Day 103 - 14 Mar 95 - Page 54


     
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I will take the five-minute break.
     2
     3                       (Short Adjournment).
     4
     5   MS. STEEL:  If you could get down the Defendants Fifth
     6        Supplementary bundle and document three, please?
     7        A.  OK.
     8
     9   Q.   Have you seen this paper before?
    10        A.  Yes, I believe I have.
    11
    12   Q.   The final sentence in the abstract of the summary says:
    13        "The effect of 50.200 and 350 hertz square wave DC on
    14        carcass downgrading was examined in broilers and there were
    15        no differences between the group.  It was concluded that
    16        there were few advantages from using high frequency
    17        stunning currents in poultry".  Would you accept that?
    18        A.  I honestly do not believe that I am qualified to
    19        comment on that.
    20
    21   Q.   Why do you not use a lower frequency?
    22        A.  The system that we use is the one that we have found
    23        produces the least downgrading of carcasses.  You have to
    24        bear in mind that as a big company we are able to look at a
    25        very much larger number of samples than research workers
    26        would be able to do.  But I honestly cannot -- as far as
    27        frequency goes, I am not qualified to comment on that.
    28
    29   Q.   Would you accept a lower frequency makes it more likely
    30        that the birds will suffer cardiac arrest?
    31        A.  I do not know.
    32
    33   Q.   In the second paragraph of the actual paper as opposed to
    34        the summary it says: "High frequency currents tend to flow
    35        close to the surface of a conductor instead of through its
    36        middle.  In view of this, high frequency stunning currents
    37        might be expected to produce a milder tonic muscular spasm
    38        at the onset of current flow." Would you accept that?
    39        A.  I honestly do not know.  I am not qualified to answer
    40        that.
    41
    42   Q.   Who is qualified at Sun Valley?
    43        A.  What we do is that we observe chickens and we can
    44        determine whether the current is sufficient for stunning by
    45        the behaviour, and those chickens becoming unconscious --
    46        this kind of technical detail is really very, very
    47        technical and there are not many people really who are
    48        qualified to talk in these kinds of electrical terms.
    49
    50   Q.   So when you test to see whether the birds are stunned, are 
    51        you just relying on visible checks? 
    52        A.  Well, surely that is the most obvious thing to do, is 
    53        it not?
    54
    55   Q.   But if you are cutting the spinal cord that would mask the
    56        signs of consciousness?
    57        A.  I am not answering that question again.  You have asked
    58        me that several times.
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That is quite right.  You have got to decide

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