Day 113 - 03 Apr 95 - Page 63
1 years ago, and I think there were about 14 per cent. That
2 was in pigs' kidneys.
3
4 Q. Is that an acute reaction or a chronic reaction?
5 A. In human beings it is an acute reaction. So that is a
6 case where there may be confusion that farmers will often
7 regard these sulphur drugs which are so widely used as
8 growth promoters. They do not use the word "antibiotics",
9 so I would want to know when I was investigating this
10 exactly what growth promoters and drugs were being used. A
11 similar drug is actually used for calves.
12
13 Q. Maybe we will check that overnight as well. I want to
14 clarify the pain for the castration caused by castration.
15 How long does that last for, can that last for?
16 A. It can last several days when the pig is obviously
17 uncomfortable in that region. In other words. It cannot
18 walk properly.
19
20 Q. What about the pain associated with, I am talking about
21 animals biting each other, I think you referred to tail
22 docking as well. Can you just go into what the welfare
23 concerns are about that?
24 A. Welfare concerns are that it is -- there are nerves
25 there and a strong view has been taken both over the
26 docking of pigs' tails and dogs' tails, that it is an
27 unnecessary mutilation. It should be with good care quite
28 unnecessary to do it. It deprives the animals of, if you
29 like, a vital organ -- it is something important to them --
30 and it is classified as an unnecessary mutilation.
31
32 There might be another mutilation which you might have in
33 mind is teeth clipping. The teeth of newly born piglets
34 are very sharp and some farmers will cut them off,
35 sometimes break the tooth, and this is a cause for
36 concern. With these very large -----
37
38 Q. Why is it a cause for concern?
39 A. It is a cause for concern because that again is a
40 possible source of infection in the mouth because it causes
41 bleeding and it causes injury to the gum.
42
43 Q. Does it cause any discomfort or pain?
44 A. Yes, it would.
45
46 Q. You will have to say because otherwise -----
47 A. Yes, I am sorry. Yes, I mean, I assume that if it
48 causes bleeding and it causes that sort of difficulty it
49 would cause pain, but it is done largely because with such
50 a large environment/index.html">litter, the piglets will tear -- the teeth tear the
51 udder. This happens on some farms. Again, it is because
52 all the time the commercial interests are driving the pigs
53 to really travesties that are more bred for meatiness than
54 pigginess, so they are not good mothers. They are only
55 good mothers in the sense they produce lots of piglets.
56
57 A welfare idea has been that it might be better to grind
58 the teeth down rather than cut them off, but that issue has
59 not been resolved.
60
