. That something is required to be done is certain when we
find a man, who lias had many years' experience, admitting that, although he
must have seen millions of animals slaughtered, he very often turned his head
away rather than see animals killed. (Vide, Report Q. 56.)
Blowing Lamb and Veal.—Inspector Wilkinson, in his report, has
drawn attention to the " obnoxious practice" by butchers, as he very properly
styles it, of blowing lamb and veal, who, he avers, sometimes have to remove
a plug of tobacco in order to carry out the operation. The Inspector has
informed the Medical Officer of Health that one man whom he knew in
the employment of two butchers, and who did this work, has since died
of consumption of the lungs. Comment is unnecessary! Recently
some provincial local authorities have endeavoured to stop the practice in
their districts, and in the Parliamentary Session of 1904, four sanitary
authorities—Kettering, Acton, Leyton and Ilford—obtained powers to deal
with it. The Kettering clause reads as follows:—
"It shall not be lawful to blow or to inflate the carcase or any part of
the carcase of any animal slaughtered within or brought into the
district, and any person offending against this enactment, or exposing
or depositing for sale within the district a carcase blown or inflated,
or any part thereof, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty
shillings."
Is it not time that the Metropolis possessed similar protection ?
It will be noticed that this clause prevents blowing even by mechanical
means, and rightly so, for it must not be forgotten that the operation is effected
in the polluted air of the slaughter-house, and that, therefore, it is this air
which is driven into the meat. Apart from this, blowing even with the purest
air tends to hasten decomposition of the meat by bringing it into contact
with the deep tissues. From every point of view the practice is objectionable
and should be discontinued, for its object is either to give an enticing
appearance to the meat, nearly always veal and lamb, or to disguise its
quality.