( 4 )
subscriptions now being raised, would not be sufficient for the maintenance
of the Dispensary, had not Government made a grant of Rs. 30 per mensem
on condition that the services of the Veterinary Assistant be utilised in the
Damin i-koh Government estate, when needed. The Deputy Commissioner
of the Sonthal Parganas hopes that the Institution will now get on, with
the help of the Government grant.
The subdivisional officers of the district, though they have failed to get
subscribers to the Institution in their subdivisions, have promised to realise
the actual expenses of the Veterinary Assistant when he treats cases within
their jurisdictions.
When I inspected the Dispensary, medicines and instruments were so
deficient that it is open to doubt if a moderate number of cases could have
been treated had they presented themselves. This establishment has been
unfortunate. Soon after it was opened a rather bad outbreak of glanders
necessitated the slaughter of a number of dâk ponies. This seems to have not
only scared owners of animals but to have stopped subscriptions. The
Veterinary Assistant who was in charge at the time was not very tactful and
has since been transferred. I hope that matters have now taken a turn for
the better.
22. Table XIX shows the number of animals treated at each Dispensary
together with the receipts and expenditure of the several establishments.
23. Sripur.—A Dispensary has been recently started at Sripur under the
Hathwa Raj in the district of Saran.
24. Veterinary Dispensaries for the districts of Noakhali, Palamau, and
Manbhum are under consideration.
GLANDERS AND FARCY.
25. A proposal has been made to supersede Act VIII (B.C.) of 1880 by
Act XIII of 1899 in Calcutta. As, however, the working of the new Act
would involve a considerable annual expenditure, Government is not prepared
to effect any change in the law until the next provincial contract.
26. The Entally isolation hospital has been transferred to Belgachia
whereby a considerable saving to the Calcutta Municipality has been effected.
Thirty-three cases of suspected Glanders and Farcy were admitted into the
Belgachia isolation hospital against 20 last year. Of these 25 were destroyed,
five died, and three proved, on mallein test, to be free from Glanders.
27. In districts.—During the year, 32 cases of Glanders and Farcy were
detected in the districts—two in Howrah, two in Tippera, nine in Patna, 15 in
Dacca, two in Dumka, one in Murshidabad, and one in Hooghly—of which
six died and 26 were destroyed.
INSPECTION OP RAILWAY HORSE BOXES AND CATTLE TRUCKS.
28. During the periodical visits of the Departmental staff, 105 horse
boxes and 17 cattle trucks were inspected on the East Indian and Eastern
Bengal State Railways. Any omissions or mistakes that were found in regard
to the cleanliness and disinfection of the vehicles were pointed out to the
proper authorities.
CATTLE DISEASE.
29. Cattle diseases were reported by thana officers from all the districts
of Bengal except Angul and Puri. Table XX shows that out of 42,341 head of
cattle that were attacked, 20,678 are reported to have died. A comparison
with the last year's figures shows that disease was less prevalent this year.
Temporary veterinary assistance was sought for from Bhagalpur, Birbhum,
Purnea, Gaya, Darbhanga, Noakhali, Hazaribagh, Khulna, Chittagong, Champa-
ran, Darjeeling, the 24-Parganas, Faridpur, Monghyr, Palamau, Puri, Backer-
gunge, Jalpaiguri, Tippera, Assam and from the Vaccination Dep6ts and
Presidency Jail of Calcutta. In most of these places rinderpest was the
disease and immunisation was adopted as the best means of stamping it out.
In others, advice as to preventive measures was given.