Story: Diseases of sheep, cattle and deer

Breach of Scab Ordinance 1849

Breach of Scab Ordinance 1849

The control of scab and the prevention of its spread was taken extremely seriously in the late 19th century. In this excerpt from an 1866 newspaper, a landowner has been prosecuted for breaching the Scab Ordinance 1849 by allowing ‘scabby’ sheep to stray onto a neighbour’s property. Later, in 1878, the Sheep Act was passed, making it compulsory for every farmer to plunge dip their sheep. By 1894 New Zealand was declared free of scab.

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National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Reference: Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, 31 July 1886, p. 3

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Gary Clark, Neville Grace and Ken Drew, 'Diseases of sheep, cattle and deer - Sheep diseases: worms, scab and anthrax', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/document/17424/breach-of-scab-ordinance-1849 (accessed 18 April 2024)

Story by Gary Clark, Neville Grace and Ken Drew, published 24 Nov 2008