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22. MEAT INSPECTION AND ANIMAL PROTECTION
MEAT INSPECTION REGULATIONS
The large factory slaughterhouse at Acton is engaged in the slaughtering and processing of pigs by a
moving line system dealing with approximately 327 carcases an hour. The Council maintains a staff of
authorised meat inspectors and assistants to carry out the provisions of the Meat Inspection Regulations,
1956, as amended by the Meat Inspection (Amendment) Regulations, 1966.
POULTRY INSPECTION
There are no poultry processing and packing premises in the borough.
DISEASES OF ANIMALS ACT, 1950
Outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease
On the 18th November, 1967. the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food made a special Order
declaring the whole of England and Wales to be a Controlled Area which meant that no movement of
animals could take place except under licences issued by local authorities under the Diseases of Animals
Act. This Order was finally revoked on 13th February 1968.
Special arrangements were made for licences to be issued for the movement of pigs into a large
slaughterhouse inside the borough, and with special routes, where necessary, to avoid travel through
Infected Areas. Licences were refused for movements from Infected Areas, all of which were plotted on
maps, as and when Infected Area Orders were made by the Minister.
The Council's duties included the checking and collection of licences on the arrival of animals at the
slaughterhouse, the ante-mortem inspection of the animals the cleansing and disinfection of all vehicles
and the disposal of straw and refuse. Whilst the Order was in operation 6,268 licences were issued
involving the movement of 145, 094 pigs and the cleansing and disinfection of 3,244 vehicles.
The weekly market, held on Wednesdays at Southall, was also subject to special licence conditions,
with separate licences under the Order required for all inward and outward movements. Special conditions
included the requirement that all animals brought to the market were to be sent to a slaughterhouse and
not permitted to return to the farms from which they originated, and also the requirement that they be
slaughtered within 36 hours of arrival at a slaughterhouse.
Visits were also made to all animal stockholders in the Borough to advise them about the
restrictions and also as to the need for the proper boiling of waste food.
Southall Market
Mr. J. A. Morris, M. R. C. V. S. , continued in his duties under the Act at Southall Market and
54.