Day 291 - 31 Oct 96 - Page 29
1 effectively it meant that animals were having to travel far
2 greater distances as a result.
3
4 The top three he named, the top three slaughter
5 corporations he named as Cargill, Con Agra and IBP, which
6 I think we have seen from documents in this case all supply
7 McDonald's.
8
9 Referring to the slaughter process, Mr. Lyman stated on
10 page 14, line 45, that: "When animals reach the slaughter
11 facility, the only concern is to kill as many in as short a
12 period as possible. The animals are terrified at the
13 slaughter plant and the cruelty inflicted on the animal in
14 their last moments on earth is indescribable. I believe if
15 viewing of slaughter was required to eat meat, most folks
16 would become vegetarian." Which obviously is something
17 that is mentioned in the London Greenpeace fact sheet.
18
19 He said about the first thing that you notice at the
20 slaughter plant is the smell. It is different to anything
21 he is. You know exactly what it is. And then that when
22 the animals go on the runway to the kill floor, if you
23 stand there and look at them, you see the terror in their
24 eyes as they approach the kill floor. He said: The animal
25 behind the one in front of it being stunned sees what is
26 happening and knows exactly what has happened.
27
28 He said, at line 21, page 15: "There is in doubt that those
29 animals going onto the kill floor know they are going to
30 die; and they are not pleased."
31
32 He said that cattle did see the other cattle being killed
33 and he said that with all the gore that is on the floors it
34 is impossible to shield the animals from what is in front
35 of them and what it is going to happen. He said: "What I
36 am talking about is the absolute standard of the industry.
37 What it is about is, get them in as quickly as possible,
38 kill them as quickly as possible, and the idea of humane
39 slaughter absolutely does not exist."
40
41 I should have done this in the bit I was mentioning about
42 the conditions and so on. He did say on page 17, line
43 51: "My experience in animal production convinces me that
44 destruction of the natural land base by animals under the
45 control of humans is out of hand. If we do not control our
46 animal numbers, we will cause damage to the environment
47 that is irreparable."
48
49 He said on page 18, line 10 that regulations on animal
50 welfare in the United States are zero.
51
52 He referred on page 22 to the fact that during the 1970s he
53 was approached by the beef processor who supplied the
54 McDonald's chain and the fact that the only stipulation or
55 the only consideration was the price and the fatness of the
56 animals. He said he was surprised that there were no
57 stipulations in relations to drugs, implants, types of
58 animals, and so on. He does not mention any stipulation in
59 respect of the welfare of the animals.
60
