Day 291 - 31 Oct 96 - Page 18


     
     1        form of problem in that area is where a cow refuses to
     2        move, it just digs its feet in, so to speak, and it is very
     3        difficult to get the animal to go forward".  That is a
     4        typical reaction where you have a problem animal.  And he
     5        went on to say that different types of cattle had different
     6        behaviour, that dairy cattle were more likely to dig their
     7        feet in and refuse to move.
     8
     9        On the actual stunning process, he said that for both plant
    10        A -- well, for Midland Meat and for Jarrets, they were
    11        using three grain cartridges.  I am pretty sure that plant
    12        A is Midland Meat and plant B is Jarrets.
    13
    14   MR. RAMPTON:   My Lord, I think that is right.  That is my
    15        recollection.
    16
    17   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.
    18
    19   MS. STEEL:   He was asked if he knew what the speed of the shot
    20        was, and he did not, although he did say it was an
    21        important feature, the velocity was an important feature,
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   I have got really quite comprehensive notes
    24        on what he found at Midland Meat Packers and Jarrets so far
    25        as stunning was concerned, everything, so really all you
    26        need to do in relation to that, if indeed you want to, is
    27        just tell me what, if anything, you would say I should
    28        conclude was unsatisfactory.  There is no need to go
    29        through the evidence or into it in any detail.  If you say
    30        it is unsatisfactory, just tell me in a nutshell why.
    31
    32   MS. STEEL:   Obviously, at one of the plants he stated that the
    33        accuracy of shooting was not particularly good and that
    34        half of the skulls that had been examined showed an
    35        inaccurate aim.  And that is actually referred to on page
    36        51, where 5 out of the 10 animals that were studied the
    37        shot was more than two centimetres out from the ideal
    38        position, and therefore he concluded the accuracy of
    39        shooting was not particularly good.  This was plant A.
    40
    41        If I just say, I cannot remember where it is, but he did
    42        said that the fact that they were using a high grain
    43        cartridge was one of the reasons why the imperfect shot was
    44        less critical, effectively because the high grain cartridge
    45        was doing so much damage that it did not matter if it was a
    46        bit off target.
    47
    48        Just relevant to that point, Mr. Chambers, when he was
    49        giving evidence, said on day 97, page 57, line 52, that the
    50        company was using three grain cartridges, but he said on 
    51        day 98, page 47, line 54, that they used to use 2.5 grain 
    52        cartridges, so obviously at the time that they were using 
    53        the 2.5 grain cartridges the accuracy of stunning would
    54        have been much more critical.
    55
    56        He said that the changeover from 2.5 grain cartridges had
    57        been since he became the quality assurance manager, so that
    58        was some time within the last five or six years.  That was
    59        on page 48 of day 98 that he said that.
    60

Prev Next Index