MUNICIPAL MEAT INSPECTION.* 
By T. E. Munce, Deputy State Veterinarian, Harrisburg, Pa. 
Some of you may wonder, especially those of you who are 
engaged in general practice, why the question of meat inspection 
is given such a prominent place each year on our program. There 
are various reasons for keeping the subject before the members 
and having matters pertaining thereto discussed at our meetings. 
It is now generally recognized that in order for an individual to 
properly fill the position of meat inspector (I refer now to a po¬ 
sition of independent responsibility) he should be a qualified vet¬ 
erinarian. If then it is necessary, in order to properly fill such a 
position, to have, among other things, adequate veterinary train¬ 
ing, the subject of meat inspection should be a part of our pro¬ 
gram. 
This is not, however, to my mind, the most important reason 
for keeping the subject alive by frequent discussions at the meet¬ 
ings. If meat inspection, in order to be properly carried on, comes 
within the jurisdiction of veterinarians, then, most assuredly, 
they should see that the consuming public in their respective lo¬ 
calities is adequately safeguarded against unwholesome meats. 
This, like all other similar matters, can best be done—in fact, can 
only be done—by carefully educating the public so that the need 
of inspection may be made manifest. 
The State meat inspection service has been trying, in so far 
as it is possible, to co-operate with the Federal meat inspection 
service. In fact, broadly speaking, we might regard the State in¬ 
spection an auxiliary to the Federal inspection. A number of our 
municipalities have provided for local meat inspection, some of 
which are independent of the State, while others have adopted 
* Presented to the Pennsylvania State Veterinary Medical Association, March 6, 1912, 
at Philadelphia. 
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