Day 066 - 14 Dec 94 - Page 29
1 A. OK.
2
3 Q. Using whatever graphic means you may choose?
4 A. I can tell you when I was going to school, we used to
5 use and just play around with it ourselves, so I have been
6 -- I have received an electrical shock from an electric
7 prod. It is it is definitely a lot less than a normal
8 shock that you would get from regular electricity. It is
9 not something that will damage your skin or your muscle.
10 You will feel something unusual. I do not know if you have
11 had the experience of touching an electric fence, the same
12 thing, it is unusual so you stay away from it. But it will
13 not physically harm you. It might scare you a little bit
14 for a couple of seconds, but that is about it.
15
16 Q. Do you have a view or an idea, an opinion, whether cattle
17 are more or less sensitive to that sort of shock than human
18 beings?
19 A. I would say they are less sensitive because the current
20 is distributed in a large body and a pig normally will
21 weigh more also than a human do usually. By the time that,
22 when the time that they use they are around 100 kilograms
23 which is probably higher than the average man or female.
24
25 Q. Again concentrating only on the question of animal welfare,
26 are there any animal welfare benefits to be gained from the
27 use of prods in the handling of the animals?
28 A. Yes, they do. If used properly, I would say that
29 actually it is better. There are the perceptions that we
30 should not use it, but if you need to handle animals that
31 are bigger than yourself, you obviously need some help. In
32 terms of animal welfare and if you look at the entire span
33 of time where the animal is subjected to handling, it is
34 probably better to use -- I would say it is definitely
35 better to use a prod because you can move the animal. It
36 is difficult to animals to say: "Hey, come here". It is
37 extremely difficult. So, animals have a tendency not to
38 follow directions. If you use a prod, it is easier to
39 handle the animals. So, the subject, the stress they are
40 subjected to overall is less than if you just tried to push
41 or kick or whatever means you used to lead the animals.
42
43 There are some animals that are, special animals that are
44 held in, let us say, in a feed lot or in a close
45 confinement which they are used to humans, it probably
46 would be easier. But animals that are grown on a farm that
47 are not used to human contact, it will be extremely
48 difficult to handle those animals and definitely the use of
49 a electric prod will help them handle and move those
50 animals.
51
52 Q. Why is that good for the animals?
53 A. That is correct.
54
55 Q. Sorry?
56 A. For the animals as well as for humans.
57
58 Q. Why is that good for the animals as well as the humans?
59 A. Because, overall, if you look at the overall time, it
60 is less stressful to move quickly with a prod than it is to
