Day 114 - 04 Apr 95 - Page 49
1 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Give us the reference.
2
3 MR. MORRIS: It is page 32, point 128: "In a high proportion of
4 the low voltage electrical stunning operations we have seen
5 on batches of pigs or sheep", forget sheep, "the
6 positioning of the tongs has been inaccurate. It was all
7 too common for the tongs to be used as a method of catching
8 and immobilizing the animal rather than as an accurately
9 placed and effective stunning instrument". Does that
10 accord with your experiences of the industry?
11 A. Yes. This was written in 1984, of course. It
12 corresponds to what I was calling "stinging" this morning,
13 where the tongs might be applied just to give the
14 paralysing shock so the pig could not struggle and run
15 away. That is cruel for the reasons that I have explained.
16
17 Q. Does it happen?
18 A. It happens, yes. I would say that it is possibly less
19 frequent now because, as a result of animal welfarists and,
20 of course, this has been a very influential report, steps
21 have been taken to prevent its occurring. I have mentioned
22 to you the idea of having a system where the next pig
23 cannot be stuck until the proper charge has been delivered,
24 cannot be stunned until the previous charge had been
25 properly delivered. This would put paid to this practice.
26
27 Q. Dr. Gregory said in his statement on page 9, point 1, about
28 the pigs stunning: "At the start of the stunning" -- this
29 is for Bowes which supplies McKey's which supplies
30 McDonald's -- "At the start of stunning the tongs were
31 usually placed across the neck of the pig. Once the pig
32 had fallen to the ground the tongs were repositioned with
33 one electrode over an eye and the other electrode behind
34 the opposite ear". Is there anything there of any
35 particular concern about that, apart from the all other
36 things you said?
37 A. Yes, you did not tell me what the voltage or the amps.
38
39 Q. That is another question.
40 A. Well, they were wrongly placed. That is really --
41 I mean, it does depend, if it was a very hefty amperage, it
42 might have been done the job in a hit and miss way.
43
44 Q. If it was less than 1.3 amps, would it concern you?
45 A. Yes, it always concerns me if it is less than 1.3
46 amps. That is what is recommended by the Ministry.
47
48 Q. So that description of what they were doing there would
49 particularly concern you?
50 A. It would suggest to me that things were not going
51 right.
52
53 Q. I notice in the Farm Welfare Council pamphlet on page 33
54 point 129 that they express concerns over whether, in fact,
55 the seven seconds is adhered to: "We were particularly
56 concerned therefore to find that in far too many of the
57 cases seen application was for less than seven seconds".
58 A. Could you just tell me the paragraph?
59
60 Q. That was 129.
