Day 077 - 25 Jan 95 - Page 31
1 Q. We are concerned only with food safety. What, in your view
2 (and I take them separately), are the best ways of
3 stunning, first of all, pigs?
4 A. Electric tongs.
5
6 Q. In your view, does the shock administered by the electric
7 tongs to a pig need to give the pig a cardiac arrest in the
8 interests of animal welfare or not?
9 A. No, but it has to be well-stunned.
10
11 Q. Moving to cattle, what, in your view, is the most effective
12 available method of stunning cattle?
13 A. Captive bolt pistol.
14
15 Q. Have you seen in different parts of the world or earlier in
16 your life other methods of stunning cattle?
17 A. Yes.
18
19 Q. What sort of thing?
20 A. I have seen cattle stunned with a hammer, a
21 sledgehammer, and, surprisingly enough, with a skilled man
22 (and that was in Australia a long time ago) it was very,
23 very effective and that man never had an animal get up, in
24 my experience. Interestingly enough again, he used a two
25 pound hammer, not a four pound hammer, because he said he
26 could not swing a four pound hammer fast enough; I mean, it
27 is just a matter of technique.
28
29 Q. If you still have the slim yellow volume, it is No. XI --
30 you should find at tab 1 of tab 5, remember there is tab 5
31 at the back and then another five tabs -- at tab 1, you
32 should, I hope, find a table headed "Summary"?
33 A. Yes.
34
35 Q. Can I ask you what this document is?
36 A. We did a survey of the captive bolt pistols being used
37 by our suppliers and we did a survey (1) to ensure that
38 there were pistols in reserve and how many pistols were in
39 reserve in some abattoirs; we also surveyed at the same
40 time whether or not abattoirs were pithing.
41
42 Q. I am going to ask you separately about pithing in a
43 moment. Can we just have a look at this document? The
44 main table gives the make of pistol and the number of
45 companies?
46 A. Yes.
47
48 Q. The numbers of your suppliers. Are all those different
49 makes, or whatever they are, are those all captive bolt
50 pistols?
51 A. Yes.
52
53 Q. Is there any one of your suppliers -----
54 A. I beg your pardon, sir.
55
56 Q. What?
57 A. I think if you look at the five bulldozers, they are
58 not technically a captive bolt.
59
60 Q. What do they do?
