Day 067 - 15 Dec 94 - Page 41


     
     1        directly related to their slaughter rather than back on the
     2        farm or the rearing or anything else.
     3
     4   THE WITNESS:  If I may, it extends to all areas.  They have
     5        been  -----
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It does not on what I have read here, you
     8        see.
     9        A.  It probably does not say that, but people have been
    10        found guilty of mistreating the animals when they are in
    11        the farm, when they are left unattended without food or
    12        water, and people have been found guilty of maltreatment of
    13        animals, of their own pets, cats, dogs, birds.  So, it does
    14        apply to animals and it goes to the farm.
    15
    16        I must add, however, that at McDonald's, to the best of my
    17        knowledge and from what I have heard seen or discussed
    18        within McDonald's and outside of McDonald's, McDonald's has
    19        never been found guilty of violating any of the
    20        fractions(?) or anything related to the Humane Slaughter
    21        Act.
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Mr. Rampton, I do not want to get bogged down
    24        on this, but I cannot help noticing that there is a
    25        reference in paragraph 3, on page 4, to the Committee on
    26        Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry which said:  "It is the
    27        Committee's intent that handling in connection with
    28        slaughter be interpreted by the Secretary to begin at the
    29        time the livestock come into the custody of the
    30        slaughtering establishment, up to and including the moment
    31        of slaughter".  So, that is the handling.  Then we get the
    32        slaughter.
    33
    34        I am not casting any doubt on Dr. Gomez Gonzalez's good
    35        faith.  What I will say is that, as presently inclined,
    36        I will have to see the Act and the appropriate provisions
    37        of the Act or any code of practice related to it before
    38        I can come anywhere near being persuaded that it covers
    39        anything which happens before the points I have just
    40        referred to.
    41
    42   MR. RAMPTON:  I quite agree with that, if I may say so, my Lord.
    43        It is probably some different statute.  If I need to defend
    44        Dr. Gomez Gonzalez (which I do not think I do) what I would
    45        say is he is not a lawyer.
    46
    47   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.
    48
    49   MR. RAMPTON:  What one does notice about this is that it is in
    50        very broad terms.  What we must look to see, if we can 
    51        find, I think, if your Lordship agrees, is a code of 
    52        practice which may have been promulgated by the Department 
    53        of Agriculture in the same way as it has been here.
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  Ms. Steel and Mr. Morris, the position
    56        you are in at the moment is that nothing has been produced
    57        which goes beyond a statutory provision in very general
    58        terms relating to handling as defined there and actual
    59        slaughter itself.  So, I suggest that you carry on with
    60        your cross-examination with that in mind.

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