§ 72. Sir WILLIAM BULLasked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that a British officer flew over from France with a lady's dog which, it is alleged, spread rabies in Devon; and, if so, what punishment will be meted out to this officer for evading the law?
§ Mr. PROTHEROThe Board have no knowledge of the circumstances to which my hon. Friend refers, and if he will send me his information I will have it investigated. In January and February, 1917, the Board called attention to this possible source of risk, and both the Admiralty and the Royal Flying Corps gave every assistance by warning officers of the serious breach of regulations involved.
I may, perhaps, take this opportunity of explaining the gravity of the present position. In all 40 cases of Babies have been confirmed since 7th September, 35 in Devon and 5 in Cornwall—of these no fewer than 29 occurred in the county 605 borough of Plymouth. But these figures do not by any means represent all the facts of the case. I am satisfied that Babies has been in existance in these counties for several months, probably since the end of May, and the latest outbreak discovered is in the Wadebridge District of Cornwall some 30 miles distant from Plymouth. Here the rabied dog was owned by an hotel-keeper, and inquiries have shown that another of her dogs has died of rabies three weeks ago, whilst other very suspicious deaths of dogs are now known to have occurred in the immediate neighbourhood during the month of September. Visitors with dogs had been staying at this hotel, and as many as seven dogs which are known to have been in daily contact with the hotel-keeper's dogs during this summer have been taken to places outside Devon and Cornwall. These have now all been traced and are isolated.
It will be seen that grave risk of the spread of this disease to other parts of the country has thus been incurred, and I desire to make a strong appeal to all persons who have visited Devon or Cornwall with dogs during the last five months that they should place their dogs with Veterinary Surgeons at once and inform my Department of the fact. I regret to say that the appeal for this information issued to the Press on the 11th inst. has only met with one response. Human life is at stake in this matter. At least 21 persons are known to have been bitten by these rabid dogs, 9 being children, and any person who fails to assist by giving information required will incur a very grave responsibility, should the disease spread to other districts. I would like also to appeal to the manufacturers of wire muzzles to come to my aid by greatly and rapidly increasing their output. The deficiencies of supply hinder the measures necessary for stamping out this disease.
§ Sir W. BULLHas not a barrister of standing communicated the name of the officer and the date upon which the occurrence took place and the name of the dog?
§ Mr. PROTHERONot to my knowledge. It has not been communicated to me or in such a way that it would reach me.
§ Mr. G. LAMBERTHow did this outbreak of rabies in Devon and Cornwall first occur?
§ Mr. PROTHEROThat is just the difficulty. I cannot explain it. I may have suspicions, but I should not like to say on suspicion what I believe the case to be. It is mainly centred in the county borough of Plymouth.
§ Mr. PROTHERONot at present.