DO ANIMALS FEAR DEATH.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 476, 7 April 1909, Page 5

DO ANIMALS FEAR DEATH.

QUESTION OF HUMANE DISPATCH. Tho British Local Government Board has issued to local authorities a circular drawing .attention to certain recommendations by a Government committee with a view to securing the humane slaughtering of animals. The committee recommends that all animals should be stunned or rendered unconscious before blood is drawn. It is also observed that:— . . "Tho animals awaiting slaughter should be spared as far as possible, from any contact with 'the sights or smells of the slaugh- , ter-house itself. There is no point which the committee have more carefully investigated than the question, as. to whether animals do or do not sudor fear-from this contact, and the evidence of those best qualified to judge is so confiding that no' absolute verdict can be given..., -~:■. . ' "As an anmial cannot sneak, it is impossible to accurately determine ■to what extent it does or does not suffer'-from fear, but there is no doubt that .cattle' especially frequently show great' reluctance to entering the slaughter-chamber, and" can only bo dragged in by the employment of considerable force.. The presumption is that what they chiefly object to is the smell of blood, but whether this can be proved or not, it is obviously undesirable from a purely business standpoint to run any risk, as it appears to .be an established fact that the flesh of an animal killed whilst in a state of fear or excitement loses some of its palatable and marketable qualities. Apart from this, the question is of such vital importance from the standpoint of humanity'that it seems clear that the animal should be given the full benefit of the doubt." ' " The Local Government Board trusts that tie local authorities will take steps to secure as far as possible the observance of the recommendations in the-slaughter-houses under { their jurisdiction. .■'.'■■'■. ■•