Report / Economic Advisory Council. Committee on Slaughtering of Livestock.

  • Great Britain. Economic Advisory Council. Committee on Slaughtering of Livestock.
Date:
1933
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report / Economic Advisory Council. Committee on Slaughtering of Livestock. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    81/112 (page 79)
    19 (b) Slaughtering in England and Wales. (3) Slaughtering is conducted in England and Wales either in public or private slaughterhouses. The former are the property of the local authority of the area concerned. The latter, of which there are about 16,000, are of many types and vary greatly in efficiency, being usually the property of individual retail butchers. They must either (a) be registered, (b) hold a licence without limitation of time, or (c) hold a licence for a limited period, usually one year. The number of animals, excluding pigs killed for bacon, killed annually in private slaughterhouses is about 9,500,000 head. (4) There are 115 public slaughterhouses in England and Wales. Most of the largest towns have already built one. But among the towns of under 100,000 inhabitants, those having no public slaughter. houses are in a majority. Some public slaughterhouses are very small, killing less than 5,000 animals of all kinds in a year. (5) Though the municipality owns the building in which slaughtering is carried on, and is also responsible for certain essential services, such as cleaning, &c., it has no control over the operation of the undertaking. Private butchers kill as and when they choose and employ what labour they like. A so-called public slaughterhouse is nothing more than a collection of private slaughterhouses, set up by a local authority, largely because it renders meat inspection more ‘effective. The revenue of a slaughterhouse is derived principally from the fees levied on the lairage and slaughtering of beasts. (6) In 1929 some 3,600,000 head of animals were slaughtered in public slaughterhouses in England and Wales, i.c., approximately 28 per cent. of the total kill in England and Wales. (Payra- graphs 22-31.) (c) Slaughtering in Scotland. (7) In Scotland, public slaughterhouses are of much greater relative importance than in England. Of the 153 public slaughter- houses in Scotland, 129 are situated in burghs and 24 in counties. Nearly all burghs, even those with a population of under 5,000 persons, have a public slaughterhouse. The provision of the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892, that where any town council has established a slaughterhouse no other premises may be used for that purpose within the burgh, and that no compensation need be paid for the closing of private slaughterhouses, has been of great assistance to the Scottish focal authorities. In the county areas where the above provisions do not apply slaughtering is still largely carried on in private slaughter- houses. Of these, there are 431 which are licensed. In addition to the slaughterhouses which mainly concern themselves with slaughtering for local consumption, there are, notably in Aberdeen, a certain number of slaughterhouses which are principally used for killing for the export trade to England. Over 90 per cent. of the home-killed meat consumed [8282] BQ