Day 066 - 14 Dec 94 - Page 30
1 move around and try to fight whatever conditions they are
2 subjected to.
3
4 Q. I was going to ask you a more general question.
5
6 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can I just ask a question about that? If a
7 prod is applied to a steer, what is a typical reaction?
8 Does it just move on or does it start and patter away?
9 A. It would just shake, it would go like this. He will
10 move and he will try to get away from it.
11
12 MR. RAMPTON: You have told us that you visited cattle
13 slaughterhouses?
14 A. Yes, that is correct.
15
16 Q. In different parts of the world?
17 A. That is correct.
18
19 Q. Again I do not myself ask for a huge amount of detail but
20 what, in your observation, are the features of the
21 slaughtering process which may cause the animals distress
22 if they are not well carried out?
23 A. I would say the handling, the fact that they are not
24 familiar with the environment, I would say those are the
25 stressful, the key areas.
26
27 Q. Is noise sometimes a problem?
28 A. Yes, that is correct. Noise will scare. Anything that
29 is unusual to them will definitely scare them.
30
31 Q. If they are kept overnight -- they arrive maybe the day
32 before they are due to be slaughtered -- is it important
33 that they have proper shelter?
34 A. Yes, it is important, and if we go back to all of the
35 factors that I mentioned before, they apply during the
36 slaughter process ---
37
38 Q. Just as much as they do at other times?
39 A. -- that is correct, so that they have to be -- have to
40 have their food, diet, the right environment and as less
41 stress as possible.
42
43 Q. In your experience -- we are going to look at this in a bit
44 more detail when we get that plan back -- in a well run
45 slaughterhouse, apart from the injury deliberately
46 inflicted by the captive bolt pistol and the subsequent
47 process, what risk of injury does a cow or steer face from
48 a properly run slaughterhouse?
49 A. Small. If it is properly done, the risk of injuries is
50 very small and the data will prove that. If you go through
51 all the injuries or the animals that are injured, obviously
52 any part of that, was the leg or any, the meat will be
53 condemned, will not be used. So, you can go back and find
54 our records and it will be very small.
55
56 Q. Injury, obviously, causes damage to -- can cause damage --
57 the muscle, to the meat. I understand that.
58 A. That is correct.
59
60 Q. Is there any respect in which stress can cause a change in
