Services » Recreation, Amenity & Culture

Veterinary Section

The primary objective of the Veterinary Department is the protection of the consumer from diseases which may be transmitted via food of animal origin.

Role

The Department operates under a number of EU Directives and National Acts and Orders. Two full-time Vets are employed and one Environmental Health Officer.

Veterinary Function

The Veterinary Department is concerned with the enforcement of certain Statutory functions of the Local Authority in matters relating to the control of the slaughter of food animals within the area, the ante and post mortem examination of same, the stamping of meat passed as suitable for human consumption and the condemnation and disposal of unsound meat and offal. Slaughterhouses formerly licensed by the Local Authority under Public Health Acts 1878 -1911 are now licensed by the Department of Agriculture under the recently enacted Abattoirs Act 1988. Regulations made thereunder which were introduced to

• Amend and extend the law relating to Abattoirs and Knackeries
• Make provisions for Veterinary and hygiene controls
• Make provision for other concerned matters such as fixing of fees, procedures for prosecutions and fines, keeping of records, power of seizure, detention and condemnation of meat, etc.
• Outline the precise nature of ante and post morten inspections
• Detail the conditions pertaining to carcase health mark application. Other acts include Slaughter of Animals Act 1935, Milk and Dairies Acts 1935-1956, Food Hygiene Regulations of 1950 (Amendment 1989), the Disease of Animals Act 1966

Meat

Cork City Council carries out ante and post-mortem veterinary inspections on all animals slaughtered in the licensed abattoir within the city. In addition meat coming into Cork city from other local authority areas is inspected for the presence of an approved stamp. Fees at varying rates are charged for each inspection carried out. In addition, samples are collected regularly and forwarded to the Central Meat Control Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture for testing.

Food Hygiene

Cork City Council also carries out regular inspections on retail butchers, wholesale meat premises, meat processors and poultry wholesale/retail outlets. Transport vehicles used to convey meat and meat products are also registered and inspected. Samples collected during routine visits are analysed at the Food Safety Laboratory of Cork City Council.

In addition, Cork City Council inspects retail outlets, door-to-door deliveries and transportation involved in milk.

Any member of the public with complaints regarding milk and milk products, meat, meat products and poultry, can contact the Veterinary Department at the above address. In particular, complaints regarding expiry date abuse and lack of operational hygiene will be investigated.

Classes Of Records Held

• Records of Inspections
• Registration Records
• Correspondence on complaints and investigations of complaints.