§ Mr. FREEMANasked the Minister of Agriculture the number of horses that were exported from this country to the Continent during 1929 and the towns to which they were sent; how many inspectors were employed in this matter last year; and whether he will publish their most recent Report?
§ Mr. N. BUXTON9,912 horses were shipped from Great Britain to the Continent during 1929. A list of the towns to which they were sent is given below. The number of inspectors employed in the examination of horses immediately before shipment at the ports during 1929 was 16. As regards the last part of the question, periodical reports are received from the inspectors at the ports of shipment, consisting, in the main, of the numbers of horses examined,2144W shipped, and rejected, the destinations to which they are sent, and the purpose for which they are intended on arrival on the Continent, and generally as to compliance with the regulations both as regards the fittings of vessels in which the horses are carried, and arrangements for feeding, watering, etc., and these are summarised in the Annual Report of the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Ministry. The Report for 1929 will be published during the next few months.
List of towns to which, horses were shipped in 1929:
- Belgium: Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Zeebrugge.
- Holland: Amsterdam, Hook of Holland, Rotterdam.
- France: Boulogne, Dunkirk, St. Malo, Honfleur, Havre.
- Germany: Hamburg, Bremen, Danzig.
- Denmark: Copenhagen, Esbjerg.
- Sweden: Gothenburg.
Sir G. HAMILTONasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he has any further statement to make to the House with regard to the export of horses for slaughter to the Continent?
§ Mr. BUXTONThe position with regard to the export of horses from this country has been fully stated in my replies to recent questions, in particular that which I gave to a question by the hon. Member for Gillingham (Sir R. Gower) on the 10th instant. Briefly, the facts are that no horse which is not certified by the Ministry's inspectors as fit to travel and (it to work without suffering is allowed to be exported. This condition has been rigidly enforced for many years and the Ministry has in no way relaxed its vigilance. Statements which recently appeared in the Press with regard to methods of slaughter at a certain abattoir on the Continent have no relevance whatever to horses exported from Great Britain for slaughter, since no horses have been sent to that abattoir from this country since 1925. According to my information, all I he horses exported from Great Britain in 1929 for immediate slaughter were slaughtered with the humane killer.