CO129-562-12 Dysentry epidemic- recommendation to enforce compulsory pasteurization of milk 7-6-1937 - 17-8-1937 — Page 45

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It may be milk and dairies orders should not be diminished. observed that this question only arises in England and Wales. In Scotland the same authority is responsible both for the veterinary inspection of cows and for the inspection of dairy premises.

180. We have seen that the local authority for the purposes of the diseases of animals act in England and Wales is not always the local authority for the purposes of routine veterinary inspection. For certain boroughs other than county boroughs are constituted local The total number of local authorities authorities under that act. under the act is 309.* This is too great a dispersal of authority for We therefore the efficient and economical control of disease. recommend that the opportunity offered by the expansion of the veterinary service should be taken to transfer these powers under the acts, other than those relating to cattle market inspection, to the appropriate county councils.

181. We also recommend that in England and Wales the duty of testing herds with tuberculin for the purpose of the milk special designations order, which is now undertaken by the Ministry of Health, should be transferred to the expanded veterinary service. If this service is to be controlled by local authorities, though the actual standard would require to be laid down by the appropriate government departments in consultation, the granting of licences for the production of designated milk would also be made a function of county councils.

182. The functions of the veterinary service would, as a result of these recommendations, be as follows :-

:-

(i) the present duties of veterinary inspectors of local authorities under the diseases of animals acts and orders issued under those acts;

(ii) The veterinary duties falling to be performed under the milk and dairies acts and orders, including the extension of the routine clinical examination of dairy cattle which would result from the amendment of the present orders so as to require that such examination should be made throughout Great Britain;

(iii) the testing of cattle with tuberculin for the purposes of the

milk special designations orders;

* These are made up as follows:-

Administrative counties.

County boroughs

and large burghs.

Other boroughs. Total.

England

49

80

108

237

Wales

13

3

21

Scotland

30

21

51

Total

92

104

113

309

1

71

(iv) the duties placed upon veterinary officers under the scheme for the eradication of bovine tuberculosis which we describe hereafter;

(v) any functions that may be imposed upon them in connection

with other diseases of livestock and poultry.

183. An important issue which remains to be decided concerns the employment of veterinary surgeons engaged in private practice as part-time veterinary officers of local authorities. At present the majority of county councils employ such part-time officers, even in some cases for the purpose of the routine clinical examination of dairy cattle. The experience of such counties, when compared with that of counties employing full-time officers, leaves no room for doubt that the employment of part-time officers is generally unsatis- factory. It is obvious that such part-time employment must not infrequently involve the officer in some conflict of loyalties, and whether from this or from other causes the experience of counties employing whole-time officers strongly confirms the view that the employment of such officers is more satisfactory. In view of the evidence on this point we are strongly of the opinion that whole- time officers should be employed wherever it is practicable. We do not, however, assert that the employment of whole-time men is practicable in every instance. In certain sparsely populated districts where there is not sufficient private practice to support a properly qualified veterinary surgeon, the withdrawal of the steady source of income which employment as the part-time veterinary inspector of a local authority represents to the local practitioner, would probably have the result of forcing him to seek employment elsewhere. The ordinary veterinary facilities would consequently be lost to the district, with unfortunate results to the local agricultural population. In order to guard against this contingency, we recommend that the veterinary inspectors appointed by local authorities for the purposes set out in paragraph 182 should be whole-time officers, and should not be engaged in private practice except in those districts in which the Minister of Agriculture, if the district in question is in England and Wales, or the Department of Agriculture for Scotland, if it is in Scotland, has certified that by reason of the difficulty of securing adequate veterinary facilities, the agricultural interests of the district would be likely to suffer if a whole-time officer were appointed. The employment of part-time veterinary officers should also be permitted as a temporary measure during the period of reorganisation. Some witnesses have urged that the appointment of a whole-time staff of veterinary surgeons would be detrimental to the interests of veterinary practitioners generally. We do not accept this view, as the advice given by veterinary surgeons in the public service, by directing the attention of the farmer to the incidence of disease in his animals, tends to make him call in his own veterinary surgeon more freely for the purpose of treatment. Moreover, until the public veterinary service is fully established, many of the duties of local authorities,

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