§ MR. SCHWANNI beg to ask the hon. Member for North Huntingdonshire, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether, in view of the Animals (Transit and General) Order of 1895, he will state whether cattle shipped from Irish to English and Scotch ports are carried in pens of the prescribed dimensions and construction, with battens to prevent slipping and to protect from collision against ships' fittings, etc., in rough weather; how many inspectors report on this traffic; and at what ports are they stationed.
§ MR. AILWYN FELLOWESAll cattle shipped from Ireland to Great 22 Britain must be carried in pens, and in the case of vessels not regularly employed in the trade prior to May, 1895, these pens must be of certain prescribed dimensions and construction. In every case the floor of the pens must be fitted with battens or other footholds to prevent slipping, and ships' fittings likely to cause injury and unnecessary suffering must be fenced off. Forty-seven ship inspectors are stationed at the eighteen Irish ports from which cattle are shipped, whose duty it is to examine vessels and to see that the different requirements of the Transit Orders are complied with. The Irish Veterinary Inspection Staff, to the number of twenty-four, also exercise supervision in the matter. On this side of the Channel the oversight of the trade forms part of the regular duties of the four Inspectors of the Board of Agriculture within whose Divisions Irish cattle are landed, and these inspectors from time to time make journeys in vessels carrying live-stock in order to satisfy themselves that the trade is properly carried on. It is also the duty of the various local authorities to execute and enforce the provisions of our Order, and some of these authorities have appointed inspectors for this special purpose.