Day 095 - 02 Mar 95 - Page 54


     
     1        struck you as being a fair representation from your own
     2        experience of the conditions in which your animals, if
     3        I can call them that, are raised and slaughtered in the
     4        United States?
     5        A.  We are talking about beef?
     6
     7   Q.   Of all the animals, chickens, pigs and cattle, was there
     8        anything in this film which fairly represented what, from
     9        your experience, you know to be the conditions of your
    10        animals?
    11        A.  OK.  Basically from what I saw of the film the only
    12        thing that is a true or close representation is the feed
    13        lot.  If you look carefully it is misleading.  There are
    14        only like two seconds where when they start showing the
    15        video that you can get a perspective of the space because
    16        as it moves, the camera, when it concentrates on a feed
    17        lot, you can see the stocking density you can have a good
    18        idea, but as the camera moves from that ----
    19
    20   Q.   I was not asking for a particular comment.  I want to know
    21        really this.  Is there anything in the film, apart from the
    22        density of the feed lot, which you could see from a real
    23        photograph?  Is there anything in the film which struck you
    24        as being a fair or true representation of the farming
    25        conditions in the USA so far as you are aware?
    26        A.  Absolutely not.
    27
    28   Q.   Can I ask you two other direct questions arising out of
    29        that film.  You told Ms. Steel that there would be no point
    30        in feeding cattle their own dung to eat because it was not
    31        be nutritious.
    32        A.  Right.
    33
    34   Q.   What is the reason why it would not be nutritious?
    35        A.  Because the cow itself cannot -- it does not serve any
    36        purpose to eat the same food that it has already digested.
    37        It is not going to digest it any better.
    38
    39   Q.   That gives rise to my second question.  How efficient is
    40        the digestion of cows, for example, of grass?
    41        A.  Very efficient.  It might be the most efficient animal
    42        in terms of extracting energy from their food.  It is
    43        extremely ----
    44
    45   Q.   Does the existence of a forestomach help in that process or
    46        not?
    47        A.  It helps the animals tremendously.  They are able to
    48        digest things that hogs or chickens cannot digest.
    49
    50   Q.   Like cellulose? 
    51        A.  Fibre, yes, including cellulose. 
    52 
    53   Q.   One other question in relation to that film, the bit about
    54        cows.  Are you, I take it you are, tolerably familiar with
    55        physiology of a cow?
    56        A.  Yes.
    57
    58   Q.   What would happen to a cow if you mixed its food with
    59        cement and made it eat it?
    60        A.  They will have a lot of problems digesting their food.

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