MUNICIPAL HYGIENE 717 



Shaw* points out that owing to the trade depreciation of 

 the various products derived from knackeries, the question 

 of the disposal of the dead animals from cities must sooner 

 or later receive increased attention at the hands of Sanitary 

 Authorities. During the last twenty years the commercial 

 value of the products have depreciated fifty per cent., and it 

 is possible within the next twenty years nothing but the hide 

 may possess any value. The reasons for this opinion are 

 given by Shaw in detail, some of which we reproduce. The 

 sale of salted horse meat to the Continent is now pro- 

 hibited, and has consequently decreased the value of the 

 carcases of such animals by one-half. Nothing is now sent 

 to the Continent excepting in a live condition, and the 

 restrictions on this export trade reduce the number to 

 8,000 a year from the Port of London. Should further 

 restrictions be made, the whole of the animals will have to 

 be disposed of in England, and at present the taste for 

 horse-flesh has not developed. 



The number of carcases dealt with yearly in London by 

 knackers is about 28,000 horses and cattle, besides a number 

 of smaller animals such as sheep, goats, and pigs ; what 

 the trade amounts to in the whole of England is unknown, 

 for as there is no horse census so also there is no death 

 registration. 



Mr. Shaw very properly calls upon Sanitary Authorities 

 to municipalize knackeries, and so place them under 

 effective control ; he tells us from his experience in London, 

 that he does not know of one which is conducted without 

 causing a nuisance to the immediate neighbourhood. 



As private concerns paying very reduced dividends, it is 

 possible that if municipalities insisted on costly recon- 

 struction, or changes involving further trade loss, these 

 places which are at present voluntary might be compelled 

 to close. The resulting state of affairs in towns and cities, 

 especially during the summer, would then call for urgent 



* ' The Disposal of Dead Animals from a Sanitary Point of View ': 

 Mr. "W. F. Shaw, F.B.C.V.S., Congress of the Sanitary Institute, 

 Bradford, 1903. 



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