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(c) Ordered that notices of slaughtering were to be sent
to the Medical Officer of Health at the Town Hall.
Previous to the 1st April the inspection of meat in slaughterhouses
was carried out intermittently, as there was no obligation
on the part of the butchers to give notice of their intention
to slaughter. In practice, however, a system of co-operation
had developed by which the butchers, whenever they were
suspicious that there was anything wrong with any carcase,
asked for an examination by one of the sanitary staff. Since
the Meat Regulations came into force there has been cooperation
of all concerned and notices of slaughtering have
been received regularly and in good time. No instances of
slaughtering without notice have been detected, and in
consequence the carcase and internal organs of every animal
slaughtered in the Borough have been examined by an officer
of the Department. This work has been allocated to two
officers—one responsible for one large slaughter-house and
the other dealing with all the smaller ones.
During the nine months the Regulations have been in
operation, 1,938 cattle, 7,911 sheep and lambs, 3,314 pigs,
and 47 calves—a total of 13,210 animals, have been killed in
the Borough.
The practice in connection with inspection is to observe
the recommendations of the Ministry of Health set out in a
memorandum issued on 16th March, 1922. It is not necessary
to condemn the whole carcase when only the organs are
diseased, and so, e.g., in the case of tuberculosis, when the
disease is localised the organs or part affected only are dealt
with ; but if the disease is generalised or extensive, the
whole carcase is condemned. Only three of the 1,938 beef
carcases were affected with generalised tuberculosis. Of the
3,314 pigs, 41 were affected with generalised tuberculosis and
these were all destroyed. A large contribution to this number