Day 091 - 17 Feb 95 - Page 20
1 MR. RAMPTON: That may be. May I just raise this suggestion,
2 that if a case is to be made in relation to these diseases
3 and their incidence at Sun Valley, which Dr. Pattison might
4 need to deal with in the sense that it is asserted that he
5 has some responsibility which he has not discharged, then
6 it ought to be put at some stage so that he can deal with
7 it. If it is merely said that it is incidence of keeping
8 broilers which nobody who keeps broilers can do anything
9 about ----
10
11 MR. MORRIS: Mr. Rampton is putting his case for what he
12 believes our case is, or his defence is, on what the issue
13 actually is between the parties. His inference always is
14 that: Well, if this is something that happens normally in
15 the animal or meat production industry, then that is one
16 thing but basically his case is that that does not reflect
17 on McDonald's, but if it is something that they
18 particularly do that causes additional suffering on top of
19 that, then that is something which we have to prove. Our
20 case obviously is that the animal and meat production
21 industry is inherently causing suffering and cruelty.
22
23 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I understand that. I think that is taken as
24 read. The point is this: You can take it as read that
25 there is a criticism of rearing animals in which I include
26 fowl for human consumption. If you are making a more
27 specific criticism than that, then you should bring it out
28 in cross-examination. For instance, if you are saying:
29 Right, granted that a lot of people want to eat chicken and
30 we do have a broiler industry, whatever you think about
31 that, the animals would be better off in some respect if,
32 for instance, they were reared in smaller units or in
33 different kinds of units, or when one comes to disease of
34 some kind or something which could reasonably have been
35 done -- an example of where that was put was breed B. That
36 was put to Dr. Pattison and he gave his answer to it. If
37 there is something which you suggest could and should have
38 been done to alleviate the position, apart from stopping
39 the broiler industry full stop, then you should put that to
40 the witness.
41
42 MR. MORRIS: I think we are doing that as we are going along.
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: In other words, there is a difference between
45 bringing out evidence that this is a consequence of having
46 broilers at all, and suggesting that Sun Valley en route to
47 McDonald's could have done more for animal welfare in a
48 particular respect.
49
50 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, that is exactly the point that I was
51 seeking to make in relation to these diseases. If any
52 respect of Sun Valley's operation it is sought to be
53 asserted that they are lacking in proper care for their
54 animals, beyond the fact that they actually have them with
55 whatever inevitable consequences that may have, then, in my
56 submission, it must be put.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think it is highlighted by going through
59 every single disease, you see. One approach would just be
60 to say: "X per cent of all broilers suffer some kind of
