§ Lieut.-Colonel Bromley-Davenportasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is aware of the continued anxiety felt by large sections of the public over the increasingly large traffic in live cattle from the United Kingdom to the Continent; whether he is aware that, in spite of regulations and the efforts of animal societies, many animals suffer considerable hardship; and whether he will have special inquiries made into the position with a view, if necessary, to seeking powers to enable him to have such animals slaughtered here and the carcasses sent abroad.
Mr. AmoryI am aware that this traffic is arousing some public anxiety, and I am having it closely watched. In addition to the investigation at Richborough, to which I referred in my reply to the right hon. Member for Rochester and Chatham (Mr. Bottomley) on 22nd November, I arranged for one of my senior veterinary officers to travel recently with a consignment of cattle from this country to Holland. He found on the whole that the cattle were well and sympathetically handled, they travelled in reasonable comfort, and were none the worse for the 61W crossing. There were satisfactory arrangements for feeding and watering at both ends of the voyage, and food and water were also available on board. I am grateful to the Dutch authorities for allowing my officer to visit some abattoirs where British cattle are slaughtered; he found the conditions and equipment there very good.