Day 096 - 03 Mar 95 - Page 43
1
2 Q. Head only stunning. Is the person who does the shackling
3 the same as the person who does the sticking? Would they
4 do both those jobs?
5 A. No, no, no.
6
7 Q. So you have one person for the stunning and one for the
8 shackling; is that right?
9 A. Yes, that is correct.
10
11 Q. Then, what, one more for the sticking?
12 A. Yes, because that is a very specific operation that we
13 do where the blood is collected for pharmaceutical purposes
14 for factor 8 for human beings.
15
16 Q. Is that routinely collected, is that every day?
17 A. Every day.
18
19 Q. So, generally speaking, there will be three people working
20 in that area?
21 A. Yes.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just as a matter of pure interest, really,
24 what proportion of the blood actually goes for
25 pharmaceutical use?
26 A. All the pigs that are passed fit for human consumption,
27 we have a system where each pig is monitored, and when the
28 pig has been totally passed for human consumption, then
29 that blood is then passed being fit for processing for
30 pharmaceutical purposes, for haemophiliacs.
31
32 MS. STEEL: So the person who is sticking, do they have to catch
33 the blood as well?
34 A. Well, that is a very hygienic and specific process that
35 we do and, in actual fact, after every batch of pigs is
36 processed and that blood which is then passed as fit,
37 everything is then destroyed. Then we start with another
38 sterilized set of equipment.
39
40 Q. So is the blood collected by a machine rather than by the
41 person?
42 A. No, no, a man, he has to hold the knife in the correct
43 pitch, hold the knife in the correct position, to collect
44 the blood.
45
46 Q. Then in his other hand he is, what, holding some kind of
47 container or what?
48 A. No, no, no.
49
50 Q. That is what I am asking.
51 A. That is then evacuated by vacuum. He holds the pig's
52 front foot, he sticks the pig, he holds the knife there and
53 there is a vacuum that draws the blood into the sterilized
54 containers.
55
56 Q. That person does all those on his own?
57 A. Yes.
58
59 Q. The stunning current, is that AC or DC, sorry, the voltage?
60 A. The voltage? It is approximately 130 odd volts that
