§ MR. MACFIEI beg to ask the Vice President of the Privy Council a Question of which I have given him private 251 Notice, Whether he has been able to discover by whose authority the animals which have been thrown into the sea near Leith have been so treated?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTER, in reply, said, that on the 24th of July the Department received a telegram from the veterinary Inspector at Leith asking whether diseased carcases might be taken out to sea 20 miles off, and thrown overboard. The reply telegraphed was—
The diseased carcases must be buried unless you can obtain security that they will be sunk at sea, so that they cannot be picked up or washed ashore.Unfortunately that security was not obtained, and some 16 cattle were washed ashore. He hoped, however, that they were not diseased cattle, as to which he trusted proper care had been taken, but apparently healthy cattle taken back afterwards and thrown overboard. Undoubtedly there was a mistake in the matter, which he hoped would not occur again. He had been mistaken in stating that the local authorities at Leith were to blame, inasmuch as the cattle did not appear to have been within their jurisdiction.