Day 290 - 30 Oct 96 - Page 37
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, just pause. (Pause) You say that is in
2 his statement?
3
4 MS. STEEL: Yes.
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. Well, I did not make notes of the
7 numbers, just of various of the practices.
8
9 MS. STEEL: Right. Definitely the - actually, no, it was
10 raised at some point in the-----
11
12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Very well. (Pause). Yes.
13
14 MS. STEEL: Dr. Gregory had spent, I think, one and a quarter
15 hours watching various processes at the slaughter house.
16 He described how, when the top deck of the pig transporter
17 was unloaded, the pigs slid down the ramp. They were on
18 their haunches as they came down.
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: 18, 34, was it? Day 18, day 20, page 61?
21
22 MS. STEEL: Yes. Day 20, page 61 is the one I am on. I was
23 looking for the final part. Yes. On page 62 I asked him
24 whether or not they preferred to go on their haunches or on
25 their legs.
26
27 MR JUSTICE BELL: "Hydraulic levels mean you have to coerce the
28 pigs. The amount of coercion was low", he said.
29
30 MS. STEEL: That is actually not quite. When I asked about
31 whether or not they liked sliding down from the top deck,
32 he said, "They like to walk and they like to run, I do not
33 know of any preference in behaviour in terms of sliding."
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It would be speculating to say whether they
36 did or did not enjoy it.
37
38 MS. STEEL: Yes. I would say it was probably pretty unlikely
39 that they enjoyed sliding down the ramp.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well -----
42
43 MS. STEEL: It is not the most important point. I mean, the
44 points about the hydraulic levels in some of the
45 transporters, Dr. Gregory said one of the big advantages of
46 the hydraulic lifts is that it reduces the need for
47 coercion on the part of the person who is driving the
48 animals, you do not have to bully the pigs so much to get
49 out. So, obviously, in his opinion, when you do not have a
50 hydraulic lift you may very well have to bully the pig to
51 get it out of the truck, the lorry.
52
53 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Did he actually say that?
54
55 MS. STEEL: He said, "You do not have to bully the pig so much
56 to get out if you have the hydraulic lift." Day 20, page
57 62, line 24.
58
59 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
60
