Day 290 - 30 Oct 96 - Page 27
1 says, "I will welcome it when the dry sow stalls are banned
2 totally in this country." The reference for that is day
3 88, page 68, line 44. He said the reason why he would
4 welcome it. If I just read through - "I will welcome it
5 when dry sow stalls are banned totally in this country
6 because the restriction of the sow I personally think it is
7 not a good method of animal production, for an animal to be
8 shut in the stall for all that time or tied to a tether, it
9 is not comfortable." And that is on day 88, page 68. He
10 agreed that a typical dry sow stall would be about 2.1
11 metres by 0.6 of a metre. Day 88, page 71, line 40.
12
13 So, here we have a supplier of McDonald's admitting that it
14 is not good for the animal to be shut in the stall for all
15 that time, it is not comfortable; basically, that it is
16 inhumane. And yet whilst they no longer use them in their
17 own farms they still took sows, or they still took meat and
18 pigs, from suppliers which were using dry sow stalls, and
19 they still do. Either they are indifferent to that or they
20 are putting commercial considerations before the welfare of
21 the animals. Somewhere else in his evidence he did
22 actually say that about seven years ago up to 50 percent of
23 the suppliers would have been using the dry sow stalls. I
24 have not got the reference for that on me. But I can find
25 it.
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. (Pause) Do not look for it now.
28
29 MS. STEEL: I have a note, which I think he must have said on
30 day 96, that twelve percent of their suppliers still use
31 the dry sow stalls. So I think when he came back he must
32 have revised his figure after making inquiries. So,
33 effectively, for virtually their entire lives a large
34 percentage, certainly at the time of the alleged libel, of
35 the pigs which were reared by Bowes, or by their suppliers,
36 were spending-----
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You mean a large proportion of the sows?
39
40 MS. STEEL: Yes, sorry. Effectively, for virtually their
41 entire lives a large proportion of the sows kept under the
42 Bowes name, for want of a better way of describing it, were
43 being incarcerated in a tiny cage. I mean, it has not got
44 a roof on it, but being incarcerated in a tiny stall with
45 no freedom of movement whatsoever. Obviously, we would
46 consider that to be competely inhumane.
47
48 I think he said something about why he did not do away with
49 the farrowing crate, and he said something about not having
50 other options. It was pointed out that they could have all
51 the sows outside, using the outdoor system, but he said
52 that that would be much more expensive and that there was
53 only a limited market for the sale of that product.
54 Obviously, that applies to McDonald's because they are not
55 willing to pay the higher price for the outdoor pork. The
56 reference for it being more expensive was day 88, page 69,
57 line 23.
58
59 MR JUSTICE BELL: Day?
60
