Day 088 - 13 Feb 95 - Page 37


     
     1   Q.   Before I come to the RSPCA document, Mr. Bowes, I want to
     2        go back in time and deal briefly with the indoor unit.
     3        We will have a mental look at it in a moment, but take this
     4        picture here -- this is the easiest way of doing it -- the
     5        one of the pigs in the outdoor kennel, the weaners?
     6        A.  Yes.
     7
     8   Q.   Would they all be pigs that have been born outside or could
     9        some of them be from the indoor unit?
    10        A.  In our kennels we do have, at the indoor unit there are
    11        kennels also where the pigs are transferred to at 24 days
    12        of age.
    13
    14   Q.   Are those indoor or outdoor kennels?
    15        A.  They are outdoor kennels on grassland.
    16
    17   Q.   On grass?
    18        A.  Yes.
    19
    20   Q.   I think you probably did tell us but I am afraid I have
    21        forgotten, how many sows have you got in the indoor units?
    22        A.  2,300.
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  2,300.
    25
    26   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes, 2,300.  Yes, thank you.  What sort of a life
    27        do they lead?  What are their conditions of living?
    28        A.  They are straw based, fed on a proper diet, ad-lib
    29        water, they have access to freedom of walking and they are
    30        on, again they have the Yorkshire boarding dunging passages
    31        described previously, and they are on insulated floors.
    32        I would say that our way of keeping indoor sows is very
    33        satisfactory in as much as that we are, I would say, over
    34        95 per cent of being approved by freedom foods for RSPCA.
    35
    36   Q.   For the indoor unit?
    37        A.  Yes.
    38
    39   Q.   Is your outdoor approved 100 per cent?
    40        A.  Yes, they are.
    41
    42   Q.   We will have a quick look at that in a moment.  How are the
    43        indoors sows serviced?  They do not go into a field with a
    44        bore or do they?
    45        A.  Oh, no.  The bore is inside and the sows are inside and
    46        they are serviced in the inside serving yards.
    47
    48   Q.   By natural methods?
    49        A.  Oh, yes, yes.  May I say that, you know, we do have a
    50        retailer that bans artificial insemination. 
    51 
    52   Q.   You do, do you? 
    53        A.  Yes.
    54
    55   Q.   This may seem a slightly vulgar question but are boars
    56        quite keen on that kind of thing?
    57        A.  I have never seen one disappointed yet, sir.
    58
    59   Q.   First of all, I should ask you, how many litters a year
    60        does the indoor sow have?

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