Day 018 - 26 Jul 94 - Page 64
1 ask now, whether Ms. Steel and Mr. Morris are relying on
any German research or may have another basis for it. But
2 if you can get faxed up either a copy of the Bristol paper
or a summary, then if it is referred to, it can be picked
3 up.
4 MR. RAMPTON: Yes. Thank you for that, Dr. Gregory. Can we
just then move to something else, and it is the last thing
5 I want to ask you about. Is there a copy of this? This
is a magnification of the pamphlet which is the subject of
6 this action, Dr. Gregory. I do not know, have you seen it
before?
7 A. Yes, I have.
8 Q. Will you open it out and look at the right hand page when
you have it open and the last column on that page, bottom
9 half of the page of the column: "In what way are
McDonald's responsible for torture and murder?" I am not
10 going to ask you about whether you think that the ways in
which the animals used for McDonald's food are slaughtered
11 may fairly be described as torture or murder. It will not
profit us to discuss that question, Dr. Gregory.
12
What I do want to ask you about are some of the assertions
13 of fact in this column. Ignore the first paragraph, the
menu, "McDonald's is based on meat. They sell millions of
14 burgers" and so on and so forth, but cast your eye on the
second paragraph: "Some of them - especially chickens and
15 pigs - spend their lives in the entirely artificial
conditions of huge factory farms, with no access to air or
16 sunshine and no freedom of movement".
17 So far as the pigs that you saw at GD Bowes & Co. in
Norfolk are concerned, is that statement true or false?
18 A. False.
19 Q. "Murdering a Big Mac. In the slaughterhouse, animals
often struggle to escape." In the slaughterhouse at GD
20 Bowes, in the slaughterhouse at Midland Meat Packers and
at the other plant, did you see any animals struggling
21 to escape -- pigs or cows?
A. Not that I could identify, no.
22
Q. So far as Midland Meat Packers are concerned and the other
23 cattle slaughtering place you visited, look at the next
sentence: "Cattle become frantic as they watch the animal
24 before them in the killing-line being prodded, beaten,
electrocuted and knifed". Did you see the cattle becoming
25 frantic in either of those two establishments?
A. I did not see any frantic behaviour, no.
26
Q. Could the cattle who were in what is called the
27 killing-line see the animals in front of them being stuck?
A. No, that, in fact, would be against the law.
28
MR. JUSTICE BELL: You specifically said "stuck", did you?
29
MR. RAMPTON: Yes, "knifed". I am going backwards.
30
MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, very well.
