Day 092 - 27 Feb 95 - Page 64
1
2 Q. Would you say it is cruel?
3 A. No, it is not.
4
5 Q. Why is it not cruel?
6 A. Well, it is not because you are looking at it from a
7 human perspective, and you are making an assumption that a
8 chicken thinks like a human being and that is a totally
9 incorrect assumption. I elaborated on the differences in
10 the past. There are some distinct differences. If you are
11 thinking from a human side you think differently. A
12 chicken when it grows and it is used to that environment he
13 does not know; he is not aware of his environment; he is
14 not aware of whether he has choices; he is not aware he can
15 go out and run. His environment is that house. He feels
16 comfortable.
17
18 Q. You say that he is not aware?
19 A. Yes, that is not only what I say. There is plenty of
20 evidence to support that.
21
22 Q. But is it not the case that you are saying that you can
23 judge what choices a chicken wishes to make or seems to be
24 making or not making. You are saying hat you can judge
25 that, but somebody else who is critical cannot judge that?
26 A. What I am saying is that chickens do not know -----
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Have you actually said that?
29 A. No. What I have said ----
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31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have not heard him say anything which
32 suggests to me that he is not suggesting you are entitled
33 to your point of view, this witness.
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35 MR. MORRIS: So would you say then that whether that is cruel or
36 not would be entirely down to someone's point of view?
37 A. I would say, no, it is not inhumane. It is not cruel.
38
39 Q. But somebody else might think it was cruel?
40 A. Yes, absolutely. You probably think it is cruel, that
41 is your opinion. You have that choice to think what you
42 think. What I am giving you is evidence and an expert
43 opinion. That is what I came here for.
44
45 Q. You said that you cannot give evidence about the state of
46 the chicken's mind but people should not anthropomorphize?
47 A. Let me clarify one thing. There are distinct
48 differences between the mind of a chicken and the mind of a
49 human being. We are the only species that have wisdom. If
50 you look at our name we homosapiens. "Sapiens" means
51 wisdom. We are the only species on this earth that have
52 that kind of classification. If some people want to be
53 compared with chickens, they think that chickens are like
54 them, that is fine with me, but I am not going to compare
55 myself with a chicken. There are some distinct
56 differences. I know I have choices. I know I can make
57 decisions. I know I can go somewhere else and think how to
58 get there. Chickens do not have that. Chickens are not
59 aware of their environment. When they are born they think
60 of their parents. The first thing that moves they think
