Day 093 - 28 Feb 95 - Page 09
1 continue their research. That is why I am very reluctant
2 to draw a conclusion.
3
4 MS. STEEL: Do you only read reports that suit your purposes,
5 Dr. Gomez Gonzalez?
6 A. Excuse me?
7
8 Q. Do you only read scientific reports that suit your beliefs
9 and purposes?
10 A. No.
11
12 Q. You had not read anything about nerves in beaks prior to
13 this, had you?
14 A. I have read reports on debeaking. And I have never
15 seen reports to this extent that all the claims they are
16 making, no.
17
18 Q. There have actually been a number of reports on this and
19 you have not read any of them.
20 A. Any, no?
21
22 Q. No, about pain on debeaking?
23 A. Pain?
24
25 Q. Yes?
26 A. The articles that I have seen in the past about
27 debeaking, they never mentioned anything about pain.
28
29 Q. In the first column at the end of the first paragraph, it
30 says: "Removal of part of the beak stimulates nociceptors
31 and creates feeding difficulties", would you accept that?
32 A. If you go to that extent, I do not know what they mean
33 by "feeding difficulties". One can draw a conclusion, if
34 you look at the species of the chicken that they do have,
35 in fact, some feeding difficulties. One of the problems
36 that we have with chickens is that they do not know what
37 feed is all about. They are always pecking into something
38 because they do not know what feed is supposed to be like.
39 So, that species by itself has a feeding difficulty. They
40 will peck into everything. They will peck in the legs of
41 their own brothers and sisters because they think that is
42 feed. I am sure you have seen a chicken pecking on the
43 ground looking for food.
44
45 Q. Would you accept, as it says halfway down the second
46 paragraph: "The beak of the chicken is extensively
47 innervated and has numerous cutaneous sensory receptors
48 which have been classified" ------
49 A. Yes.
50
51 Q. You would accept that sentence, would you?
52 A. Yes, I do.
53
54 Q. Chickens' beaks are actually quite different to people's
55 nails, are they not?
56 A. Yes, they are.
57
58 Q. People's nails do not bleed when they cut them, for
59 example?
60 A. No. They do bleed. They could bleed.
