HC Deb 14 June 1901 vol 95 cc423-4
MR. LOUIS SINCLAIR

I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he will consider the advisability of granting a higher compensation to the owners of diseased animals slaughtered by order of the Board's inspectors; and whether he is aware that £2 as compensation in cases of glanders is insufficient to prevent the owner endeavouring to temporarily cure his horse, and send it for sale to a public place in which it is almost certain to affect surrounding animals.

*MR. HANBURY

The diseased animals are slaughtered by the local authority at their own discretion, and without any special order of the Board or their inspectors. The sum of £2 mentioned in the question is the minimum amount of compensation sanctioned by the Board, and one-fourth of the value of the animal immediately before it became diseased is the maximum. Between these two points the decision rests with the local authority, out of whose funds the compensation is paid. A very large proportion of cases of glanders occur in the area of the London County Council, who, I understand, now have the whole subject under their consideration.