Day 113 - 03 Apr 95 - Page 44
1 the animal's treatment there are not residues of drugs that
2 have been administered either by the farmer or by the vet
3 that would make the animal ineligible for human
4 consumption. You were talking about residues, so I am
5 referring to the residues.
6
7 Now, the question is that many vets would really not know
8 what the farmer had administered to the animal and -- well,
9 there have been cases where one slaughterhouse, which might
10 be of concern here, an animal was actually delivered
11 gangrenous with a veterinary certificate, actually smelt so
12 high that it was refused on those grounds.
13
14 So, this is a severe problem in quite a large number of
15 animals. The reason it is taken on is because the farmer
16 is desperately trying to get, perhaps, £450, £500, for an
17 animal which otherwise he would not have got. If the
18 animal is taken in -- if it is a fallen animal because of
19 BSE, or brucellosis or tuberculosis, he is compensated
20 automatically pretty well to the value of the animal.
21
22 So, what I am trying to explain is if the animal goes down
23 for other reasons, there is a strong temptation for the
24 farmer to try to get it into the slaughterhouse.
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Mr. Morris, I understand what Dr. Long is
27 saying. What I do not know is the extent to which he says
28 this was happening, say, from about 1988 onwards.
29
30 MR. MORRIS: Say, five years ago, five or six years ago, to what
31 extent were diseased or injured animals arriving at the
32 slaughterhouses when they should not have been?
33 A. I am sorry, I cannot give you a figure because I just
34 do not know it.
35
36 Q. Are we talking about -----
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, I suggest you do not actually put a
39 figure. (To the witness): Can you give me idea at all?
40 This is within the last, say, six years?
41 A. I would think it might be one in 500, and in that
42 severe case, but of course some of the cases occurred on
43 the farm or at market.
44
45 Q. But what I am asking is five to six years ago, what
46 proportion of cattle, if indeed you can give a figure at
47 all, even the roughest estimate, do you suggest would
48 actually be arriving at the abattoir in a condition where
49 they had been unable to stand at farm or market?
50 A. I would suggest it is about one in 500 and it is less
51 now.
52
53 MR. MORRIS: One question I should ask you, do you know roughly
54 how many abattoirs there are in this country?
55 A. When you say "this country", you mean -- what do you
56 mean, the UK?
57
58 Q. UK, yes?
59 A. Not just England and Wales?
60
