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
Catalogue details

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.

    27/62 (page 25)
    930. What do you attribute that to ?—Education, I should think ; it has improved all classes of labour all over the world, I suppose. 931. But you think there has really been a great change ?—Yes, and also a great change in their manners and habits of life and everything else—it is very much improved. 932. And there is really a very decent class of men employed ?—Very good, indeed ; there are plenty of very respectable men working there, and in fact we have got very few you could find fault with as workmen. 933. What sort of weekly wage does the average man in the slaughter-house—not the foreman—but the man employed, make ?—I should think about 50s. to £3 for the best workmen, where they kill a lot. The foreman in a large place like that would be earning £5 or £6. 934. What is the lowest class of labour employed ?—I should say they get nothing under about 30s., and there is. only perhaps one out of the gang of five or six so low as that. 935. I suppose boys are employed too for catching blood ?—Generally about one to each team. 936. He is a sort of apprentice ?—He has less wages than the others and he does the roughest work, such as catching the blood. 937. Does he work up ?—Yes, generally speaking, and he becomes foreman sometimes. 938. There is nothing corresponding to the casual labourer class employed ?—No, he must come up from a boy or he would be no good at all. 939. I did not mean the higher ones but in the slaughter- house there is no class of casual labour ?—Virtually, no, they must have a good deal of experience, as the taking off of hides for instance wants a good deal of experience. 940. (Mr. Game.) The bullock here is sold in the market is it not ?—Yes. 941. And if there were any careless or slovenly men doing the work you would immediately detect it when you got it in the market ?—Oh yes. 942. And then you would make your foreman make such alterations as would put proper men on ?—Quite so, 943. You could detect it directly ?—We would see it in a moment; our beef at Deptford, I believe, is dressed as near perfection as possible. 944. And that would be a safeguard, that no inex- perienced person would be allowed to go into the slaughter- house ?—Oh yes. Colonel F. T. Crayton, C.B. Mr. ALEXANDER C. Cops. Mr. CHARLES GAME. © Mr. Gorpon Miter, C.B. Mr. Suratey Murpnuy. Sir Henry Yorke, K.C.B. Mr. R. G. Haves (Secresary). 945. (Chairman.) You are the Secretary of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ?—Yes. 946. And you have held that post for forty-four years, I understand ?—Yes. 947. You have paid special attention in your official capacity to this question of slaughtering animals for food ? —Yes. 948. You have not only taken a theoretical interest in the matter but you have also actually witnessed slaughtering on a large scale during that period ?—Very much. 949. In addition to the ordinary slaughtering of animals as carried out in London and in the country, you have also, I understand, conducted experiments and witnessed experiments with a view to ascertaining any more scien- tific method ?—Yes, demonstrations at least on half-a- dozen different occasions. 950. When was the last occasion you had any practical experiments ?—I think the last occasion was when we attended with Dr. Adler, the Chief Rabbi, at Deptford, and I think that would be about four or five years ago ; that was the third time, I think, that the question of the Jewish method of slaughtering had been investigated by us. - 951. I understand that the most recent experiments, and those which have keen conducted, perhaps, on the largest scale were the Leipsic series ?—Yes, that was the -only continental one I know of. 952. There has never been a large public demonstration in England of the same kind ?—No, not at all; they have been more departmental, if I may say so; our society has been brought into the matter, and we have asked experts to attend. 193. Mr. Reid (Cont.). —Professor Hunting ?—Yes. . 954. And he is to give evidence to-day ?—Yes. 956. In view of the fact that both Professor Hunting and Professor Pritchard are coming as representing the society to-day as well as yourself, we naturally do not want to duplicate evidence more than is necessary. On what points do you propose yourself to give evidence mainly ?—In the first place I am not a scientific man, but IT have seen an immense deal of slaughtering, and so I have gained an experience which perhaps many scientific men have not acquired. I should say, if I may make a long story short, that the result of all my experience is this, that the poll-axe is the best instrument, when it is properly and efficiently used. 956. In the hands of an expert ?—Yes. 957. Perhaps it would be better if we were to take each animal separately, and we will take oxen first of all ? —aAs regards oxen, the poll-axe is undoubtedly the best weapon, because I have always noticed that there was an apparent death, as far as I was able to judge, after the cane had passed into the hole made by the axe—the punch hole made by the axe—which can be done very easily, as you will see by the illustrations I have given you. 958. We saw it actually at Deptford on Monday ?— There was a great feeling at one time that the Bruneau mask would be better, because the animal being masked would not see the blow—a sort of sentimentar feeling of that kind—so the Bruneau mask was brought over to this country with a view to its being adopted. 959. The Bruneau mask is not the mask we have, I think ?—This is the Bruneau mask (exhebrting); it has D —_—-—