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63
marked improvement has taken place compared with previous
years, and legal proceedings have been unnecessary.
During the year 2,308 cattle, 11,283 sheep and lambs,
3,600 pigs, and 174 calves—a total of 17,365 animals—-were
killed in the various slaughterhouses in the Borough, and the
carcase and internal organs of every one of them were
inspected by one of the Council's staff. No single instance
of slaughtering without notice was detected. As slaughtering
takes place at all hours of the day and on every day of the
week, including Sundays, irregular hours of duty have to be
worked by the special food inspectors in order to ensure the
examination of every carcase. The advantage of detecting
unsound meat at the source is obvious, and this part of the
regulations is of immense value to the public health.
The number of whole carcases condemned on account of
disease or injuries was 21—3 cattle, 7 sheep, and 11 pigs.
The number of instances in which partial condemnation
occurred was as follows:—468 cattle, 12 sheep and lambs,
and 13 pigs. The corresponding main figures for the nine
months the regulations were in force in 1925 were 47 and 634
respectively, and the general improvement in the figures may
mean that, cognisant of the careful inspection that takes
place after death, buyers are exercising more care in the
purchase of live animals.
The shops and stalls were systematically inspected, and
where there were any unsatisfactory conditions the appropriate
regulation was applied. There is very definite evidence
that greater care is now taken to prevent the contamination
of meat when exposed in the shops and stalls. Butchers are
now striving to make an attractive show behind a glass front,
and the adoption of a system of weighing and ticketing the
joints and then exhibiting them behind glass is an advance
which prevents much of the handling so common a little over
a year ago. New butchers' shops are now invariably provided
with glass fronts and glazed internal wall surfaces, and
improvements of this character have been effected in several
of the older premises. Another improvement to be recorded
is the increasing use of clean washable overalls by shop
assistants.