Day 097 - 06 Mar 95 - Page 45
1 A. He is involved with the procurement of animals.
2
3 Q. Procurement?
4 A. Yes.
5
6 Q. He has a specific animal welfare responsibility, does he?
7 A. He does, yes.
8
9 Q. You said he inspected the animals on arrival; is it a "he"?
10 A. It is a "he", yes.
11
12 Q. He inspects the animals on arrival; is that right?
13 A. Yes. He will inspect them for any sort of signs of
14 distress or disease. He will not -- he will oversee that
15 inspection. I am not saying that he actually inspects
16 every single animal himself like the vets do.
17
18 Q. How difficult a task is it, the unloading of cattle from a
19 truck?
20 A. I would not say it is very difficult really. Again it
21 is something that varies. You can get cattle which unload
22 very easily and cattle which do not unload so easily.
23
24 Q. Is it job that needs a bit of training and experience?
25 A. Certainly, yes.
26
27 Q. It does. Do you train your stockmen?
28 A. Everybody is trained in the job they do, yes.
29
30 Q. Everybody is trained. Are the people who are specifically
31 trained in the handling of animals?
32 A. We have an Animal Welfare Training Programme, yes.
33
34 Q. What would you do if you found that one of your people who
35 has been trained to handle the animals and look after them
36 before they are slaughtered was mistreated, what would you
37 do?
38 A. Obviously, it would be subject to disciplinary action,
39 the severity of which would depend on the offence.
40
41 Q. Yes, I understand, but you would take action?
42 A. Certainly, yes.
43
44 Q. It would be certainly be suggested to you by the Defendants
45 that you do not care about the welfare of the animals which
46 you slaughter; is that true or false?
47 A. It is not true at all. We certainly do care about the
48 animals' welfare, for commercial reasons as much as
49 anything else so ......
50
51 Q. Quite. Explain, please, what the commercial reasons are
52 why animal welfare matters?
53 A. If an animal is subjected to stress prior to slaughter,
54 the carcass at the end of the slaughter line or after
55 chilling becomes dark and generally sort of aesthetically
56 unpleasing to whoever is looking at it.
57
58 Q. What would you then have to do with the meat?
59 A. It is devalued quite considerably.
60
