Day 018 - 26 Jul 94 - Page 44


     
     1   Q.   Have you conveyed your suggestions for improvement to GD
              Bowes?
     2        A.  Not directly.
 
     3   Q.   Not directly.  One further question before I go on to
              cattle, paragraph 5 on page 10 you observed that a couple
     4        of pigs out of 13, two pigs, fell off the bleeding rail
              into the trough alongside; the reason for that was
     5        probably excessive kicking after stunning; plainly that
              may create a danger for human beings.  Does it create any
     6        problems from the animal welfare point of view?  Might the
              pig wake up?
     7        A.  The only situation where it could be a problem from
              the welfare point of view is if it falls off the shackle
     8        before it has been stuck.  In that situation one has
              either got to restun the pig to make sure it does not come
     9        round, or you have to bleed it in the prone position in
              the bleeding channel.
    10
         Q.   In this case they shot the recumbent pig with a captive
    11        bolt gun.
              A.  That is correct.
    12
         Q.   In your view, would that be, as long as it is done
    13        quickly, effective to ensure that the pig did not regain
              consciousness?
    14        A.  So long as it is done quickly enough, yes,
 
    15   Q.   Was it done quickly in these two cases?
              A.  I did not see either of these pigs resume breathing
    16        before the shock was applied.
 
    17   Q.   Can we move now please to cattle?  In your report, start
              at page 10 (vi).
    18
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Just so I understand, Mr. Rampton, I would
    19        like to know just what is involved in the sticking.
 
    20   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, yes.  I should have asked about that
              aspect.  Tell us, Dr. Gregory?
    21        A.  For pigs?
 
    22   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  Mr. Rampton may ask you later.
              A.  Pigs suspended by one hind leg in the chain, the
    23        slaughter man is standing at a point just before the
              bleeding channel; he grabs hold of foreleg; he has a knife
    24        in his hand; he makes an incision in the skin of the neck
              going the chest, and then thrusts the knife into the chest
    25        cavity of the animal to sever the major vessels in the
              thorax, in the chest. 
    26 
         MR. RAMPTON:  I should have asked you this before, 
    27        Dr. Gregory.  Are there some cultures in which that
              sticking by one means or another is done without the
    28        animals having been prestunned?
              A.  Not in pigs.
    29
         Q.   Not in pigs, that is absolutely right.  But in chickens
    30        and cows?
              A.  Correct.

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