HC Deb 03 July 1893 vol 14 cc685-6
SIR J. KINLOCH (Perth, E.)

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is yet in a position to state the result of the microscopic examination of the lungs of the animal landed from the steamer Lake Winnipeg, and supposed to be affected with pleuro-pneumonia; and, if so, whether it has been such as to enable him to dispense with the requirement that Canadian cattle must be slaughtered at the port where they are landed?

THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. H. GARDNER, Essex, Saffron Walden)

I very much regret to say that careful microscopic examination of the lungs of the animal in question has confirmed the conclusions already arrived at by my veterinary advisers, and they entertain no doubt that the disease with which the animal was affected was contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle. As in cases of that disease which have been discovered in cattle landed in this country from the United States, the morbid appearances presented by the lungs of the Canadian animal exhibit to the naked eye some deviations from those usually apparent in the lungs of home-bred animals, but these deviations are much less apparent under the microscope, and the history of the disease in North America shows clearly that it is as contagious and fatal on that Continent as it is in Europe. In these circumstances, and having regard also to the two analogous cases to which I referred a few days ago, and to what occurred in September last, I have come to the conclusion that I have no alternative for the present but to maintain, in the case of Canada, the normal requirement to which all imported animals are subject under the Statute—namely, that they must be slaughtered at the port of landing.

DR. FARQUHARSON (Aberdeenshire, W.)

I beg to ask whether, in the opinion of the Veterinary Department, there is any reliable microscopic test of contagious and non-contagious pleuro-pneumonia; and whether the right hon. Gentleman will lay the Report of the Veterinary Department on this case on the Table?

MR. H. GARDNER

I am informed by my veterinary advisers that they are able to differentiate between contagious and non-contagious pleuro-pneumonia. I will consider the question of laying the Report on the Table.