Day 097 - 06 Mar 95 - Page 53
1 right?
2 A. Yes.
3
4 Q. Is that what you do?
5 A. Well, yes.
6
7 Q. But do they have water, the ones that are staying for maybe
8 eight hours?
9 A. Yes.
10
11 Q. Do your animals are adequate ventilation?
12 A. I would say so, yes.
13
14 Q. Do you use any fields for lairage?
15 A. We do, yes. We have fields adjacent, you know, behind
16 our plant which we can keep cattle in and if the weather is
17 suitable.
18
19 Q. Do people check them to see they are all right?
20 A. Yes, all over the weekends.
21
22 Q. All over the weekend?
23 A. Yes.
24
25 Q. Then it says: "Slaughter an animal in the lairage if it
26 cannot be removed from there without suffering pain". How
27 often does one come across an animal in the lairage which
28 has to be slaughtered because it cannot move without pain?
29 A. I have seen it, but I would not say it is a regular
30 occurrence.
31
32 Q. How often do you get sick and disabled animals in arriving
33 for you to use -----
34 A. That is a question really for a meat inspector or a
35 vet.
36
37 Q. You mean you there are times when you cannot tell by
38 looking at it?
39 A. Yes, I mean, it would take an expert opinion, really.
40
41 Q. Moving over to the right-hand column under "Handling and
42 moving animals always", right-hand column, little 4 at the
43 bottom, halfway down there is a heading: "Handling and
44 Moving Animals always". Then there is a series of
45 imperatives, injunctions: "Move animals in a calm,
46 unhurried manner". What happens at Midland Meat Packers?
47 How are the animals handled, suppose they are being moved
48 from the lairage to the stunning pen?
49 A. They go through a series of small pens before they
50 actually reach the race which lead to the stunning pen.
51 Generally speaking, a age is opened and if the cattle do
52 not walk through that gate straightaway (as quite often
53 they do) there is a drover behind them that moves them
54 along. They then move up a series of pens before they go
55 into single file to the stunning box.
56
57 Q. How do you react to this sentence -- these are not my
58 words, Mr. Chambers but it is a quotation -- "In the
59 slaughterhouse animals often struggle to escape"?
60 A. No. I would not say that statement was correct.
