Day 113 - 03 Apr 95 - Page 50
1
2 I would look at the arrangement. I have seen all types of
3 stunning blocks. One thing that is of particular concern
4 (and again these are matters that we have referred to the
5 Farm Animal Welfare Council) is that if it is something
6 like this and you have a calf down there, well, you can
7 hardly reach down and that is of concern.
8
9 You have also got the concern that if the animal moves (and
10 this is one reason why you have to shoot more than once)
11 you are just about, or the slaughterman is just about to
12 shoot the animal, and it moves its head so the shot goes in
13 the wrong place and does not complete the stun.
14
15 Q. How often does that happen, from your experience?
16 A. That happens fairly often. In some slaughterhouses an
17 effort is made with a yoke to hold the head so that it is
18 less likely to do that, a restrainer, but I have seen
19 restrainers where the animal's head is held up too high.
20 They are not properly designed. In fact, I think it is a
21 welfare disbenefit rather than a benefit.
22
23 But there are at the moment, I do not know whether Neville
24 Gregory told you this, there are attempts at Bristol to
25 overcome this particular problem. So, that is one that
26 I have seen and one that, obviously, he recognises in
27 restraining the animal.
28
29 There is also the point that some slaughterhouses try to
30 support the animal from underneath, so that it is less able
31 to move about and you get a better shot.
32
33 So, those are the main things that I would be concerned
34 with; the actual stunning to make sure that it is, if you
35 like, taking it to the human condition, it is like a sock
36 on the jaw, that the animal goes out, slumps down, the
37 doors are quickly opened -- it is very important to act
38 expeditiously -- the body comes out on to the floor, and
39 then it is very important to time how quickly it is hoist
40 and how quickly the first cut is made, and whether the cut
41 is that way or that way, because I am not satisfied that
42 the cross-ways cut which is used in ritual slaughter is
43 satisfactory.
44
45 Q. Apart from ritual slaughter, because that does not apply to
46 McDonald's, although it does in other countries, in fact
47 ---
48 A. Yes.
49
50 Q. Bearing in mind it does apply in other countries, in your
51 view, what percentage, you know, to any approximation you
52 feel you can make, of cattle suffer during the stunning
53 process and killing process above and beyond what you have
54 already identified, up to that point?
55 A. The figure that I think has been looked at in detailed
56 studies at Bristol is that certainly about five years ago
57 about four per cent of stuns were not properly carried out
58 on cattle. That work was done by Neville Gregory and his
59 group and I think that is the figure. There was also a
60 figure for sheep.
