Day 309 - 03 Dec 96 - Page 49


     
     1   MR. RAMPTON:  That is just for general context.  It has no
     2        particular contribution to make to the actual animals
     3        allegation which is sufficiently conveyed by "torture".
     4        But at the background all the time throughout this leaflet
     5        is the recurrent theme all of these malpractices -- be it
     6        destroying the rainforests, wrongfully exploiting children,
     7        selling poisonous food, selling unhealthy food, exploiting
     8        their workers, and so on and so forth -- the recurrent
     9        theme is that those are all done because profit, McDollars,
    10        McGreedy, et cetera, profit is the dominant -- indeed, the
    11        only -- motive so far as McDonald's are concerned.
    12
    13        It adds this to the sting of the animals section, that the
    14        reader is going to be readier to believe that these
    15        horrendous practices described in the leaflet under the
    16        umbrella "torture" are likely to be going on, if he is in
    17        the frame of mind -- as by this time he will be, when he
    18        has read this leaflet -- that McDonald's really do not care
    19        at all what happens to animals or to people, provided they
    20        make their money. I think there are even some dollar signs
    21        in the eyes of the man on the front page.
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  There are.  One can see -- one might be able
    24        to see how in this context you cannot make your money
    25        without -- it is sometimes called industrial farming.
    26
    27   MR. RAMPTON:  Of course, that is right.
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It is industrial farming that give the
    30        quantities which are required, at the speed at which they
    31        have to be reared and slaughtered, which may be said to
    32        lead to practices which are not as good as they should be.
    33
    34   MR. RAMPTON:  Undoubtedly, that is right; and I have no doubt
    35        your Lordship and I, at the end of this case, will be able
    36        to write a dozen pamphlets on the most interesting topics,
    37        but they would not look anything like this.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Well ....
    40
    41   MR. RAMPTON:  One can certainly rail against, if one felt
    42        strongly enough about it, the -----
    43
    44   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That may be the distinction between my
    45        hypothetically brutal farmer killing his chickens.  It all
    46        sounds very brutal, but until two or three seconds before
    47        the chicken dies it has been picked up quite gently by
    48        someone who is quite well acquainted with it.
    49
    50   MR. RAMPTON:  I know it is trite, but who is to say?  I mean, 
    51        I am not an animal; I just do not know. 
    52 
    53   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.
    54
    55   MR. RAMPTON:  Dr. Gregory said that several times, that, you
    56        know, it is very, very difficult to tell what constitutes
    57        animal suffering.  Obviously, there is an infliction of
    58        pain.  Beyond that, it is very, very difficult.
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL: He went quite a long way in his -----

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