Day 113 - 03 Apr 95 - Page 49
1 Q. Is there anything that we have missed out up to the point
2 of stunning that you wanted to add?
3 A. I think you have covered most of the points from the
4 welfare side and probably the hygiene as well.
5
6 Q. Can you describe what your concerns are, from a welfare
7 point of view, of the killing procedure that is standard in
8 the abattoirs that you have seen?
9 A. Generally speaking, the use of the captive bolt (and
10 I think you have had that explained, I should think, ad
11 nauseam so I will not go over all that again), I would be
12 concerned that the instrument is an approved sort, is
13 powerful enough for cattle, if we are slaughtering cattle,
14 rather than, say, sheep.
15
16 Q. When you go through this, just say things which you have
17 seen that you believe are standard or are of significant
18 prevalence that worry you as regards welfare; not just are
19 they, but the ones that you have seen, have they been badly
20 used or have they been not sufficient or whatever.
21 A. That is a thing or an omission, precautions, that
22 I have observed. There should always be (and sometimes is
23 not) a backup pistol because in frequent use the captive
24 bolt pistol gets very hot if it is of that sort, a certain
25 sort and, therefore, if that system is going to be used you
26 need a backup.
27
28 I have seen captive bolt pistols which are the right sort
29 but get gunged up with a lot of muck in them, so that
30 actually the bolt is not coming out at the required
31 velocity. You probably know from what Neville Gregory's
32 work at Bristol has shown is that it is very important the
33 bolt should come out at a determined -- beyond a maximum
34 speed. It is very difficult to measure that on site. But
35 what you can make sure of is that the gun has not been used
36 on too many animals and is regularly cleaned.
37
38 Now, this is an operation -----
39
40 Q. Does that happen?
41 A. Yes, I have looked at that myself.
42
43 Q. Sorry, what happens? Is it regularly that it is not
44 properly cleaned or is it occasional or what?
45 A. I would say it is occasional, but, of course, we are
46 talking about a large number of animals and it does give
47 one concern, even if it is one animal that is not properly
48 stunned. One has to say that I have seen occasions where
49 up to five shots had to be put into an animal before it was
50 felled.
51
52 So one has to look at the number of shots that are used to
53 fell an animal. To do that, I would look at the number of
54 animals that have gone through and the number of cartridges
55 that are being used. If it does not tally, if there are
56 more cartridges used than the number of animals, I would
57 know then that more than one shot had been used. That
58 would give me concern. That is the sort of thing that does
59 give me concern. That is the sort of thing I would like
60 for.
