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102
The collection of fish offal from the various fishmongers in the District,
which was for many years done by your Council under the supervision of the
Public Health Department, and has since been taken over by a firm of artificial
manure manufacturers, is, I am pleased to say, being carried out well, and no
complaint from non-removal has been received during the year.
SLAUGHTERHOUSES, UNSOUND FOODS, &c.
We have in the district 7 slaughterhouses, one registered and having been
in existence for a great number of years. Six are licensed under the Public
Health Acts Amendment Act, 1890, which gives the Council power to license
from year to year. Having control of the licensing of slaughterhouses
annually gives the Council much more facility for establishing a public
abattoir—should they so desire.
At the present time there are only 5 slaughterhouses in use, one having
been discontinued for some three or four years, and one about six months.
There were 378 animals inspected during slaughter, as follows
1 bull, 55 oxen, 15 cows, 2 heifers, 7 calves, 175 sheep and 123 pigs.
The registered slaughterhouse is kept clean, but the access to it is bad, and
the owner now only kills sheep and pigs.
Although the by-laws prescribe lime-washing four times a year, viz.:—
March, June, September and December, this is done much more often by some
of the occupiers.
The following offal was surrendered on inspection :—
1 pig's head, 3 pigs' plucks, 1 sheep's pluck, and 2 ox livers and
skirts.
The practice of giving the retailers an opportunity of bringing articles of
food to be examined at the Town Hall is still adhered to, and if the articles are
unfit for human food, a certificate to the effect that the articles have been
dealt with as prescribed by the Public Health Acts is given. The date and
time the article was seen is also noted in the certificate. This enables the
retailer to get his money returned from his wholesale dealer, and undoubtedly
prevents to a large extent, food of such a nature being exposed for sale. The
following is a list of foods destroyed :—
Jan. 4th. 1 small bag of cod fish.
Feb. 7th. 131 cauliflowers.
Feb. 7th. 1 trunk skate.
Feb. 13th. 8 boxes of tomatoes.
Apr. 24th. 1 trunk herrings.