Meat Inspection Committee

Thames Advertiser, Volume XXIX, Issue 8693, 24 March 1897, Page 3

Meat Inspection Committee

A meeting of the iVeat Inspection . Committee...was held last evening, at which Messrs' Radford (Chairman), Dalton, Foy, : andßurch were present, , Inspector •(Mr Durham),' presented the following report" I have ■ the honor to submit for your consideration the followiug report on the couditioriyjaf: the rslaughterliouses and c r dairies etc; in the district. I assumed the duties of my-office on the 7th of, Janttary liist, and have since that ■; period; regularly.yisited the slaughter- j - houses and made daily: inspections of the cattlejslattghtered. thereiu. I have had occasion to'condemn tfto bnjlocks and one sheep as.uiiiit for human con: sumption-:'-the disease, being tuberculosis. The. slaughterhouses are kept in good order, being thoroughly cleaned out each- day and are in a good sanitary condition; The number of cattle slaughtered'^,as;-follows Ist of January to: jMarch-lslh insfc.West and Co., r Fara'wai )v :large;cattle, 3-1-1; small cattle, ;, which includes, sheep, ; fDeeble r and : Son, ,69.; smali : . : cattle, do hot givo ; aiiy,rctiu'iis &om Messrs' Alley's slaughterhouses at llikiitaia, as witlCJthe exception of a' few pigs and Ihreß.dr'foiif hind quarY ters of beef monthly, their, meat is sent to Paerba^.aud; the, I have , j ; slaughterhouses

five times during the last two mouths and found -them •; in good"order, the drainage at.Mr £• Alley''s being-at mv : first iinspectiotCfonn(ij defectivetliiV has now< : bcen remedied,-and.is working satisfactorily!. >1 ~have - also, in-spected-the df.ities and cows supplying milk to the Borongh:, ; Thero aro • inv all 219 cows, and six! of tbcss l have condemned, :, v not; -for., s .bejng ; , Actually diseased,>.bht: being' too .old and. as I found them :in ail. unthrifty I did not consider them as being fit to supply milk.'. .TherQ ; wasr also- one other cow. which I advised to.Be .de-

stroyed,. being, tuberculous, but as it ~ belouged 'fy a . private person (as I. afterwards found out) L had|no power to interfere. The premises in some of these dairies are not'what they should • , be, but I havcitold the owners what to do, and I hope b&foronry-next iuspeo- ; tion my'suggestions as to improve ments -will be parried out.; In conclusion- I ? altogether I 'have found-thein a"fairly healthy stated and tlie # dairy men and « vendors liul.k.^jjjig^o,receive and ' act: r improve . upon the existing, state of affairs as I v . have been able to make 'tothem, and I i, hope to in my next report to give 'a detailed list of the improvements etc., „ which have'been made in the interim " Before the report's adoption Mr' Foy asked if any befs's were killed at.Tapu. . The Inspector replied in the negative but thought there'would ho some next month. ~ : ; k The Chairman was- of ' opinion the committee meetings;-sliould- be; held monthly, J as the- bodies; whicli' they as members represent, would, lie thought, like to hear whpb the Inspector was doing. / ." , ;: It was resolved that the mVntings be held at the County Council Chambers at 7.30 ou the .third Tuesday in each month., . . *?. ■ The Chairman thought there should be hours fixed: as ; Jto when, persons ./should kill, as he under«tflod the Inspector had lwd'some difficulty iu his > supervision. /. J.'.'-, .

Tim Inspector said ho harl some I slight bother in that direction, but he asked that a regulation be made that no ' : ■butchers be. allowed to kill cattle which have been yarded under four or five' hours, and also that the killing should be finished by 5 o'clock in ' winter and 7.30 in summer, - The Mayor asked if the committee. had power to* pass such resolutions ' • The Inspector thought 'there was . power, nml on.- ; tli!it bpiifion being given the Chairman moved in tlie ■ • direction of lining such regulations amongst ilie ]ist already passed. • As In periods defining summer and winter sit 'was resolved the summer months for tlia purposes of the inspection be from the Ist of November to • the 31st March and the remainder the ' winter months. . 'With reference to milk vending ,in shop#, the Insf color said fc'iere was a • clause in the Gazette regulations to the effect that milk ;cannot be sold by ■ vendors who stock articles detrimental to milk. Most of the shop .keepers here who sold milk had paid a fee of five ahi'linirs \yhich entjtled tlioni- to j sell till SOth'Jnne, but .he thought ••'hp. s'lOuldßjhave powfltfto. seg the- premises i were kept in good.order. ! ' The Chni'inaii the matter' 3hnuld be h fti in the;.Tnspector's hands •—that, is he •liMulil'acl.-' if l*e ; saw the' vendors were selling in dirty premises, He (the Olmirman) 'wotilfl ho? like to "C too harshaninterference, for some, of the people who poorand " depended in some "measure'Gpon the trade of milk for their living, ■ The mat ter f f it was decided/should be dealt with at the discretion of the ,Inspector. .../ . . ' * Some discussion "ensued,, as, to, tbo

inability of the InspoQtor 1 -to, bring , stock, ownrtl by people ; wh'o supply, milk in small way to their neighbors, - -under his supervision; Tim opinion was generallyexpressed tliatif a.person gold milk st all lit? should be oh ci level with a person looked upon as a milk' luiwker infrgMeraVscnfie'. ■ Those people " selling; to tlieir neigh- . bouv," say 'b'n'e, 1 or afc th 6 V most two (jp'ws, 'are clearly excluded by thtregulationS.butitwasresolved.on'thG ■ motion of Mr Burli, that the Secretary'. have power, to write to the ColonialSeeretai'y and have the claiise, which thus weakens the regulations, eliminated. Wwnol\ide4tli6 business