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9
It appears from a Report of Mr. "Wakefielb, the Clerk to tho Metropolitan
Board of Works, dated 24th September, 1875, and read on the same
day at the meeting of the Board, that the whole of the slaughter-houses in
the metropolis had been thoroughly inspected by their own Inspectors; and
it was found that the condition of the slaughter-houses generally was such
that considerable alterations were necessary, and in a very large number of
cases almost re-construction was required. Mr. Wakefield has every reason
to believe, from a subsequent inspection of a large number of premises, that
in the majority of cases the necessary works have been, or are being, carried
out; and he thinks that it will be shortly found that of the 1337 licensed
slaughter-housps in London, about 1000 of them will be creditable places,
properly drained, lighted, and ventilated, and having every appliance for
being kept thoroughly clean and wholesome. The remaining 337 are those
which, from unauitability of position, structure, and other causes, are
reported as unfit for the purposes of slaughtering.
Although these bye-laws come far short of what I deem necessary for
preserving the health of the District, and for guarding the public from the
danger which is inseparable from the driving of cattle through the crowded
streets of the metropolis, they are nevertheless an improvement on the
existing state of things. Each Local Board has hitherto framed its own
regulations for the conduct of the business of a Slaughterer of Cattle, and
as may be expected, there is a want of uniformity as regards the bye-laws
for the regulation of the slaughter-houses in the metropolis.
I take it that the bye-laws now in force regarding slaughter-houses
are merely tentative, or experimental: and that they will be from time to
time so altered as to meet the requirements of the public. If the Metropolitan
Board of Works should deem it advisable to make alterations in them I
would suggest the following :—
1st. That the entrance to a slaughter-house should be of such a width
as to occasion no difficulty in getting the animals into the slaughter-house;
for I have seen great cruelty practised in getting cattle through an entrance
of only three feet in width.
2nd. That no underground place, for obvious reasons, should be licensed
as a slaughter-house.
3rd. That the lairs for cattle should not form any part of the slaughterhouse,
so that the animals which are being kept for slaughter should not
witness the act of slaughtering. The custom now is, as regards the position
of lairs, that they form a part of the slaughter-house, whereby the excretions
of the animals awaiting slaughter contaminate the atmosphere of the
slaughter-house.