Day 018 - 26 Jul 94 - Page 39


     
     1   Q.   Just for precision, after stunning?
              A.  This is correct.
     2
         Q.   Who has the responsibility amongst those two people of
     3        getting the pig into a position where it may be
              effectively stunned?
     4        A.  It is a shared responsibility, so there has to be
              co-ordination between the two, but the ultimate person is
     5        the stunner himself in this particular abattoir.
 
     6   Q.   Is that sometimes not so?
              A.  I would say generally it is the case, yes.
     7
         Q.   Did the pigs enter the stunning pen in fives or in threes
     8        or twos or singles?
              A.  When I was there they were entering singularly.
     9
         Q.   How was the positioning of the pig achieved when the pig
    10        came into the pen?
              A.  In a very subtle manner.  This is one of the
    11        commendable points about their operation.  There was a
              sliding door, sliding gate, at the exit of the last
    12        holding pen before the stunning pen.  The man standing
              inside the holding pen pulled the gate open and, by
    13        putting a hand on the animal's back, would manoeuvre the
              pig into the stunning pen and closed the gate.
    14
              The pig would identify, no doubt, with the two men
    15        standing in the pen, and it would walk as far away from
              the men as it could.  So it skirts around the wall of the
    16        pen, and it came round to the stunning position where the
              stunner applied the tongs.
    17
         Q.   So he did not have to chase it?
    18        A.  In the event of a pig stopping, say, in a corner, all
              it needed was a slaughter man to stake one step backwards,
    19        which the pig presumably identified as a threat, and it
              moved onwards to, it actually co-ordinated, get the pig in
    20        the required position, that is, near the hoist where it
              could be stunned and shackled.  A subtle way of doing it,
    21        not commonly used.  At least I have never seen that done
              to such sophistication or such a high level anywhere else.
    22
         Q.   Will you advise other people to try that technique?
    23        A.  I certainly will.
 
    24   Q.   At the point of stunning, what is the ideal position for
              the electric tongs?
    25        A.  It has to span the brain if you are using a low
              current. 
    26 
         Q.   What level of current were Bowes using when you were 
    27        there?
              A.  This was not measured, but it could be calculated
    28        knowing the voltage and assuming a standard resistance for
              the pig's head.
    29
         Q.   What did you calculate that?
    30        A.  I do not have a calculator with me, but I can give you
              the sums.  It is going to be over .4 of an amp, if you

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