Day 093 - 28 Feb 95 - Page 37
1
2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. What you are being asked about is the
3 extent to which, if at all, McDonald's actually supervises
4 the welfare of animals which are going to become meat for
5 sale in McDonald's restaurants. We have reached the point
6 where you have said that you rely on suppliers ---
7 A. That is correct.
8
9 Q. -- to carry out that function, but you said "mostly, not
10 entirely" so you are being asked what McDonald's actually
11 does itself to supervise animal welfare.
12 A. Ourselves, we do not. So, we relied on our suppliers,
13 or in this case the United States Department of Agriculture
14 has that responsibility.
15
16 MS. STEEL: OK. Just going back to the birds, the dead on
17 arrivals: You said when you were giving evidence that they
18 could have internal injury?
19 A. That is correct.
20
21 Q. How would they get those injuries?
22 A. It could happen when they pick them up, it could happen
23 during transportation, it could happen anywhere during the
24 process.
25
26 Q. And also there would be things like dislocated hips?
27 A. Yes, that could happen, yes.
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29 Q. Do all the birds that get dislocated hips die?
30 A. No.
31
32 Q. They would not?
33 A. No.
34
35 Q. So how many, what percentage, of the birds would get
36 dislocated hips?
37 A. I do not know. When I asked Tyson several months ago
38 about that, they said, they told me the answer was less
39 than one per cent, "it is so minimal because of our
40 practice". It is not a major concern for them.
41
42 Q. Was that the birds that died from dislocated hips?
43 A. No, no, the birds during transit.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But is "the less than one per cent" those who
46 die, or those who die from dislocated hips, or those which
47 have dislocated hips? What is "the less than one per
48 cent"?
49 A. OK, less than one per cent is the incidence of
50 dislocated hips during from the house to the
51 slaughterhouse. The mortality rate of deaths on arrival is
52 .0, and I do not remember the last digit, but it was in
53 the hundreds of a per cent.
54
55 MS. STEEL: Actually, when you gave evidence-in-chief you said
56 that one to two per cent of birds were dead on arrival?
57 A. That is probably before I asked for an estimate.
58
59 Q. Asked him when?
60 A. Pardon?
