§ MR. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick's)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board have been appointed by the Privy Council, or the Board of Agriculture, to act as the Local Authority for the Port of Liverpool for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts, and whether they profess to execute the provisions of said Acts; whether he is aware that the absence of proper reception lairs entails great suffering upon the animals after they are landed from the vessels; whether he has been acquainted with the fact that, on 27th July, 675 cattle, ex ss. Parkmore, were landed in the space allotted to 580; and whether he has learned that legal proceedings will probably be instituted in consequence of the damage done to the cattle?
§ MR. H. GARDNERThe Mersey Docks and Harbour Board have not been appointed as the Local Authority for the Port of Liverpool under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts, but they are the owners of the foreign 131 animals wharves there, and are responsible for the due observance of the Orders of the Board relating to such wharves. As I stated in reply to a previous question by my hon. Friend, we have no complaint to make as to the character of the existing arrangements at Liverpool for the reception of foreign animals; and so long as animals are not landed at the wharves in numbers exceeding the extent of the accommodation provided, I am satisfied that no avoidable suffering would be entailed by reason of those arrangements. My answer to the two concluding questions of my hon. Friend is in the affirmative, but I have no authority to intervene between the Docks Board and the owner of the animals in the matter, especially in view of its possible reference to the Law Courts.