Day 290 - 30 Oct 96 - Page 17


     
     1        kind of, mass production system.  The disease and lack of
     2        individual treatment, again I would not say that is
     3        necessarily deliberate.  I think that is inevitable
     4        cruelty.  It is cruel and inevitable.  It is an inevitable
     5        result of the policies of that kind of system.  I would say
     6        that leg weaknesses are cruel and an inevitable result of a
     7        deliberate policy.  So that the environment/index.html">litter conditions are cruel
     8        and the resulting hock burns or other problems are cruel,
     9        and an inevitable result of a deliberate policy.
    10
    11        I think the genetic manipulation of the animals is cruel in
    12        a different way, and it is unethical.  If I can point out
    13        in the fact sheet, it says "animals born and bred", and
    14        that may just be a general colloquial term for rearing the
    15        animal, but also there is an implication about born and
    16        bred specifically for McDonald's use, this, kind of,
    17        manipulation of the genetics.  If I just continue, the
    18        catching and the resultant fear and damage injuries to
    19        birds is cruel, and it is an inevitable result of a
    20        deliberate policy in terms of speed and economics.
    21        Economics means they have too few staff and, in fact, they
    22        even were getting rid of staff rather than increasing the
    23        amount of staffing, we heard.  And economics, just the
    24        sheer numbers.  And the little time that they are given.
    25
    26        So the transportation of the birds is cruel, and the
    27        general suffering, heat stress and injuries and deaths as a
    28        result is an inevitable result of such a system.  Again, it
    29        is as a result of a deliberate policy, a deliberate policy
    30        to have X number of birds crammed into X kind of cages,
    31        drawers.  I say in the slaughter house the pre-killing line
    32        suffering -- animals, chickens, being held upside down,
    33        moving fast on a line -- this suffering on that line is the
    34        inevitable result of a deliberate policy of fast and mass
    35        production.  The actual killing of the birds, including the
    36        stunning, as we have heard in detail -- we will not go into
    37        that -- again is cruel.  Actually, I am not sure if I said
    38        the transport is cruel and the catching is cruel, but the
    39        pre-killing line is cruel and the killing itself, including
    40        stunning, is cruel, and it is an inevitable result of a
    41        deliberate policy.  If I can say a few other points?
    42
    43   MR JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.  (Pause) Do not, whatever you do, repeat
    44        anything that Ms. Steel has said.
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:   No, I accept everything that she has said without
    47        any reservations.
    48
    49        This is a general point on animals.  If you look at
    50        Mr. Rampton's opening speech where he talks about the 
    51        conditions that animals are held in.  He does not give any 
    52        indication of McDonald's concern for animal welfare, purely 
    53        that some economic considerations may result in, he says, a
    54        welfare implication, because, you know, bruises on a bird
    55        might affect the meat quality.  We would say that may or
    56        may not be the case.  The point is the birds have a right
    57        not to be bruised in any event - or mistreated or treated
    58        cruelly, whatever, suffering injuries, have disease.  And
    59        there was no recognition at all of any rights for the
    60        animals in that opening speech.

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