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58
The slaughterhouse where this inadequate inspection takes
place belongs to one of the largest sausage manufacturers in the
country.
The inspection of the carcases of pigs should be particularly
stringent, as it is well known that the cooking of sausages is generally
light and does not res alt in the sterilization of the meat.
I have brought these facts to the notice of the different
authorities, and it is some satisfaction to know that certain proposals
have been made by the firm for the more efficient inspection
of the meat.
Another firn>'s name was gives to winch pigs had been diverted.
This firm also controls some of the largest sausage manufactories
in the kingdom.
Although the inspection carried out here is done by veterinary
inspectors, the inspectors are employed by che firm, and the
percentage of pigs condemned for tuberculosis is extre nely low.
The following figures show the results of inspection in one
particular week. There were 1,426 pigs slaughtered, no carcases
were cordemned, but 3 beads, 16 lungs, 16 livers, 7 stomachs, 8
spleens, and 9 intestines. The loss resulting from the destruction
of the lungs, livers, stomachs, spleens and intestines is not very
considerable and may be ignored. The important articles are the
carcases and the heads.
The proportion condemned in this slaughterhouse would be
no carcase per 1,000 compared with 4 per 1,000 here, and 2 heads
per 1,000 compared with 74 per 1,000.
If a comparison be made with the results in public abattoirs,
it will be found that these percentages of condemnations are far
too low to assume that efficient inspection is carried out.
Unless some uniformity of inspection can be obtained, there
is a danger that the pigs will be diverted into districts where
inspection is either inefficient or non-existent. We have strong
grounds for suspecting that illicit slaughtering does take place
on a considerable scale, even in districts quite close to London.