Day 018 - 26 Jul 94 - Page 39
1 Q. Just for precision, after stunning?
A. This is correct.
2
Q. Who has the responsibility amongst those two people of
3 getting the pig into a position where it may be
effectively stunned?
4 A. It is a shared responsibility, so there has to be
co-ordination between the two, but the ultimate person is
5 the stunner himself in this particular abattoir.
6 Q. Is that sometimes not so?
A. I would say generally it is the case, yes.
7
Q. Did the pigs enter the stunning pen in fives or in threes
8 or twos or singles?
A. When I was there they were entering singularly.
9
Q. How was the positioning of the pig achieved when the pig
10 came into the pen?
A. In a very subtle manner. This is one of the
11 commendable points about their operation. There was a
sliding door, sliding gate, at the exit of the last
12 holding pen before the stunning pen. The man standing
inside the holding pen pulled the gate open and, by
13 putting a hand on the animal's back, would manoeuvre the
pig into the stunning pen and closed the gate.
14
The pig would identify, no doubt, with the two men
15 standing in the pen, and it would walk as far away from
the men as it could. So it skirts around the wall of the
16 pen, and it came round to the stunning position where the
stunner applied the tongs.
17
Q. So he did not have to chase it?
18 A. In the event of a pig stopping, say, in a corner, all
it needed was a slaughter man to stake one step backwards,
19 which the pig presumably identified as a threat, and it
moved onwards to, it actually co-ordinated, get the pig in
20 the required position, that is, near the hoist where it
could be stunned and shackled. A subtle way of doing it,
21 not commonly used. At least I have never seen that done
to such sophistication or such a high level anywhere else.
22
Q. Will you advise other people to try that technique?
23 A. I certainly will.
24 Q. At the point of stunning, what is the ideal position for
the electric tongs?
25 A. It has to span the brain if you are using a low
current.
26
Q. What level of current were Bowes using when you were
27 there?
A. This was not measured, but it could be calculated
28 knowing the voltage and assuming a standard resistance for
the pig's head.
29
Q. What did you calculate that?
30 A. I do not have a calculator with me, but I can give you
the sums. It is going to be over .4 of an amp, if you
