Day 020 - 28 Jul 94 - Page 65
1 figures given here, 220 to 240 pigs per hour.
2 Q. In your experience, is it something which happens fairly
often, that where an inspection is being made the rate of
3 slaughter goes down?
A. That sometimes that does occur, yes.
4
Q. Right?
5 A. That does occur.
6 Q. People are more careful about what they are doing?
A. You are absolutely right when they being scrutinized.
7
Q. OK, thank you.
8
MR. JUSTICE BELL: There is nothing, no particular science, in
9 that, you are just speaking of what is human nature?
A. Yes.
10
Q. Or is there something to do with this particular
11 slaughterhouse which you have in mind?
A. No. Can I answer this in general terms?
12
Q. Yes.
13 A. Sometimes, let us say, when an official inspector goes
around an abattoir from outside, the abattoir would
14 operate at a slower line speed for two reasons: That
inspector, if he is involved with hygiene, they would slow
15 the line down so they can spend more attention on hygiene
to impress the inspector. The same might apply in this
16 particular context of welfare and an external inspector.
So it is a relevant question in my opinion.
17
MS. STEEL: After a pig is stuck, how long does it take before
18 it dies?
A. The time loss of evoked responses in the brain which
19 could be one criterion is 18 seconds on average, if it is
stuck properly.
20
Q. That is 18 seconds after it was stuck?
21 A. Correct, after the first flow of blood.
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What is the test? Brain response is the
test of death?
23 A. In this situation what was done, it was done under
experimental laboratory conditions, the animals were given
24 an external stimulus, which was a light stimulus, and from
their electrocorticogram, the electrical response of the
25 brain was recorded and it was an 18 seconds interval
before it was lost, so that is a symptom of brain failure.
26
MS. STEEL: After electrical stunning, is it thought that
27 unconsciousness is unlikely to last more than about 20
seconds?
28 A. Where experiments have been done looking at the time
to return of a physical response to pushing a needle into
29 the snout of the pig, into the end of the nose of the pig,
the time to return of reflex head withdrawal is of the
30 order of 50 seconds.
