Day 066 - 14 Dec 94 - Page 25
1 where the animals are concentrated. That is what is called
2 intensive production. They have cover, they have water,
3 available water, and they have food that they eat. So,
4 basically, they can eat and drink whatever they want. The
5 diet is balanced so their requirements are met or
6 exceeded. It is a high energy diet with a high
7 concentration of grains, and I guess I would say the major
8 difference is there is intensive production, they are
9 concentrated in a small area as opposed to the farming
10 conditions where they are open.
11
12 Q. Have you visited some of these feed lots?
13 A. Yes, I have throughout the major zones in Europe, Latin
14 America, Asia, as well as the US.
15
16 Q. To your trained eye, have any of the cattle you have seen
17 on feed lots showed any significant signs of psychological
18 distress or disturbance?
19 A. No.
20
21 Q. Are there any particular physiological problems associated
22 with putting cattle on feed lots?
23 A. There are some what, I would call, normal sometimes
24 physiological problems that are just like we see in
25 humans. There are some people that get sick for whatever
26 reason. But one can make a generalisation, no, I have not
27 seen that. It is not common.
28
29 Q. Are there any feed lots that you are familiar with on which
30 cattle spend their whole lives?
31 A. No, I know of no feed lots in which the animals spend
32 even a majority of their life. Usually, it is common
33 practice that in most of the countries where the animals
34 spend the majority of their life -- that is true in the US
35 as well as the developed countries -- they spend at least a
36 couple of years, three years -- could go as high as five
37 years -- and then they spend a small part of their
38 lifetime, usually around 100 days, in a feed lot where they
39 are fed a high energy diet.
40
41 Q. From the animal welfare point of view, do you see any
42 objection to the use of feed lots in the later part of an
43 animal's life?
44 A. No, I do not.
45
46 Q. Can I pass then, please, to the methods by which cattle --
47 we will take the United States first, if we may -- in use
48 for McDonald's are slaughtered? What is the method of
49 slaughter most commonly used in the United States?
50 A. Usually, it is the captive bolt. That is the term that
51 is used, the process. I have not seen any other.
52
53 Q. That is used to stun the animal?
54 A. It is used -- that is correct.
55
56 Q. Before it is bled?
57 A. Yes, that is correct. That is a requirement by law.
58
59 Q. Does the US law require that the animal should be
60 insensible, unconscious, at the time when its throat is cut
