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4. Diseased Meal.—A total of 3,464 lbs. was surrendered during the year, including
2,606 lbs. of tubercular meat.
As circumstances permit, animals are inspected in the lairs prior to being slaughtered,
but it often happens that, following the receipt of a notice of slaughtering, the animal is killed
before the Inspector has time to arrive at the slaughter-house. A thorough inspection of all
animals and organs is carried out to ascertain if there is any post-mortem condition warranting
action by this department. Each week one inspector is detailed for duty in the slaughter-houses
after the usual office hours, as it is still the practice of butchers to slaughter during the evening.
The slaughter-houses are, on the whole, kept, so far as their construction will allow, in
a fairly satisfactory condition. The butchers mainly buy in the London Wholesale Meat Markets.
When new butchers' shops are opened, every effort is made to obtain fixed windows, but
with the absence of positive power to demand fixed windows, there is a tendency on the part of
some of the butchers to adopt a standstill attitude with regard to this most desirable method of
preventing contamination of he meat exposed for sale.
Fixed glazed windows have proved beneficial as a means for preventing contamination
and maintaining the saleable qualities of the meat.
I again wish to mention that it would be an advantage if regulations were in force under
wh'ch a definite demand could be made for fixed windows in every case.
Out of a total of 68 butchers' shops in the district, 51 are provided with fixed windows,
3 other shops are provided with one fixed window and one window made to open; 2 have one
fixed window and two windows made to open, and the remainder have windows made to open.
The following table shows the carcases inspected and condemned during the period under
report. In 1937, a separate record of the number of cows killed was not kept.