§ 7. Mr. SteenTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has of the effectiveness of veterinary surgeons in identifying ante-mortem diseases including salmonellosis, listerosis and leptospirosis in the course of examining animals at slaughterhouses.
§ Mr. SoamesVeterinary surgeons are specifically trained to identify clinical signs of all animal disease. In the course of examining animals at slaughterhouses, veterinary surgeons make use of that training, and their experience in hygiene, pathology, bacteriology, parasitology, physiology and animal husbandry to detect diseases and conditions which may present a risk to the handlers of meat and the ultimate consumer, and which may not be detectable by routine post-mortem inspection.