Minutes of evidence taken before the Committee appointed by the Admiralty to consider the humane slaughtering of animals.

  • Great Britain. Committee on Humane Slaughtering of Animals.
Date:
1904
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Minutes of evidence taken before the Committee appointed by the Admiralty to consider the humane slaughtering of animals. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    closed, keeps the trolly in position: G is a lasso, one end of which is rove through a lead on the gate F and brought _ to the steam winch H. The cattle are admitted into the slaughtering yard eight or ten at a time. A man walking about on top of the palisades © throws the lasso over the horns of one of the beasts, which is then dragged close up to F by means of the steam winch. Another man sitting on the gate F runs a stiletto into the back of the beast’s neck, close behind the centre of the skull, and the animal instantly drops down apparently dead. The gate is then opened, the lasso taken off, and the trolly, with the earcase on it, is run along the lines E E, which are inside a large building K K, where the cutting up is done. This building is large enough to cut up probably sixty or eighty carcases at a time, and the trolly is stopped in any part of the building where required, and the car- case is pulled off on to the floor, where the bleeding, flay- ing, and cutting up is done. The trolly is then run back into its place, the gate is shut, and the process repeated. 1792. What happens if more than one animal is stand- ing on the trolly ?—There is hardly room for more than one; and owing to the noise of the engine, etc, the ten- dency of the animals is to h id back against the gate B. 1793. Do they do it with a short dagger stiletto ?— Yes, and it is so sharp, and the man has such a knack of doing it from constant practice, that it goes down as easily as if he were sticking it into butter. The moment it is in, the animal drops as if he were dead. 1794. It severs the spinal cord, I suppose ?—Yes, I suppose so. 1795. I believe the practice in Southern Europe,” in Spain and Italy, is to kill the animals by stabbing in the back of the neck, but without this special arrangement you have described ; this could only be done when animals were being killed on a large scale, I suppose ?—Yes, as regards getting up steam for the winch; but you could have a hand winch to pull them up. There is practically no struggling, as the floor is smooth and slippery. 1796. (Mr. Cope.) I take it this is done because they are much wilder animals, and they can draw them with the winch tighter ?—Yes, and the animals have their heads in the right position at the time they are killed. 1797. (Chairman.) And the pulling really opens the vertebrae ?—Yes, I suppose it does. Mr. ALEXANDER OC. Corr. Mr. CHARLES GAME. Mr. GorDon MILLER, C.B. wa 1798. (Chairman.) You are, I understand, President of the Shechita Board ?—Yes, I have been connected with it for thirty years, but only about eighteen years President. 1799. Would you tell us very briefly what are the functions of the Board ?—The Board has to engage the slaughterers and those who examine the carcase of the animal after it has been killed to see that there is no com- mencement of any vital disease. Then we license the butchers, poulterers, and the carcase butchers, the carcase butchers being mainly non-Jews. We give yearly licences without charge. It is a very large organisation. I have brought the two last accounts current, and the last report shows that our revenue is very large indeed ; we deal with about £15,000 a year of revenue, and the charge averages about one-eighth of a penny per pound, that covers all the expenses and leaves us a small amount over. 1800. I presume the original reason for the Board was to prescribe the exact methods of slaughter, which should be in accordance with the Jewish religious law ?— The Biblical laws, yes. We have nothing to do with what may be termed the ecclesiastical control, that is left to the ecclesiastical authorities. We are rather a com- mercial or an administrative and executive body, and we carry out those regulations in support of the ecclesiastical authorities. 1801. In fact, you convert the ecclesiastical law into the practical methods of slaughter ?—I think we follow almost literally the regulations ; we certainly endeavour to restrict the opening of butchers’ shops in the congested area of East London, and we try to get them on the out- skirts, so that they should not increase the numbers - dwelling in East London. 1802. We are only concerned wlth the actual slaughter- ing of the animals; by our terms of reference we are limited to that, and what we are anxious to ascertain is, in the 193. Mr. SuHirntey Murpuy. Sir Henry Yorke, K.C.B. Mr. R. G. Hayes (Secretary.) first place, where the exact methods of slaughter are laid down and prescribed ?—The original basis of our slaughtering comes from the Old Testament, which I think fifteen times commands that we should not eat any blood, that is the arterial blood, and the commandment of the oral law is followed in making the actual slaughter as humane as it is possible for human skill to effect. The slaughterers are constantly examined, either once a week, or perhaps a little less frequently, to see that their knives are as keen as it is possible for them to be, and that the man has got what are termed the sensitive fingers, so that he can detect the smallest notch in the knife. 1803. Of course, you will understand that, as a Com- mittee, we thoroughly recognise the fact that the Jews have every desire to slaughter their animals in a humane manner ; there is no question of that kind at all; we are only examining these methods on their merits, entirely apart from any question of religious observances ?—As I mentioned, if by touching the spine there is the slightest notch on the knife, the animal is not fit to be eaten accord- ing to our law, and in order to obviate any bruise or any pain to the animal in casting, we have india-rubber pave- ment, so that the animal shall fall as harmlessly as it is possible, 1804. Where do you have these india-rubber pave- ments ?—In the slaughter-houses. 1805. Which ones ?—We have several slaughter-houses in Deptford, and we have spent, and are now spending, over £300 in putting these india-rubber pavements there. 1806. Are they in general use ? because we did not see them when we were down there ?—I have seen them myself when I have been down, and I understood they were adopted everywhere. Where the animal is thrown, it is thrown on an india-rubber pavement in the slaughter- house level with the ground. 1807. I accept your statement, but we have not seen that, and certainly in the killing we witnessed there was G 2 Captain Inglefielé (cont.).. Sir Samuel Montagu.
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