Slaughter of Animals Bill, 1933—Committee Stage.
SECTION 1.
(2) Every owner or occupier of a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard or any premises attached thereto or occupied or used in connection with a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard shall cause every animal which is confined in such slaughterhouse, knacker's yard or premises preparatory to being slaughtered to be provided with a sufficient quantity of wholesome water and where such animal is confined for a period exceeding twenty-four hours with a sufficient quantity of wholesome food.
(3) A person shall not, so far as is practicable without structural alteration to premises existing at the passing of this Act, slaughter, or cause or suffer to be slaughtered, any animal in the view of another animal.
(4) Every occupier of a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard and every person employed in or about the slaughtering of any animal in a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard before slaughtering or assisting to slaughter such animal shall cause such animal to be secured, and in the securing and slaughtering of such animal, and in the felling of such animal in cases where it is necessary to fell such animal before slaughtering, shall take such precautions as may be requisite to secure the infliction of as little pain and suffering as possible.
(5) Every animal about to be killed in a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard shall be instantaneously slaughtered or shall by stunning be instantaneously rendered insensible to pain till death supervenes and such slaughtering or stunning shall be effected by means of a mechanically operated instrument in proper repair and condition of a type approved by the Minister for Agriculture used by a person who is at the time the holder of a licence issued by the sanitary authority under the provisions of Section 3 of this Act, and every occupier of a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard shall keep a mechanically operated instrument of a type so approved in a proper state of repair and fit for immediate use and, where such instrument involves the use of explosive cartridges, an adequate supply of such cartridges: provided that the provisions of this sub-section shall not apply to an animal slaughtered for the food of Jews by a Jew duly licensed for that purpose by the Board of theShechita of the Jewish Community of Dublin and holding a licence granted by the sanitary authority or for the food of Mohammedans by a Mohammedan holding a licence granted by the sanitary authority if such slaughtering is carried out according to the Jewish or Mohammedan method of slaughter, as the case may be.
(6) No person who is under the age of fourteen years shall be admitted to or permitted to remain in a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard during the process of slaughtering any animal.
I move amendment No. 1:—
Section 1, sub-section (2). To delete all from the word "occupier" in line 17 down to the word "yard" in line 19, inclusive, and to substitute therefor the words "person in charge."
At the outset I should point out that all the amendments in my name are drafting amendments, which have been prepared in consultation with legal gentlemen who were good enough to give their assistance. During the proceedings of the Select Committee 18 amendments of substance were inserted to meet various points put up. These are drafting amendments some of which have been rendered consequential owing to changes effected in the Bill during the Select Committee proceedings. If Senators will look at amendment 18 they will find that "owner" is defined and also "person in charge." The amendment will ensure that a number of words embodied throughout the section will be eliminated and that there will be a considerable reduction of verbiage and a help in subsequent interpretations. The amendments are calculated to put the Bill in a more comprehensive form legally, and generally to improve the drafting.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 2:—
Section 1, sub-section (2). To delete the word "such" in line 20 and to substitute therefor the word "a."
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 3:—
Section 1, sub-section (3). To delete in line 25 the words "a person shall not" and before the word "slaughter" in line 27 to insert the words "no person shall."
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 4:—
Section 1, sub-section (4). To delete all from the word "occupier" in line 29 down to the word "yard" in line 31, inclusive, and to substitute therefor the words "person in charge."
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 4a:—
Section 1, sub-section (4). To delete the word "such" where it first occurs in line 32 and to substitute therefor the word "any."
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 5:—
Section 1, sub-section (5). To delete all from the word "Every" in line 38 down to the word "stunning" in line 40, inclusive, and to substitute therefor the words "Every owner or person in charge shall cause every animal slaughtered in a slaughter house or knacker's yard to be instantaneously slaughtered or by stunning to."
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment No. 6 not moved.
I move amendment No. 7:—
Section 1, sub-section (5). To delete the word "occupier" in line 46 and to substitute therefor the words "person in charge."
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 8:—
Section 1, sub-section (5). To delete all from the word "of" in line 46 down to the word "yard" in line 47, inclusive.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 9:—
Section 1, sub-section (5). To delete all after the word "Dublin" in line 54, page 2, down to and including the word "authority" in line 1, page 3.
The idea is that as the Jewish community and Mohammedans are exempt from the provisions of the Bill there-is no necessity for the granting of the licence. The deletion of the words I suggest will put them completely outside the provisions of the Bill.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment No. 10 not moved.
I move amendment No. 11:—
Section 1, sub-section (6). To delete the sub-section and to substitute therefor the following sub-section:—
(6) No owner or person in charge shall permit any person under the age of 14 years to enter or remain in a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard during the process of slaughtering any animal.
This is a drafting amendment. Sub-section (6) is not drafted in a way that would commend itself, and I propose to substitute the words in this amendment. As originally introduced, the Bill provided that no person of 16 years of age or under should be permitted to be present during the process of slaughtering or dressing of a carcase. As a result of the evidence of numerous witnesses, it was agreed that that might impose hardship on a boy who, after leaving school, wants to begin to serve his time to the butchering business and it was urged that we should make the age the school leaving age of 14 instead of 16. At the Select Committee that was agreed to and it was also agreed to strike out the provision whereby a person of 14 years of age or under should not be permitted to be present during the dressing of a carcase. It was realised that this might be very difficult of administration in the case of the children of a butcher who might, no matter what surveillance was exercised, be present during the dressing of a carcase.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments 12 and 13 not moved.
SECTION 3.
(2) A licence under this section shall be issued only by the sanitary authority of the district in which the applicant resides, but shall be valid for the district of any sanitary authority throughout Saorstát Eireann. Such licence shall be valid for a period not exceeding twelve months from the date of issue thereof but may be renewed from time to time by the issuing authority for successive periods not exceeding twelve months and shall be produced on demand for inspection by any sanitary authority.
I move amendment No. 14:—
Section 3, sub-section (2). To delete the word "issued" in line 39 and to substitute therefor the word "granted."
The word "granted" has been used throughout and it is the proper word. This is merely a drafting amendment.
Amendment agreed to.
SECTION 9.
For the purposes of this Act—
the expression "slaughter house" means any building, premises or place used in connection with the business of killing animals for the purpose of the flesh being used as butcher's meat;
the expression "knacker's yard" means any building, premises or place used in connection with the business of killing animals not killed for the purpose of the flesh being used as butcher's meat;
the expression "animal" means any horse, mare, gelding, pony, foal, colt, filly, stallion, ass, donkey, mule, bull, cow, bullock, heifer, calf, steer, ox, sheep, ewe, wether, ram, lamb, goat, kid.
I move amendment No. 15:—
Section 9. After the word "place" in line 48 to insert the word "ordinarily."
This is considered necessary lest where a person might kill a sheep or one beast in a year in any particular place, that place might be looked on as a slaughterhouse and might be brought within the terms of the Act contrary to the intentions of the promoters.
I want to ask a question, more to reassure certain people in the country than for my own information. Does this definitely exclude bona fide farmers who for the present, because they are not able to sell their cattle or sheep, are compelled to slaughter them? Four a week would probably be the greatest number. It is only a temporary phase of their business and I should like to know definitely if they would be excluded.
If a farmer turns butcher and proceeds to kill cattle, he would be brought within the ambit of the Bill but after amendment No. 19, which I propose to ask the House to accept, is accepted, it will not apply to him if he confines his activities to the slaughter of pigs or sheep for sale, but it would apply if he has a regular business in the slaughter of cattle for sale. He will become a butcher for the time being and will be competing with butchers in the slaughter and sale of cattle. No good argument has been advanced as to why he should be exempt because he is killing cattle for sale because it pays him to do so rather than to continue as a farmer.
I am afraid that that does not satisfy me because farmers at the present time are in the position in which even the purchase of the humane killer would be a very heavy tax on them. I wish to give notice of my intention to bring in an amendment on Report Stage to exclude them definitely. I am altogether in favour of the Bill but these farmers are going through a temporary phase in their business and they will cease to be butchers of any kind, except perhaps for killing a pig occasionally, when our markets are restored.
Amendment No. 15 agreed to.
I move amendment No. 16:—
Section 9. After the word "place" in line 50 to insert the word "ordinarily."
This is a similar amendment in regard to knackers' yards.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment No. 17 not moved.
I move amendment No. 18:—
Section 9. To add at the end of the section the following words:— the expression "owner" means any person carrying on the business of slaughtering animals in a slaughter house or knacker's yard; the expression "person in charge" means the person for the time being having the supervision or control of any of the functions of feeding, watering, caring or slaughtering of animals in a slaughter house or knacker's yard, and may include the owner.
The idea is to define these two people and make them responsible for observance of the Act in so far as they are in charge of any slaughter houses or knackers' yards.
Amendment agreed to.
Question proposed: "That Section 9, as amended, stand part."
On the section, might I suggest to Senator O'Farrell that to put this Bill in conformity with the practice of draughtsmanship in this House, the definition clause should be at the beginning of the Bill and not at the end. It would be very much simpler and more in conformity with the general practice.
Cathaoirleach
It could be done on Report.
I should be glad to consider that for Report.
Section 9, as amended, agreed to.
I move amendment No. 19:—
New section. Before Section 10 to insert a new section as follows:—
10.—The provisions of this Act shall not apply to any person engaged in the slaughter of pigs, sheep or goats for the purpose of the flesh being used as butcher's meat who does not slaughter any other animals for that purpose.
When the Bill was introduced it contained a clause that the provisions should not operate outside of two miles of a Gárda Síochána barracks. From the evidence we had before us at the Select. Committee, we found that it would be rather difficult to work the Bill and keep that clause in. My attitude was the same as Miss Browne's. I wanted to protect farmers who occasionally kill for local sale and who, at present, by reason of the prices for cattle, sheep and other animals being so low and in many cases being unable to dispose of them at all, sell them locally to their neighbours. Several provisions in the Bill prevent farmers from doing that. Farmers do not want to come under the heading of butchers, particularly in view of what Senator O'Farrell said about butchers in his Second Reading speech. He stated that they were excluded from juries in the old days and that would be one reason why they would not like to be classed as butchers. If I started to kill cattle and sheep, I might be prevented from continuing as a member of the Seanad and the insertion of this amendment will insure that these people who kill sheep or pigs or goats will not be required to conform to the provisions of the Bill.
I would ask the House to accept this amendment. I am sorry that it should be necessary but Senator Counihan has made a very strong case particularly for the small type of farmer butcher who, owing to the conditions under which we live, has found it necessary to kill sheep and sell them for food. I am afraid that it is in that connection that a considerable amount of cruelty occurs, but we are at least fortified by the hope that the arrangement is only of a temporary character and the actual number of animals involved will not, in the aggregate, be very large. Senator Miss Browne would, of course, like cattle to be included, but there is this to be said, that when a farmer turns butcher he ceases to be a farmer only. He becomes a butcher and entitled to all the profits that a butcher has and he should, consequently, assume the responsibilities that are imposed on a butcher. He cannot have it both ways. In this case, we are catering for a particular type which will, I hope, find it possible to go out of business in this line within a limited period. The amendment, as moved, will, I think, require drafting and we will look into it between now and the Report Stage. Meanwhile, I ask the House to accept it or, at least, the principle of it.
I suggest the putting in of the word "only" after the words "butchers' meat" because in many cases you have bacon factories who have allied shops to which they send pork, and it might be avoided in that way.
I think the amendment will require redrafting, and we will bring in the redrafted amendment on Report Stage, if necessary. If the Senator will withdraw the amendment, I would guarantee to bring in a new draft on Report Stage.
I would prefer to have this definitely in the Bill. We can see what Senator O'Farrell brings in on Report Stage and substitute it for this amendment.
Amendment agreed to.
Bill reported to the House.
Report Stage ordered for the next sitting day.
