Sessional_Paper_1891 — Page 157

153

No.

9

91.

HONGKONG.

COLONIAL VETERINARY SURGEON'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1890.

Presented to the Legislative Council, by Command of His Excellency the Governor, on the 10th April, 1891.

SANITARY BOARD ROOM,

12th January, 1891.

SIR,-I have the honour to submit for the information of the Sanitary Board my annual report which includes the report for the last quarter of 1891.

The Secretary,

SANITARY BOARD.

REPORT.

I have, &c.,

C. VIVIAN LAdds, Colonial Veterinary Surgeon.

Importation of Cattle, Sheep and Swine.

In the earlier days of Hongkong it was the custom to house all animals brought into the Colony for the purpose of being slaughtered for human food in private sheds, many of which were simply the ground floors of dwelling houses.

These places were scattered all over the city and the animals were under little or no supervision. Some years after a depôt was built for the reception of cattle to be used as a quarantine station; this was undoubtedly the first step, but unfortunately no housing sheds were provided at the same time, and hence the quarantine station was gradually converted into a permanent depôt, a small mat- shed taking the place of the former. The result of this was that nearly all the cattle landed in the Colony for slaughtering purposes were housed there under very superior conditions, but no provision was made for the sheep and swine.

I am pleased to be able to state however that from representations made to the Government by myself they have now decided to erect sheep and swine depôts both of which are now in the course of construction. These being completed all animals intended for slaughter will then be under super- vision at all times.

I regret to say however that I understand that no provision has been made in this year's Estimates for the Reception Lairs for animals upon landing, as recommended to the Government in the joint report of the Honourable the SURVEYOR GENERAL, the Honourable O. CHADWICK, and myself. This appeared to me to be the first step which should have been taken as all animals would then be landed directly into those lairs and kept under supervision (as at home) for a fixed period for the purpose of detecting any present or latent disease, before going on to the regular depôts and possibly conveying disease to healthy animals.

With the already sanctioned depôts and some Reception Lairs at the shore, the system would then be complete.

Since the year 1886, the importation of cattle for slaughter has increased by more than a thou sand head per annum, the number housed in the Government Depôt for the year ending December 31st 1890 being 16,617.

SLAUGHTER HOUSES.

Victoria.

The Government having decided to erect a new slaughter-house, a site is now being prepared at Kennedy Town adjacent to that of the new sheep and swine depôts. The present one has long been insufficient to meet the requirements of the city, the number of animals increasing considerably year by year.

Number of animals slaughtered during year ending December 31st, 1890:-

Cattle. 16,329........

Sheep. .10,091..............

Swine, ....112,518

These returns show an increase of 656 cattle and 3,977 swine, with a decrease of 19 sheep for the year; the decrease in the number of sheep probably being due to their increased value.