Day 018 - 26 Jul 94 - Page 32
1
Q. What about tail docking?
2 A. Tail docking in other species is reputed to be a
painful procedure for two reasons; not only the surgical
3 operation itself but also it can result in a proportion of
the animals having a lasting pain.
4
Q. Did you see any evidence of that in the pigs that you saw
5 at Bowes?
A. No, it would be difficult to identify.
6
Q. I see. You did note that none of the piglets that you saw
7 had been castrated?
A. Correct. Can I add a comment?
8
Q. Yes, of course.
9 A. Although those are negatives from the point of view of
welfare -- that is teeth clipping, tail docking -- there
10 are other welfare reasons for doing this. So, it is a pay
off. It is a balance in terms of welfare.
11
Q. What are the welfare reasons for doing it?
12 A. In case of teeth clipping you are saving damage to
adjacent pigs when they are competing at the other. You
13 are also limiting the amount of damage done to the teat
and the udder of the sow, because those teeth are quite
14 sharp.
15 For tail docking by discouraging tail chewing amongst pigs
as they are in the rearing phase you are limiting the
16 amount of pain inflicted by one pig on another as it chews
a tail. You are also limiting the opportunity for
17 infection through that tail, and subsequent infection in
the joints. That itself can result in pyaemia, which can
18 be quite uncomfortable, painful for the animal.
19 Q. If you, as a scientist concerned with animal welfare, from
your point of view, is there a way of resolving that trade
20 off or balance between the welfare considerations?
A. That is a very good question.
21
Q. You cannot answer it?
22 A. I cannot answer it with a yes or no.
23 Q. That is what I was wondering.
A. A lot depends on the situation and what the
24 anticipated prevalence of the problems is for your
situation. That could depend on gene type in terms of --
25 genetic affects behaviour of the animal, and also
environmental circumstances.
26
Q. Before I do that, you noted that none of the piglets had
27 been castrated. What are the reasons for castrating
piglets?
28 A. There are not many now. There used to be
historically, but a main reason why it was used was to
29 avoid a condition known as boar taint in bacon or in heavy
hog meat. Boar taint is due to a chemical associated with
30 males, post-pubertal males, which is unpleasant to a
proportion of consumers.
