§ Mr. HALLSasked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has been called to the prosecution of two ser- 1584W vants of the Ministry who were convicted and fined £20 at Nottingham last week for the brutal and cruel way they carried out the destruction of a herd of 20 beasts at Thrumpton on 24th March, when they used the poleaxe, wounding several that broke away, and afterwards chasing them into the corner of the field and shooting at them with a gun, one of the defendants admitting to a police constable that he fired at one beast six times before he brought it down on its knees, and after being stopped by the police they went the next day and killed the remainder by shooting them; will he give most definite and strict instructions that in future animals must be destroyed in the most humane way; and will he ensure that those men who were responsible for this action are removed from the possibility of repeating the performance elsewhere?
Sir A. BOSCAWENI would refer the hon. Member to the replies which I gave to the hon. Member for Kincardine and Western (Lieut.-Colonel A. Murray) on the 1st instant, and to the hon. Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Betterton) yesterday.