Day 291 - 31 Oct 96 - Page 21
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
2
3 MS. STEEL: Before I go on to Dr. Long, can I just remind the
4 court about the fact that in May 1994 McDonald's made a
5 formal admission in this case that McDonald's suppliers,
6 McKey Food Services, are supplied with beef from, amongst
7 others, ABP Limited at Brisworth (not Wellingborough), and
8 that ABP Limited used the captive bolt pistol to stun the
9 cattle prior to slaughter. I am not sure, I can't remember
10 where the reference for this is, but Dr. Gregory did say at
11 some stage during his evidence that suppliers in general
12 felt that using more effective higher stunning currents
13 would affect meat quality and also that slower killing
14 lines, which would allow increased accuracy, would affect
15 profits. I will try and find the reference for that.
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. (Pause).
18
19 MS. STEEL: Sorry. I just wanted to particularly ask that you
20 read towards the end of Dr. Gregory's evidence. On day 18,
21 I think from about page 74 onwards, there was a whole
22 section about the Farm Animal Welfare Council report of
23 1984, the one that is mentioned in the London Greenpeace
24 fact sheet, about the improvements that have occurred in
25 the meat industry towards the welfare of animals since that
26 report was published, or, more specifically, since 1990
27 when the Codes of Practice, which were based upon that
28 report, came into being, and that that be taken into
29 consideration when assessing the likely situation at the
30 time of the alleged libel. I.e., basically, that
31 conditions would have been worse then than they are now.
32 I think there was something like 114 recommendations which
33 were referred to in that report in order to improve the
34 welfare of animals being slaughtered.
35
36 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
37
38 MS. STEEL: OK. Going through Dr. Long's evidence on cattle,
39 just before I do that, just to remind you that Dr. Long
40 said that -----
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I will read it again, but I have actually
43 got a specific note on that point with the reference day
44 18, page 74 and following pages.
45
46 MS. STEEL: Right. Thank you. Dr. Long had considerable
47 experience of the farming and slaughter process. He said
48 he had visited hundreds of farms and markets, a
49 considerable number of slaughter houses, that he had
50 contributed evidence to the RSPCA, Ministry of Agriculture
51 Fisheries and Food and to the Farm Animal Welfare Council,
52 and that was evidence which had been invited from those
53 bodies. I will go through it in the order I have got it
54 in, which is not necessarily the best order. It is the
55 chronological order.
56
57 On day 113, page 9, line 20, he referred to the fact that
58 on the kind of animal rescue farm that he was involved with
59 they had cows that were 25 years old, and obviously that is
60 relevant to be taken into consideration when compared with
