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

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