Day 097 - 06 Mar 95 - Page 84
1
2 Q. Yes.
3 A. Two to three years.
4
5 Q. Did he have a predecessor, do you know?
6 A. No, I do not think so.
7
8 Q. What was the reason for the decision to give somebody an
9 animal welfare responsibility, a specific animal welfare
10 responsibility?
11 A. I think the -----
12
13 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you know, first of all?
14
15 MR. RAMPTON: Do you know, yes?
16 A. I do not know the exact reasons for giving somebody
17 that position, no.
18
19 Q. You have been there 10 years -- perhaps this is a more
20 sensible question -- has the conferring of that particular
21 responsibility on that person made a significant difference
22 to the welfare conditions of the animals at Midland Meat or
23 not?
24 A. Not having poor welfare conditions beforehand, I do not
25 think it has been too significant.
26
27 Q. Was there a sudden leap forward from the animal's point of
28 view?
29 A. No.
30
31 Q. What differences, changes, improvements, if any, have been
32 made in the last four or five years so far as animal
33 welfare is concerned?
34 A. Quite a considerable number of changes to the layout of
35 our lairage. In fact, we are just about start a new
36 project with a new lairage, a larger lairage, where
37 obviously a lot of animal welfare considerations have been
38 taken into account in the design of it.
39
40 Q. What sort of things?
41 A. We are trying to get away from loading down ramps which
42 is the first and foremost. We are going to have loading
43 docks and they can just walk out on a level platform.
44 There is a lot of research being done to show that a curved
45 race can improve or do away with the need for as much
46 droving of cattle, so we are looking at that as well.
47
48 Q. So cattle are not spooked by going around blind corners?
49 A. As far as I gather, cattle are actually more inclined
50 to walk round a bend.
51
52 Q. Really? Following the tail in front, as it were?
53 A. I think it is some sort of curiosity thing, I am not
54 quite sure.
55
56 Q. There is something I wanted to pick up. You have talked
57 about installing loading docks above ground, that is, above
58 ground level so they can walk straight out when they come
59 off the top layer or even off the bottom layer, I suppose?
60 A. Yes.
