Day 018 - 26 Jul 94 - Page 51
1 any of them imperfectly stunned?
A. In terms of all the four criteria which I mentioned,
2 they were all perfectly stunned -- not one of them showed
any one of those symptoms or more.
3
Q. What do you believe is the optimum or, sorry, the maximum
4 time which should elapse between stunning and sticking?
A. Provided those criteria are met which we have just
5 described, it is irrelevant in terms of welfare.
6 Q. Is that a consequence or function of the method of
stunning which is used in cattle?
7 A. It is.
8 Q. Can we take it then that an animal which is properly
stunned with a captive bolt pistol will not recover
9 consciousness?
A. That is correct, and the reason for that, to give a
10 bit of clarification, is that if the animal is not
breathing then, and as explained, as one of the criteria,
11 and that is sustained, the animal is very unlikely to be
able to regain consciousness at all, plus the fact you
12 have got a deep form of concussion, a grade 4 concussion,
as the medical experts would call it, the animal is going
13 to die. It is a one way process.
14 Q. So, in contrast with animals stunned by electricity, the
transfer time between stunning and sticking is not
15 critical?
A. That is correct.
16
Q. Tell us, please, briefly about the process which is called
17 pithing. What function does that serve?
A. The purpose of pithing is to macerate the brain stem
18 region and also the spinal chord.
19 Q. Why?
A. This will stop the carcass kicking which is a safety
20 hazard for the personnel working on the animal.
21 Q. Does it have any function so far as the animal welfare is
concerned? One can see the benefit to mankind, but does
22 pithing have any benefit for animals?
A. It provides an extra insult to the brain which makes
23 recovery of consciousness even less likely.
24 Q. When you were at Midland Meat Packers in April 1993, were
they using pithing or not?
25 A. No.
26 Q. What about the second plant you visited (whose name we
will keep private, if we may), were they still pithing?
27 A. They were.
28 Q. In that establishment were they using a similar kind of
bolt pistol?
29 A. Yes.
30 Q. Did you find any evidence there of imperfect stunning?
A. There was only one animal out of the 27 that
