HC Deb 01 June 1891 vol 353 cc1391-2
COLONEL WARING (Down, N.), for Mr. PARKER SMITH (Lanark, Partick)

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether his attention has been drawn to the great sufferings undergone by cattle in their steamer passage from Ireland to the Clyde ports; whether it is a common occurrence, in the steamers engaged in this traffic, for cattle to be smothered and trampled on, or to have their backs and legs broken, besides suffering minor injuries, which involve great torture to the animals and much injury to their meat and hides; and in particular, whether the cases described in the last Report of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, with respect to which he has been supplied with names and particulars, are correctly stated; whether in February, 1889, a Memorial was presented to the Irish Privy Council by the master fleshers of Glasgow, calling attention to the condition in which cattle brought to the Port of Glasgow by the Irish steamers arrive, and stating That in many cases the animals die on the voyage in consequence of being trampled upon or gored by their companions, and even when the animals arrive at the Port of Glasgow they are so bruised by having to pass through too narrow hatches when being shipped or landed, and by falls, goring, or other calamities, that they are quite unfit for human food when slaughtered"; whether the statements of this Memorial are correct, and whether the state of matters continues practically unchanged since the date of this Memorial; and whether he is prepared to recommend the enforcement in regard to these boats of the regulations in force for the Transatlantic traffic, or to take other steps for diminishing this evil?

MR. CHAPLIN

I am afraid it is the case that cattle suffer considerably during their voyage from Ireland to Great Britain, especially in heavy weather. But the Board of Agriculture have no reason to believe that it is a common occurrence for cattle to be smothered or trampled on, or to have their backs and legs broken on the passage from Ireland to England. With regard to the specific cases referred to in the Report of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, inquiries are now being made by my directions, but I am unable to say at present whether the statements made are correct. The statements referred to in the Memorial presented to the Irish Privy Council in February, 1889, so far as the Board of Agriculture are aware, are incorrect; and although serious, and sometimes fatal, cases occasionally occur, I am informed that they are very rare, and that more suffering and more injury are caused by the way in which the animals gore each other with their horns than by any other means. As a matter of fact, the same regulations as for the Transatlantic traffic are in force at this moment, but the conditions under which the Irish traffic and the Atlantic traffic are conducted are so different that I could not undertake on all occasions that they should be identical, nor would it indeed be always desirable. I am, however, inquiring carefully into the whole question of the Irish cattle traffic, and every effort will be made by the Board of Agriculture to diminish as far as possible the sufferings of cattle coming to England from Ireland.