A COMPLAINT ANSWERED

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 617, 1 February 1916, Page 9

A COMPLAINT ANSWERED

1 ■ ■— m STOCK AT MUNICIPAL ABATTOIR. ALLEGATIONS OF CRUELTY DENIED. Allegations made by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to AniI nials, that stock held at the municiejpal Abattoir are insufficiently fed e i were dealt with in a report which •• was presented to the Christchureh ° City Council last evening. [ The Abattoir and Reserves Com- „ miltee had referred the matter to Mr ||H. S. S. Kyle, manager of the abattoir. In the course of a fairly long , report Mr Kyle pointed out that the 1! staff of the abattoir do not profess I to be graziers and falleners, but are ~ j simply the custodians of. the stock f I prior to their being slaughtered, and j are not there to inflict unnecessary 11cruelty by way of starvation or . j otherwise. > Mr Kyle continued:—"ln my opin- ) |ion the employees of the abattoir are -jthe best judges as to the treatment » of the stock prior to slaughter. • Simply because the abattoir is the -jlasl place of call of all stock we apparently get all the blame, and the . jsaleyards, railways, and the drovers - j and nuistercrs of stock go free. Seeding that many of the sheep are musf tered and drafted on the Sunday or [Monday at the outside, driven and • 'trucked to the Addington yards by I Tuesday, remain in the pens all Wedi ncsday, and many until Thursday, ' then are hastily driven to the abatt loir to meet the butchers' requirc- - ments, is it any wonder that at cer--1 tain periods of the year we often • on the first night (say Thursday) and ; the next day (Friday) after their ' i arrival get a good few deaths, especially after allowing them free " access to water? Sheep that have had no water say from Monday to ' Thursday overgorge themselves, and ' suffer from cramp of the stomach, ' causing gastro-cntcritis, and often terminating in death. But to say I that these animals are starved is false. If the starvation as complained of does go on, why do we not get a large mortality over the |end of the week out of the remaining | sheep? Witness the sheep coming into the pens after the week-end, and you will find that there, are fewer stragglers in the mob that when go- ' ing out to the paddock on the ThursI j day evening and Friday." j it was pointed out in the report I that animals brought off rape audi • I other succulent fodder will not stand the knocking about that sheep on j ordinary pastures will stand. Often j | it was found that whole pens of such sheep were absolutely prostrated before coming to the yards. The abattoir staff even have to have a cart! travelling behind the sheep from the; yards to pick up the stragglers. Another point made by Mr Kyle was that the stock seen in the pens are! I not the same animals day after day.) •The report also drew attention to thel fact that the scarcity of rain is' affecting the feed supply. j Cr J. Reynolds expressed the opin-j ion that the crux of the trouble wast the position of the saleyards. In thei past, the city had taken up the attitude that it was not affected by the position, as it was not troubled by. j stock in the streets, as Riccarton and; oilier districts were. Rut he con-, sidered that the food supply of the, city was affected. Mr Kyle's conten-j !lions were borne out by other ex-; perls. He moved that the council should co-operate with the Riccarton; 'and Spreydon Borough Councils in endeavouring to have the saleyards; I removed lo Sockburn, and, failing 1 j thai, thai the council lake into con-! jsideralion the question of establishing municipal saleyards. j Cr \V. 11. Cooper seconded this. He held that saleyards should be a corporation work, and that they! would prove remunerative to the! city. Cr Herbert, in supporting the mo-| ■lion, said he would like to know; j whether the officers of the S.P.C.A.' had gone in the first instance lo the' J manager of the abattoir, or had I taken upon themselves to make alle-