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38
Daring the year various wholesale dealers have been written to and their
attention called to the rusty condition of the interiors of the churns in which
the milk is carried, and in some cases to the dirty state of the milk itself.
In several of the premises connected with the milk trade improvements
have been made during the year, but much more could with great advantage
be done. Many places are on the borderline between good and bad; not bad
enough to contravene the bye-laws; not nearly good enough to satisfy
anyone who realises the dangers of dirty or contaminated milk, and the urgent
importance of keeping dairy cows in clean and healthy surroundings.
If it could be done, all cows used for the supply of milk for human
consumption should be kept day and night in the open air. The ideal cowshed
is the one that most nearly resembles this condition.
Slaughter Houses.
The list of slaughter-houses given at the end of this Report is the same
as that given last year.
In the Report for 1904, the question of providing a public slaughterhouse
was briefly discussed. The value of having a central place under the
control of the local authority, in which all animals intended for food could
be killed and inspected, is undoubted, but it is to be feared that owing chiefly
to the expense involved, some years must elapse before the matter can be
seriously taken up in this district. In the meantime, however, a very importan
t step has been taken in the adoption by the Council of the principle
of not allowing any more private slaughter-houses to be established in the
district.
Two of the 14 slaughter-houses on the Register are not used for the
purpose of killing animals, one having been converted into a store and
washing-up shed, and the other utilised for a store and cart shed.
The slaughter-houses in use have been frequently inspected, and altogether
16 minor contraventions of the bye-laws have been found and remedied.
Most of these were in connection with the cleansing and repairing of walls,
paving and pens, and removal of offal.
The number of Butcher's shops on the Register in 1904 was 30. During
1905 7 new shops were opened, 5 of which were subsequently closed owing
to insufficient trade to support them. The number at the end of the year
was 32.