Day 113 - 03 Apr 95 - Page 57
1 Then the other point that does concern everybody is the
2 farrowing crate, the so-called farrowing crate. Now the
3 problem there is that sows have been bred to produce so
4 many piglets that however good a mother she is, she really
5 cannot manage this lot and she has not got much space. So,
6 sudden death, sudden infant death syndrome happens on a
7 great scale because when she turns over she smothers the
8 piglets and you will have a mortality, a perinatal
9 mortality rate of roughly about 10 per cent. Well, if you
10 compare that with human beings, and in my opinion vets
11 should do as well as doctors if we are going to look after
12 animals, dogs, one should get perinatal rate which is a
13 sort of social test you would apply. Perinatal rate in
14 humans and domestic animals is below 1 per cent, so it is
15 10 per cent in sows and you asked me about a welfare
16 matter, I think this is a welfare matter, that is a
17 quantitative standard of very bad welfare.
18
19 Q. We are dodging about a bit here. Just one point, you
20 mentioned about tethering, this is in the stalls, is it?
21 A. Yes, I was mentioning it in the stalls.
22
23 Q. How prevalent now and how prevalent five years ago was the
24 tethering in the stalls?
25 A. Tethering was probably in about 30 per cent six or
26 seven years ago. I think now because nobody is introducing
27 it now because it will be phased out, it is going down to
28 about 10 or 15 per cent. I would say it still happens.
29
30 Q. When you say 10 or 15 per cent now, is that 10 or 15 per
31 cent of the ----
32 A. Sows.
33
34 Q. --- pigs, sows that are in the stalls?
35 A. Yes.
36
37 Q. And the percentage in the stalls, that is the per cent of a
38 per cent, kind of thing?
39 A. Yes. Well, I think in the last years you are talking
40 about, you were talking about five or seven years, were you
41 not.
42
43 Q. Yes.
44 A. The industry has changed a great deal because there are
45 more outdoor pigs now and those sows will farrow possibly
46 outdoors. This does not always mean there is a reduction
47 in mortality, unfortunately. Though they are technically
48 free-range (this is much abused word), if you are going to
49 have these animals outside you must pay much attention to
50 the breed because the breeds that we have got mainly have
51 been designed, if you like, for intensive conditions. They
52 are sometimes not sturdy enough for outside conditions, a
53 more robust life, a more interesting life. Actually to
54 give you some idea of what goes on, I observed that
55 evidence was submitted to this court about producing bacon
56 at 90 kilogrammes. I as understand if I looked at that
57 evidence, those baconers were given in one of the systems
58 that was described, and I think it was a relevant one, at
59 the time they came up to 90 kilogrammes they had about .5,
60 I think .52, of a square metre lying area.
