4
* (Inclusive of 2,200 attacks and 1,400 deaths reported
after the close of the year 1896-97.)
by various diseases and the number of fatal cases amounted to 12,648 and
5,918 in 1897-98 against 20,713*
and 10,211* in 1896-97 respectively.
Rinderpest alone was responsible for
7,295 and 4,906, or nearly 58 per cent. and 83 per cent. respectively of the total
number of attacks and deaths reported, the districts which suffered most
heavily from this disease being Upper Sind Frontier, Shikárpur and Thana.
It is a pity that the District Board of Kánara still find themselves unable to
entertain even temporarily the services of a Veterinary graduate for the
district.
9. With the addition of one itinerating dispensary in the Hyderabad
District, there were during the year under report 12 stationary and 5
itinerating Veterinary dispensaries in the Presidency, of which 16 were
inspected by the Superintendent, who found the work done by all the Veterinary
Assistants to be satisfactory, that of Messrs. Bhat, Maniar, Háji and Asudámal,
in charge of the dispensaries at Ahmedabad, Nadiál, Karáchi and Hyderabad,
being specially commended. It is satisfactory to observe from the statistics
given by the Survey Commissioner and Director that since 1892-93 there has
been a steady increase both in the number of animals treated and in the
percentages of cures. The total number of animals treated at the several
dispensaries rose from 19,614 in 1896-97 to 19,976 in 1897-98 and the
percentage of those cured and relieved also increased from 84'30 to 85.59. The
Commissioner in Sind should be invited to consider the suggestion made by
Veterinary Major Morgan for utilizing the services of the Veterinary Assistant
at Hyderabad in imparting Veterinary instruction to the students of the Agri-
cultural Class there.
10. Government have perused with interest paragraphs 87 to 96 of the
report under review, which contain a brief account of the capabilities of the several
districts in Sind for horse and mule-breeding and of the progress made during
the last six years, and an extract should be forwarded to the Inspector General,
Civil Veterinary Department, for communication to the Superintendent, Civil
Veterinary Department, Baluchistan. The keen interest and the marked ability
and tact shown by Veterinary Major Morgan in the discharge of his duties in
Sind have contributed to a very considerable measure of success in the develop-
ment of horse and mule-breeding in that province, and Government cordially
acknowledge the services of those district officers who have for many years past
vigorously exerted themselves towards the attainment of the same object.
11. During the year under review 36 glandered horses were destroyed in
Bombay under the operation of the Glanders and Farcy Act as compared with
36 destroyed in the preceding period of fifteen months ending 31st March 1897,
the slight increase being attributed to the employment of the full complement
of the inspecting staff and to careful inspections of all the stables. Out
of 38 diseased animals admitted to the Sewri Lazaretto during the year
(of which two were discharged), 9 belonged to owners of carriages plying
for hire, 24 came from the commission stables and 5 were stray cases.
The report submitted by Veterinary Lieutenant Baldrey on the sanitary
condition of the hack-carriage and livery stables in Bombay has been disposed
of by the Resolution of Government in the General Department, No. 3149,
dated 3rd June 1898, and His Excellency the Governor in Council trusts that
the Municipal Commissioner for the City of Bombay may be able to adopt
early measures to remove the defects brought to notice in that report. As regards
the proposed grant of powers to Inspectors under the Act for the inspection of
private stables, due provision has been made in the Bill to amend the Glanders
and Farcy Act, circulated with Government Resolution No. 7267, dated 12th
November 1898, and these powers should, in the opinion of Government, suffice
without the inspection of animals leaving the island.