Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 20
1 recall?
2 A. I do not recall the date specifically.
3
4 Q. Have you read the evidence which he has given in this
5 court, both in examination-in-chief and in
6 cross-examination?
7 A. Yes, I have.
8
9 Q. It may be, Dr. Pattison, that in due course I shall ask you
10 to comment on one or two of the things that he said, but
11 there will be, I assure you, very few. Can I ask you the
12 reason why he came to Sun Valley in February 1993?
13 A. The reason we invited him in as an external consultant,
14 somebody who was an expert in the slaughter of chickens,
15 and we wanted specific advice and help from him on the way
16 that we set up our stunning equipment and killing equipment
17 so that we could really get the best advice that was
18 available in the industry at that time.
19
20 Q. You say "set up", were you just looking for improvements to
21 an existing system or were you changing the system?
22 A. We were actually -- it was the time when we started to
23 refurbish our factory and we were changing the
24 configuration of the lines, and at that time we wanted to
25 install new machinery which included new stunning
26 equipment.
27
28 Q. He came and looked at the stunning equipment as an outside
29 expert?
30 A. He did, yes.
31
32 Q. Was that new stunning equipment scrutinized by anybody else
33 from outside the company?
34 A. At the time of his visit we also had our resident
35 official veterinary surgeon present and also two MAFF
36 veterinary officers who are responsible for the licensing
37 of the plant and for the general supervision of the way
38 that we run it.
39
40 Q. Were those two MAFF officers officers of the same rank or
41 different ranks?
42 A. No, one was more senior to the other. We had a local
43 officer from the Worcester MAFF office, but then we also
44 had the regional meat hygiene official who has the ultimate
45 say in whether the plant continues to keep its licence.
46
47 Q. Did they scrutinize the stunning equipment along with
48 Dr. Gregory or not?
49 A. They did. They scrutinised the way it was set up.
50 Then we had a discussion and a meeting and came to
51 conclusions as to at the end of the day as to the best way
52 that that equipment should be operated.
53
54 Q. Since that equipment was installed, has either the OVS or
55 MAFF raised any objection to the way in which it operates?
56 A. They have not.
57
58 Q. Before it was installed, had the OVS or MAFF raised
59 objection to the predecessor of the new equipment or the
60 new system?
