I wish to move: Before Section 18 to insert a new section as follows:—
"On and after the appointed day it shall not be lawful for any person to have in his possession any calf more than twenty-one days old which has not been treated in the prescribed manner to prevent the horns from growing except such person is authorised by licence or permit under this Act to keep such calf."
I am not particularly in favour of this form of words, but if the principle is accepted I am satisfied to leave it to the Minister and his draftsman to construe the amendment in any form which would best meet the requirements. It would be well if the Seanad, in considering this amendment, would remember that at the present time it is against the law to dis-horn cattle, and except we are going to lose what is known in the trade as the polly trade, which is a very important one, we must either accept this amendment or do away with that particular trade. It is against the law to poll any mature cattle except under an anaesthetic. That being so, I wish to point out the advantage to the trade in polled cattle, and the advantage of having all cattle de-horned, which is a simple process. It could be done when the calf is from three days to three weeks old by the simple application of caustic. Two rubbings, I understand, are sufficient to prevent horns from growing. In the case of dis-horning mature cattle everybody admits that there is a certain amount of cruelty, as well as its being against the law. The polly trade is a very important branch of our store cattle industry. Thirty per cent. of the store cattle exported are pollies, and our best customers in England and, particularly, Scotland will not have horned animals owing to the way they feed these in the winter. Polled cattle are worth from £1 to £2, in some cases, a head more than cattle of the same quality and weight with horns. I may be permitted to read a few extracts from a letter received from the manager of Thomas Nelson and Sons, one of the biggest auctioneering and distributing firms in Scotland:—"I am very pleased to learn that there is a movement in hand to try and remedy the disastrous waste, both in money and worry, through the bruising of Irish cattle in transit from Ireland to here. I have always maintained that, with dehorning of all fat and store cattle being made compulsory, the solution of bruised cattle is practically solved. In conversation with several of the principal meat market buyers, and also some extensive country buyers, we find that they estimate the damage at about ½d. per lb., overhead, which works out roughly at £1 10s. per head, and that has to be deducted somehow off the price of an Irish animal. We ourselves handle round 45,000 Irish cattle and 6,000 Canadians per annum, so you can imagine the enormous wastage incurred through the bruising of Irish cattle. Some of our best buyers insist on buying Canadian cattle when available. Although about twelve days on the voyage they are landed in such good condition that it is unknown to have a bruised or damaged carcase. About ninety per cent. of the Canadians we have sold have been polled, which is also the principal reason for the farmers buying so many of them. About seventy per cent. of the cattle fed here are accommodated in courts or boxes, and farmers won't buy horned cattle for that purpose at any price. You will have done a great service to the Irish cattle trade if you succeed in influencing the carrying out of this most important project, and we will await with interest to hear from you." I could quote several instances on the same lines, but I think that that extract is sufficient, and that it explains to a great extent the argument in favour of dehorning. There are several other reasons why we should have all our cattle polled. A big percentage of our cattle are bred in the South, and they move around a good deal, even in Ireland. Many of these cattle from the South go to the West, and from the West to the Midlands, and about seventy-five per cent. are exported. Even for the purpose of transit, you can put one beast more in a waggon of polled cattle of the same size than of horned cattle. Again, if a polled beast falls down it will have a chance of righting itself, whereas in the case of horned cattle it will have to lie there, as it cannot get up, and in some case it will be much bruised. In the case of feeding animals in a field in the ordinary way with hay, anyone can notice a vicious beast, and see how it can upset a whole lot of cattle by going from one end of the place to the other, and horning every other beast away, and destroying the fodder. That proves that polled cattle thrive much better than horned cattle. I hope that I have said sufficient to secure the support of the Seanad for this amendment.