Minutes of evidence taken before the Committee appointed by the Admiralty to consider the humane slaughtering of animals.

  • Great Britain. Committee on Humane Slaughtering of Animals.
Date:
1904
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Minutes of evidence taken before the Committee appointed by the Admiralty to consider the humane slaughtering of animals. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    14/62 (page 12)
    Mr. Lewis. 470. (Chairman.) I understand you are inspector to the London County Council ?—Yes. 471. How long have you held that position ?—Just over nine years. inspector at Cheltenham and sanitary inspector before that in Lancashire. 473. So that you have had large experience ?—Yes, many years. 474. What is briefly your duty as inspector under the London County Council ?—The inspection of slaughter houses and offensive businesses, cowsheds and dairies. 475. I have gathered from your colleague, Mr. Tuck, the information as to the bye-laws and methods and so on, but what I would like to get would be your own per- sonal opinion, not your official opinion, with regard to the different methods of slaughtering animals, excluding the Jewish method which we are not touching at the present moment—first of all, what you find to be the general practice in slaughtering cattle, sheep or pigs and calves ; and any suggestions you can give us as to the im- provement of methods we should be very glad to hear ? —The ordinary method in the provincial and London slaughter houses for the slaughtering of cattle is by securing them to a ring and then striking the animal on the middle of the forehead with a poll-axe and then pith- ing, destroying the medulla and spinal cord by inserting a cane. Then the large vessels in the neck are cut, and it appears to me that that method is quite a humane one. 476. If the slaughterer is expert with the poll-axe ?— It is very seldom that a man fails, because if there be several men in the slaughter house\one is usually selected because of his expertness in the use of the poll-axe and I have not often seen more than one blow necessary. 477. How does the man acquire his practice ?—With regard to the use of the poll-axe the animal is struck from behind and it very seldom turns its head ; it is only in the case of a very wild animal that it may turn its head aside at the moment and get the blow on one side which would not be an effectual one ; it would drop on its knees and stay there, but that is a very exceptional case. In the ordinary way the blow is a fair one struck in the middle of the forehead, and the animal falls and is uncon- scious and never recovers. 478. You say these men are so expert. How do they become expert ?—There is a beginning for all of them, of course. 479. Are they trained on animals ?—They have to get their experience on animals. 480. I presume there is some difficulty in making an accurate blow when you are a novice ?—Yes, still it is usual; a young boy would not be allowed to do it, but somebody older and more reliable would be called on to use the poll-axe, and I do not think it requires a great amount of skill; it does not require so much skill even as the sticking—not nearly. 481. Have you ever seen any other method used, such as the mask ?—Not on cattle, but on horses. 482. You have not seen this used on cattle ?—No, but with horses I think it works very well; I think it is a better method, in fact, and if it could be used on cattle without risk I should say it ought to be used. 483. You mean that cattle are restive and there is the difficulty in putting it on ?—That is so. 484. Supposing the head of the ox is dragged right down to a ring, would there be any difficulty then in putting on the mask ?—Well, its head is not fast quite, the rope is round one horn and the neck and it can always move its head ; with the quieter kinds of cattle one might get the mask on and use it, but with ranche beasts and some Highland cattle it would be difficult to keep them quiet. 485. I am not for the moment advocating this, but I merely ask whether you have seen it used ?—I have not seen it used on cattle and it is not the practice in London or the country ; I know it has been used in London, but it is not the practice at all; in fact it was regarded as too risky on account of the men. 486. Then with regard to another arrangement called Greener’s Patent Killer, have you seen that used ?—On horses only ; I think it does very well for them, I think it kills them instantly, and it is a safe instrument m the case of horses. 487. Is the reason why it is suitable for horses and not for cattle because the horse is quieter 7?—Yes, because it is quiet and the instrument is easily fixed. 488. But you do not consider the Greener is a desirable arrangement for the cattle ?—Not generally speaking, and absolutely not for small cattle. 489. I want to ask you particularly whether you find in your experience that cattle show any signs of fear on entering the slaughter house either through the sight or smell of blood ?—I think bullocks do a little. 490. In what way do they show it ?—If an animal comes in from the pound, which is some distance away from the ring, I think it throws its head about, not merely from being pulled, because even when it is easy, it is a very difficult matter to speak about what appears to be a subjective sensation in an animal, but I think bullocks always show it by their eyes and by throwing their heads about on being brought in. 491. Do you think it is the sight or the smell that affects them ?—I think it is both. 492. I see that in the bye-laws which you have to ad- minister it is specially laid down that the occupier of a slaughter-house shall not slaughter or permit to be slaugh- tered any animal within public view or within the view of any other animal ?—Yes, that is a bye-law. 493. Is that bye-law carried out. Is it your business to see that it is carried out ?—It has been; I should say it is almost absolutely carried out. 494. Is it carried out simply because most of the slaughter-houses which you visit are so small that they would not be likely to want to slaughter more than one animal at a time ?—No, it is not for that reason, because where there would be any likelihood of a breach of that bye-law the Council has interfered and only allowed a. certain number of animals or only one kind of animal on the place at one time, so as to prevent a breach of it. 495. It is a bye-law that you see is enforced ?—Yes, and has been most rigidly. 496. Is it a bye-law of which you approve ?—Yes, it is. 497. On the ground of humanity ?—Yes, particularly with regard to large cattle. 498. You do not find sheep mind so much ?—I do not think they do. 499. Before you go to sheep, as to the killing of calves. what is the method ?—The usual method is to tie them by a rope round the heels and wind them up with a wind- Jass and then to dislocate the neck by a blow with the back side of a cleaver or a poll-axe and then stick them through from behind—cut all the blood vessels of the neck from behind. 500. Do they cut the head right off ?—No, I have not seen it cut off. The method I have seen has been that of cutting through from behind all the vessels within the skin, right out to the skin in fact, and then put a hook through the nose, and allow it to bleed. 501. Mr. Tuck said as a rule they stunned the animal. Did he mean the same as you do— dislocating the neck ?— It amounts to that practically, because the animal is hung by the heels and a very powerful blow is struck behind the head. 502. As you kill a rabbit ?—Yes, the same idea. 503. Is there any reason why the animal should not be stunned before it is hauled up by the heels ?—I think not ; I think the animal should be struck before being wound up, speaking on the grounds of humanity, but I think the reason is that the flesh might be shaken if the animal fell, such an animal asacalf. You see they are very particular to keep the flesh of the calf white and everything else is subordinated to that idea.