PDF-973 kb - Mayo County Council

Public HealthThe Service provides the Local Authority with a vital link with colleagues in theDepartment of Agriculture and Food and personnel in the Health Service Executivethrough membership of the Western Zoonosis Committee. We liaise with variousother Sections, including Area Offices, in relation to traceability and disposal ofanimal carcasses and animal waste. The Service provides a consultancy role inplanning developments relating to animal facilities including veterinary clinics,boarding kennels, knackeries, abattoirs, small meat processing plants, and moderndevelopments such as anaerobic digesters and biogas plants.The Veterinary Department of Mayo County Council also plays a role in thesupervision of hygiene and structural standards in dairy farms supplying liquid milk.Animal Care and Protection/Public Safety:The Control of Dogs Act, The Control of Horses Act and The Diseases of AnimalsAct (including Sheep Scab Orders) are the main pieces of welfare legislation.The Dog Warden Service is another division of the Veterinary Department and isresponsible for the licensing and control of dogs. To date this year there have been noprosecutions under the Control of Dogs Act, but three are pending. We also have afunctional role in the control of horses. These controls help to make Mayo a saferenvironment for both the people and the animals in their care.Achievements in the Veterinary Department in 2005:1. Food Safety- In the Regional Training Centre, the Veterinary Department hosted theWestern pilot of the FSAI’s Domestic Abattoir Training Scheme, at whichabattoir owners from Mayo, Galway, Sligo and Roscommon were trained inslaughtering skills and guided in writing their plans for HACCP (HazardAnalysis and Critical Control Points).- Abattoir operatives and SMMP (Small Meat Manufacturing Premises) ownerswere given one-to-one training by the veterinary staff.- All SMMPs not previously up to registration standard are expected to beapproved by the end of 2005, as a result of our direction and guidance.- We helped to promote new industry by discussing the plans and providingsimple guides to the legislation. We also liaised with the FSAI in this regard.We feel that this advice and encouragement had a positive effect in thedevelopment of new local industry.- The function of licensing domestic abattoirs, which was heretofore carried outby the Department of Agriculture and Food, is now being performed by ourDepartment. By the end of this year, all Mayo Local Authority abattoirs areexpected to have received their new licences.- We are on target to reach all performance indicators as set down in our AnnualService Plan 2005.73