ORDINANCES.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 309, 5 February 1848, Page 193

ORDINANCES.

SLAUGHTER-HOUSE ORDINANCE. [Pasted September td, 1817.] Title. — An Ordinance for regulating the Slaughtering of Cattle in certain Placeß. 1. Power to Governor to proclaim Districts. — For the purpose of regulating the slaughtering of cattle in certain places, be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, that it shall be lawful for his Excellency the Governor, by proclamation, from time to time, to constitute and define certain districts for the purpose aforesaid, and the limits of such districts from time to time to alter as occasion may require, and also if he shall see fit to revoke the proclamation by which any such district shall have been constituted. 2. Within such Districts Cattle not be Slaughtered without License. — Within any such district, and after a day to be prescribed by any such proclamation, no person shall keep a slaughterhouse, or place for slaughtering cattle intended for sale, barter, shipping, or exportation, except such house or place be duly licensed for that purpose, in manner hereinafter provided. 3. Penalty.— ll any person shall slaughter or cause to be slaughtered any cattle as aforesaid, in any house or place within such district, which shall not be duly licensed for that purpose as aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of £5 for every head of cattle so slaughtered. 4. Power to Governor to appoint certain Places in Towns for the Slaughtering of Cattle.— lt shall be lawful for his Excellency the Governor, when and as he shall see fit, by proclamation, to direct and appoint that one or more slaughter-house or houses within or near any town within the colony, shall be a public slaughter-house or houses, for such period as he shall in that behalf appoint. And by any such proclamation to direct that all cattle slaughtered in any such town, or within three miles from the outer boundary thereof, for sale, barter, shipping, or exportation, shall be slaughtered at such slaugh-ter-house,' or houses only : provided always, that until such proclamation shall be made, slaugh-ter-houses in or near any such town, may be licensed as hereinbefore provided. 5. Penalty. — Every person who shall slaughter or cause to be slaughtered any cattle as aforesaid, in any house or place within or near any such town as aforesaid, contrary to the provisions of such proclamation, Bhall forfeit and pay the sum of £5 for every head of cattle so slaughtered. 6. Power to Justices to grant Licenses.— Every person desirous of obtaining a license for a slaughter-house, or place for slaughtering cattle, shall, ten days before any annual, quarterly, or special meeting of the bench of magistrates nearest to such intended slaughter-house or place, give to the clerk of the bench a notice in writing of his intention to apply for such license, and shall describe in the said notice the house or place intended to be licensed, and the bench of magistrates (two or more being present) shall consider such application : and if they consider that the applicant is a person of unexceptionable character, and that the place proposed to be licensed as a slaughter- house is in a convenient and desirable situation, they shall grant to such person a license under the hands of any two of them, in the manner and form hereinafter set forth. 7. Licences to be in force for One Year.— Every such license shall be in force for one year from the date thereof; and the person to whom the same shall be granted, shall pay to the clerk of the bench the sum of 2s. 6d. for every such license. 8. Power to Justices to enter and direct the Cleansing of Slaughter-houses.— For the purpose of preserving cleanliness in towns, and ths health of persons residing therein, it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace, and for any constable authorized by writing under bis hand, from time to time, as any such justice shall see occasion, to visit and inspect any slaughter-house or place which may be situated within the boundaries of any town, and to give such directions concerning the cleansing of any such slaughter-house or place, both within and without, as to him ehall seem needful. 9. Penalty for Neglect.— lf any butcher, or the owner or occupier of any such slaughterhouse or place, shall obstruct or molest such justice or constable in the inspection thereof, or shall refuse or neglect to comply with such directions within a reasonable time, every such person shall, on conviction upon the information of any such justice or constable, forfeit and pay for every such offence or neglect, any sum not exceeding £10, nor less than £5. 10. Power to Justice, fyc, to enter to search. — It shall also be lawful for any justice of the peace, or inspector of police, inspector of slaughter-houses, or constable duly authorized in that behalf, to enter, at any time of the day. or night, any slaughter-house, or place so licensed as aforesaid, wherever the same may be situated, and where there shall be good cause to suspect that stolen cattle have been slaughtered, and to make such search and inquiry therein as shall seem necessary for the discovery of the offence and of the offender. 11. Penalty for Obstructing. — Every person who _shall, by any obstruction or hinderance, prevent any such justice, or inspector of police, inspector of slaughter-houses, or constable, from entering any such licensed premises for the purpose of such search and inquiry, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be dealt with accordingly, as in cases of misdemeanour at common law. 12. Power to Governor to appoint Inspectors of Slaughter-houses, who shall keep a Register of Cattle Slaughtered, and make Returns.— lt shall be lawful for his Excellency the Governor to appoint, within such towns or district* as he

shall from time to time direct, by a notice to be published in the Government Gazette, fit persons, to be called inspectors of slaughter-houses and of cattle intended for slaughter: and every person who ehall be so appointed shall, and he is hereby required and directed, to repair, without delay, to the place or places within his district, in which he shall have information of any horned or neat cattle having been slaughtered, or of any such cattle intended to be slaughtered, and also in all cases in which notice shall have been given to him, or left at his place of residence, of the intention to slaughter any cattle; and every such inspector shall examine the said cattle slaughtered, or so intended to be slaughtered in his district, and shall take a particular description thereof, with the colour, mark, or marks, brand, or brands, sex, and apparent age, together with the time and place of slaughter, which particulars ha shall carefully enter, or cause to be entered, in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, and which book such inspector shall produce for examination before any annual, quarterly, or special meeting of the bench of magistrates within or nearest to the district for which he shall be appointed, and for the information of any justice or justices whenever he shall be so required ; and such inspector Bhall also make a weekly return to the bench of justices, within or nearest to the district, of the number of cattle so slaughtered as aforesaid. 13. Persons intending to slaughter Cattle, to give Notice to Inspector, under a Penalty of £5, except under unforeseen Circumstances. Penalty. — That every person intending to slaughter any such horned or neat cattle within any town or district in which an inspector shall be appointed as aforesaid, shall first give six hours' notice, in writing, to such inspector, of the cattle intended to be slaughtered, specifying the place and time, nnder the penalty of £5 for each and every head of such cattle which shall be so slaughtered, without such notice having been given thereof as last mentioned, unless it shall be made to appear to the justice, before whom such fine shall be sought to be recovered, that such notice could not have been given, and that, owing to some unforeseen accident, it was necessary that such cattle should have been immediately slaughtered; and in all cases in which any such cattle shall have been slaughtered within any such town or district without having been previously inspected as aforesaid, notice thereof shall be immediately given to the said inspector, and the skins of such cattle shall be kept or preserved for three days, and be produced on demand, at the place of slaughter, to the inspector for the town or district wherein such cattle should have been slaughtered, under the penalty of £5 for every skin so neglected to be preserved and produced. 14. Keepers of Slaughter-houses where no Inspector appointed, to keep Register of Cattle Slaughtered, end make Returns. — That every keeper of a licensed house, or place for slaughtering cattle, excepting in any town or district for which an inspector shall be appointed as aforesaid, shall keep a book, in which he shall enter a particular account and description of all such horned or neat cattle slaughtered in such house or place, specifying the colour, mark, or marks, sex, and apparent age of such cattle, and if purchased, the name of the person for whom the same shall have been slaughtered, and the time of slaughter; and shall transmit monthly to the bench of justices, in or nearest to the district wherein such slaughter-house, or place for slaughtering cattle, shall be situated, a report in writing, under the hand of such keeper, containing the particulars above stated, and shall produce such book for the information of any justice, whenever be shall be so required. And if any such keeper of a licensed slaughter-house, or place for slaughtering cattle shall neglect to keep such book or record, or shall wilfully rfiake a false entry therein, or shall fail or refuse to make such monthly report as aforesaid, or shall refuse to produce such book or record to any justice, he shall for every such offence forfeit a sum not exceeding £5. 15. Not to extend to Persons slaughtering Cattlefor their own Consumption. — That nothing hereinbefore contained shall extend to any person or persons slaughtering at his, her, or their own residences or farms, cattle for his, her, or their own use. 16. Power of Justice to demand Production of Skins. — That it shall and may be lawful for any justice of the peace, to demand the skin of any horned or neat cattle whatsoever that may have been slaughtered within one month previous to the date of such demand, or a full and satisfactory account to whom such skin has been sold, or in what manner disposed of; and any person who, upon such demand, shall refuse or neglect to produce the skins of any such cattle that have been slaughtered, or in case the same cannot be produced to give a full and satisfactory account of how and in what manner the same have been disposed of, shall on conviction forfeit and pay for every such offence a sum not exceeding £10. 17. Persons destroying Brands liable to Penalty.— And if any person shall cut out, burn, or otherwise destroy or deface any brand, which Bhall have been on any skin, or. 6ball be in possesiion of, or shall purchase any such skin, from which the brand shall have been cut or burnt, or otherwise destroyed or defaced, without being able to give a satisfactory account thereof, every such person shall upon conviction of every such offence, forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding £10. 18. Governor to fix Scale of Fees to be charged at Public Slaughter-house.— lt shall be lawful for his Excellency the Governor, from time to time as occasion may require, to fix a scale of fees, to be levied, collected, and received from •very party who shall bring aoy cattle to fee .slaughtered at any public slaughterJimue, or

place for slaughtering cattle, and such scale of fees from time to time to alter, vary, and modify, and such fees shall be recoverable in a summary manner by the party to whom the same shall be payable: provided always, that the amount of the fees so to be fixed as aforesaid, shall in no case exceed the sums mentioned in the schedule to this ordinance annexed, and marked B, and shall upon every alteration be forthwith published in the Government Gazette. 19. Hours for Slaughter may be prescribed. — It shall be lawful for the bench of magistrates of any such district, if they shall see occasion so to do, to prescribe the hours within which any such cattle shall be slaughtered. And to enforce any regulations so to be made in that behalf, by a penalty not exceeding £5. 20. Fees, how to be accounted for. — All fees received by the keeper of any public slaughterhouse, under the authority of this ordinance, shall be accounted for, and paid over to the Colonial Treasurer, or the treasurer of the district, as the case may be, for the public uses of the colony, and for the support of the Government thereof. 21. Penalties, «§rc, recoverable in a Summary Way. — All fines and penalties imposed under the authority of this ordinance, shall be recoverable in a summary way. 23. Interpretation. — For the purposes of this ordinance, the word " cattle," unless otherwise expressly stated, shall be taken to include horned or neat cattle, sheep, goats, and swine; and the word " Governor," shall be taken to include the "Lieutenant-Governor," or the Officer administering the Government of the colony for the time being. Schedule A. FORM OF LICENSE. LICENSE FOR SLAUGHTERING CATTLE. We, . of her Majesty's Justices of the Peace, do certify that, by virtue of the authority vested in us in this behalf, Mr. of is hereby authorized to keep a Licensed Slaughterhouse in his _ situated and being in . And this license is to remain in force from the date hereof, until the day of - Given under our hands, at this day of Schedule B. *. d. For every calf not exceeding one year old, and for every sheep, boar sow, pig, and goat ,26 For every bull, cow, or heifer, steer, and other head of cattle . . . .50