Day 091 - 17 Feb 95 - Page 47
1 Defendants have no proper basis for this cross-examination
2 because their own expert, what shall I say, refuses to
3 support this line of cross-examination, in particular, in
4 paragraph 13.
5
6 MR. MORRIS: I do not know if Mr. Rampton has seen our other
7 witnesses related to animal welfare and hygiene, but some
8 do mention -----
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not going to stop you at this stage. It
11 seems to me, quite apart from anything else, we have well
12 and truly embarked on the topic and it may be that
13 Ms. Steel has got to the end of the particular questions on
14 it.
15
16 You yourself, Mr. Morris, a few days ago said that, on
17 reflection, it might be better that you sought to make
18 amendments. The reluctance in seeking to do that was that
19 we did not want to lose time over it. I think it is
20 probably important that we have in the pleadings any
21 allegation which can immediately be related to something
22 which is in the leaflet, which it might well be argued that
23 this can in the light of what appears in the "What's your
24 poison?" box in the leaflet. I can see you are making a
25 note of that.
26
27 MR. MORRIS: Yes. The trouble is pleadings are things that you
28 have to think about quite carefully, you cannot just chuck
29 them about.
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No,I am not asking you to do it here and now.
32
33 MR. MORRIS: No. I am saying generally it is something we are
34 prepared to do. We have indicated that we have not had the
35 time. We have had trouble drafting up the three or four
36 I think on the outstanding judgment you are preparing.
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. We will have our five-minute break.
39 Over that time you can think about whether there is
40 anything further to be got from Dr. Pattison on this
41 particular topic.
42
43 (Short Adjournment)
44
45 MS. STEEL: You mentioned about a parasite problem of
46 coccidiosis, how often does that occur?
47 A. Coccidiosis parasites are present in all poultry
48 farming units.
49
50 Q. All broiler units?
51 A. No, all poultry farming units and it is the normal
52 practice to feed a drug to prevent that parasite causing
53 any disease problems. Coccidiosis is a very well
54 recognised disease. It has been found ever since poultry
55 farming started. It is a problem that occurs in broiler
56 units and in free range units.
57
58 Q. Was it a common problem in farmyard hens as well?
59 A. Yes, the disease has been recorded in farmyard hens and
60 in the old days very often used to have to be treated.
