HC Deb 28 April 1892 vol 3 cc1564-6
DR. FITZGERALD (Longford, S,)

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if his attention has been called to an Order of the Lord Lieutenant prohibiting nine thousand Dublin dairy cows, from which the supply of milk to the city is chiefly derived, from being turned out to grass during the summer months; and whether it is intended to enforce this Order during the entire summer months; and, if so, whether, in the interests of the health of the city, the Lord Lieutenant will consider the advisability of withdrawing the Order, or prohibiting the keeping of cows used for a milk supply within the city boundaries?

* MR. JACKSON

I am fully aware of the Order in Council referred to. Although there are about nine thousand dairy cattle in the Dublin scheduled districts, the number licensed for grazing from these districts last year was about 3,500. I regret to say that pleuro-pneumonia has been and is very prevalent in the scheduled districts. During the year ending 31st March, 1892, there occurred in the North and South Dublin Unions 116 outbreaks of pleuro-pneumonia, involving the slaughter of 3,689 cattle, for which compensation was paid to the amount of £49,245. It is important to note that last year, prior to the movement of the dairy cattle to grass in May, there were only four outbreaks in the County Dublin outside the scheduled districts, and of these two were of small importance. During the six months, May to October, in which the cattle from the scheduled districts were at grass, there occurred as many as 24 outbreaks of pleuro-pneumonia, involving the slaughter of nearly 1,100 cattle, for which compensation to the amount of £13,263 was paid; whilst, during the other six months of the year, there were only five outbreaks, involving the slaughter of 124 cattle, for which £1,500 compensation was paid. These facts, in my opinion, prove the absolute necessity for the Order, and it is intended to enforce it so long as it is deemed essential for the purpose of dealing effectually with the disease. The third question of the hon. Member appears to assume that the milk of town-fed cows which are not allowed to graze is injurious to health. This assumption, I am led to believe, is erroneous; and the experience of London confirms this belief. As a matter of fact, the great majority of cows in London cow-sheds never go out to grass at all, and, in regard to the sanitary condition of the animals, it may be interesting to give an extract from the Report of the Assistant Inspector of the Board of Agriculture, who was instructed in 1888 to visit the London Metropolitan cow-sheds in order to inquire into the general system of management and the sanitary condition of the animals kept therein. The Inspector's statement was as follows:— I was surprised to find the cows in such good condition. Many of them seemed fit for exhibition purposes, and it was easy to pick out the last purchased cows in the sheds. They were usually the poorest and lowest in flesh, rough-coated, and often dirty. In only two or three small lots did the cows generally appear in poor condition and dirty, and these were cases in which the owners had purchased old and worn-out cows. The condition and health of the cows I examined in the London cow-sheds would compare favourably with an equal number of cows taken indiscriminately from dairy herds in the country. The question is a very important one. The Government is making strenuous efforts to stamp out the disease. We are sparing neither money nor pains, and I hope that the Government will receive the full support of those concerned and of the public and the House in their efforts to check the spread of the disease.

DR. FITZGERALD

We have every desire to support the right hon. Gentleman in his endeavour to stamp out the disease. I would, however, suggest that in making his inquiries he should consult the Medical Officers of Health in Dublin as to what their opinion would be of the enforcement of this Order—shutting up these cows in the city. My contention is, that the cows never having been put in, will not want turning out, and ought not to be allowed out of the city boundary at all.