31
No. 355 OF 1919.
GENERAL DEPARTMENT,
Office of the Commissioner in Sind,
Government House, Karachi, 22nd September 1919.
MEMORANDUM.
The Commissioner in Sind has the honour to submit the report of the
Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, Sind, Baluchistan and Rajputana,
on the working of the Veterinary Department in Sind during the year 1918-19.
Charge.
2. The charge of the office of Superintendent was held by Mr. J. G. Cattell
throughout the year except for the period from the 1st
April to the 23rd June 1918, when Khan Bahadur
S. G. Haji acted as Superintendent in addition to his own duties as Deputy
Superintendent. During that period Mr. Cattell was attached to the Army
Remount Department, Baluchistan Circle, from which appointment he
proceeded on war leave and subsequently on privilege leave owing to illness.
Tour.
3. During the year the Superintendent toured in Sind for 131 days. The
Deputy Superintendent is required under the rules to
spend at least 6 months in touring systematically
throughout the Province. This however was not possible during the year
owing to special circumstances, the chief of which was the fact that much time
was spent in the special duty of collecting and inspecting cattle for the Military
Department for export to Mesopotamia. The Deputy Superintendent's tour of
137 days was not in the Commissioner's opinion unsatisfactory.
Mortality statistics.
4. The total reported mortality among cattle from contagious disease was
4,125 against 5,686 in the previous year. The complaint
again occurs that tapedars, zamindars and heads of
villages who were charged with the duty of reporting outbreaks were lax in
doing so. The attention of the district officers has been drawn to the matter
and it is hoped that the systematic distribution of service post-cards will lead
in time to better reporting by the non-official agencies. An encouraging
feature was the readiness of owners of cattle to report outbreaks of diseases to
the Veterinary Assistants direct.
Inoculation.
5. Preventive inoculations against rinderpest were carried out in the case
of 6 outbreaks, the number of animals inoculated being
1,069 against 2,261 animals inoculated in 18 outbreaks
during the previous year.
Professional work.
6. The number of cases treated at the several dispensaries shows an
unsatisfactory decline from 19,213 in the previous
year to 17,241, in spite of the fact that one new
dispensary was opened during the year. On the other hand the number of
animals treated by the Veterinary Assistants on tour rose from 3,334 to 4,664,
although their tours were greatly interfered with by the influenza epidemic.
Sind scholars at the Bombay
Veterinary College.
7. Three candidates passed the final examination in December last; of
these, two were holders of scholarships and the third
a private student. All three received appointments
in the Department. The scholarships for the triennial
period commencing from January 1919 were awarded to 3 Mussulmans and one
Hindu, all of whom were sons of agriculturists.
Dispensaries.
8. One new dispensary was opened at Sukkur in October 1918, bringing
the total number in the Province to 15. Owing to
the dearth of qualified Veterinary Assistants the
proposals for opening five new dispensaries have been held in abeyance. The
construction of dispensaries at Kandhkot and Nawabshah is progressing.
Breeding operations.
9. The District Local Board Arab stallion "Bahadur" at Larkana covered
43 mares against 53 in the preceding year. This
decline is partly accounted for by the presence in the
place of another stallion which was kept at Larkana for six months by the Army
Remount Department.