Day 104 - 15 Mar 95 - Page 61


     
     1
     2   Q.   Have you seen better standards in any other country in the
     3        world?
     4        A.  I would not say I have seen better standards; I have
     5        seen very similar standards.
     6
     7   Q.   You said in that paper:  "There is no doubt that priority
     8        given to animal welfare in the UK has not been followed
     9        with similar activity in other European countries."   Are
    10        other European countries catching up with the standards in
    11        this country as regards animal welfare?
    12        A.  Well, that comment was in particular reference to
    13        things other than poultry farming.  It was a general
    14        statement that applied to other animals like veal calves,
    15        transporting horses, transporting sheep long distances and
    16        in those areas I think the UK is definitely taking a lead.
    17        That comment was not meant for poultry particularly and you
    18        have to remember that that particular lecture was not
    19        geared at poultry only.
    20
    21   MS. STEEL:  You said in that document: "The general public are
    22        becoming more aware of farming systems and this is good.
    23        It is necessary also for companies producing animal
    24        products to supply their customers with all the information
    25        they need to feel comfortable about the products they are
    26        buying". Is that something that Sun Valley practices?
    27        A.  Yes, it is.
    28
    29   Q.   So you would open your doors to anybody who was interested
    30        to see the conditions that our chickens are kept in, yes?
    31        A.  As I said, we will give them all the information they
    32        need.  I explained yesterday why we did not necessarily
    33        open our doors to all and sundry.
    34
    35   Q.   Do you think McDonald's ought to give information on the
    36        way chickens are marketed at Sun Valley?
    37
    38   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You need not answer that question.
    39
    40   MS. STEEL:   McDonald's asked you to do this presentation in
    41        1993.  Was that the first time you had done any such thing
    42        for McDonald's staff?
    43        A.  As a group, yes.
    44
    45   Q.   Why did McDonald's say they wanted you to give this talk to
    46        their staff?
    47        A.  Because I had talked about various aspects of that
    48        information to various of the UK McDonald's staff, and what
    49        they felt at their annual conference of quality assurance
    50        staff, they thought it would be a good idea to give the 
    51        talk to all of those so that they were informed of what we 
    52        were talking about and what our thinking was in the UK. 
    53
    54   Q.   So that was just a quality assurance staff, yes?
    55        A.  Yes, it was.
    56
    57   Q.   Did you actually show them slides or a video of the
    58        conditions that the animals were kept in?
    59        A.  I just did a standard slide presentation.
    60

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