The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c. 74) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by Benjamin Disraeli's Conservative government.
A select committee was appointed in 1877 to investigate animal diseases. The resulting act established central rather than local control over all outbreaks of animal disease.Six years of Conservative Government, 1874-79 (London: National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations, 1880), p. 25.
The agriculturist Jacob Wilson considered the act "an undoubted benefit conferred upon the agricultural interest by the Conservative Government".Jacob Wilson, Who Are the Friends of the Farmers? It was opposed by the Radicals.
Provisions
Repealed enactments Section 4(1) of the act repealed 10 enactments, listed in the first schedule to the act. CitationShort titleDescriptionExtent of Repeal32 & 33 Vict. c. 70Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1869The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1869In part, namely:— (i.) Paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of section 28 (local), relating to the markets of the mayor, aldermen, and commons of the City of London, with the Fifth Schedule, referred to in that section. (ii.) Sections 100 and 101 (transitory), relating to money borrowed by local authorities before the passing of that Act.38 & 39 Vict. c. 75Contagious Diseases (Animals) (Scotland) Act 1875An Act to amend the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1869The whole act.11 & 12 Vict. c. 105Importation of Sheep Act 1848An Act to prohibit the importation of sheep, cattle, or other animals, for the purpose of preventing the introduction of contagious or infectious disordersThe whole act.11 & 12 Vict. c. 107Contagious Disorders (Sheep), etc. Act 1848An Act to prevent, until the first day of September, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and to the end of the then session of Parliament, the spreading of contagious or infectious disorders among sheep, cattle, and other animalsThe whole act.16 & 17 Vict. c. 62Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1853An Act to extend and continue an Act of the twelfth year of Her present Majesty, to prevent the spreading of contagious or infectious disorders among sheep, cattle, and other animalsThe whole act.29 & 30 Vict. c. 4Cattle Disease Act (Ireland) 1866The Cattle Disease Act (Ireland), 1866The whole act.33 & 34 Vict. c. 36Cattle Disease (Ireland) Amendment Act 1870The Cattle Disease (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1870The whole act.35 & 36 Vict. c. 16Cattle Disease (Ireland) Amendment Act 1872The Cattle Disease (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1872The whole act.37 & 38 Vict. c. 6Cattle Disease (Ireland) Acts Amendment Act 1874The Cattle Disease (Ireland) Acts Amendment Act, 1874The whole act.39 & 40 Vict. c. 51Cattle Disease (Ireland) Act 1876The Cattle Disease (Ireland) Act, 1876The whole act.
Subsequent developments The whole act, except section 34, was repealed by section 78 of, and the fifth schedule to, the Diseases of Animals Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 57), which came into force on 25 August 1894.
See also Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act
Notes
References
Further reading Lely, John Mounteney. "The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1878". The Statutes of Practical Utility. (Chitty's Statutes). Fifth Edition. Sweet and Maxwell. Stevens and Sons. London. 1894. Volume 1. Title "Animals". Subtitle "Animals (Diseases)". Pages 18 to 56. Paterson, William (ed). "Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878". The Practical Statutes of the Session 1878. Law Times Office. London. 1878. Pages 347 to 397. Philip Henry Bagenal. A Digest of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878, 41 & 42 Vict., c. 74: and of the Orders of the Lords Justices and Privy Council of Ireland, for bringing the same Into operation. To which is Appended the full Text of the Act and of the Orders in Council, a Summary of the Principal Statutes incorporated therewith, and a Copious Index, prepared especially for the working of the Act in Ireland. Alex Thom. Dublin. 1879. Reviewed at "Reviews" (1879) 13 Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal 401 (26 July). Jonathan Spain, 'Free trade, protectionism and the 'food of the people': the Liberal opposition to the Cattle Diseases Bill of 1878', in Eugenio F. Biagini (ed.), Citizenship and Community: Liberals, Radicals and Collective Identities in the British Isles, 1865-1931 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 168–192.