Day 113 - 03 Apr 95 - Page 42


     
     1        pretty well is that that was a result of feeding, in
     2        effect, sheep offal, sheep remains, in the concentrate
     3        feeds particularly for the dairy beef animals.  It caused
     4         -- it is causing a great deal of stress in the flock, in
     5        the herd.  It is still going on at a great rate.
     6
     7   Q.   So that was a widespread practice, was it?
     8        A.  It was a widespread practice to feed animal remains.
     9        It has been for a long time.  In 1988, I think it was in
    10        July 1988, because BSE was developing, it was a new
    11        phenomenon which was not recognised at the beginning, it
    12        was confused with listeriosis and staggers of one sort or
    13        another, metabolic diseases.
    14
    15        In 1988, the Ministry forebade the feeding of certain
    16        offals which are associated with the nervous system,
    17        forebade the feeding of those offals from ruminant animals
    18        to other ruminants.  Those are what called the proscribed
    19        offals. From that time on that system in the carcass had to
    20        be separated and kept very severely separate and destroyed
    21        so it should not be fed back.
    22
    23        In 1989, that proscription was extended to other animal
    24        feeds, feeds to other animals apart from cattle.  Up to
    25        that time animals had been going down with BSE, they had
    26        not found the cause of it.  In fact, it was found when
    27        quite a number of animals got to slaughterhouses actually
    28        having this problem, and they were generally dairy beef
    29        cows, and they were -- about 40 of them had got as far as
    30        the slaughterhouse -----
    31
    32   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do we need to go into this in any detail?
    33        The effect of Dr. Long's evidence is that feeding offal of
    34        one species to another, he says, led to BSE.
    35
    36   MR. MORRIS:  Cows are naturally herbivors, are they?
    37        A.  Yes.  Sorry, I cannot hear.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It is probably just as well, I think.  I will
    40        accept that cows are herbivors, and so on that point you
    41        are successful.  Just collect your thoughts for a moment.
    42        See if there is anything else before you go on to slaughter
    43        of cattle.  It is not an encouragement to you, but it looks
    44        as if you are not or may well not finish Dr. Long in-chief
    45        this afternoon, so you can think overnight of anything you
    46        have missed.
    47
    48   MR. MORRIS:  Yes, thank you.  (To the witness):  Let us deal
    49        with cattle slaughter:  You have mentioned about transport,
    50        you have mentioned about loading and unloading.  We have 
    51        heard that both slaughterhouses that have given evidence 
    52        for McDonald's use goads, so we do not need to go into 
    53        that.  Apart from those things, can you describe your
    54        welfare concerns as cattle arrive off the ramp into the
    55        slaughterhouse?
    56        A.  Could I just take up ---
    57
    58   Q.   A typical ----
    59        A.  Yes -- an issue -- you have raised welfare -- an issue
    60        from the farm or the market to the slaughterhouse.  A

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