Day 114 - 04 Apr 95 - Page 62


     
     1
     2   Q.   Well, there are all sorts of different ways in which vets
     3        are responsible for the welfare of animals.  One may be
     4        pharmaceutical treatment for infectious disease and another
     5        might be the treatment of abscesses, bruises, broken limbs,
     6        matters of that kind, might it not?  Another is child
     7        birth, is not?
     8        A.  You need raidologists as well.  You would need people
     9        who are specialists in cancer treatment.  You need people
    10        who are skilled in endocrinology.  You would need people
    11        who are skilled in infectious diseases.  You would also
    12        need people who were, perhaps, better trained for certain
    13        species of animals than others.
    14
    15   Q.   I was going to ask you that.  Can I start with this
    16        proposition and see whether you agree with it. Even on what
    17        one might call an ordinary qualification in veterinary
    18        science is a highly specialised and difficult thing to
    19        achieve, is it not?
    20        A.  Yes.
    21
    22   Q.   Then I suppose, this is what I was going to suggest next,
    23        there are vets, perhaps many vets, who specialise in
    24        particular kinds of animals?
    25        A.  Yes.
    26
    27   Q.   Their knowledge is likely to outstrip that of even a
    28        well-educated layman, is it not?
    29        A.  Yes.  Most of them would obviously make it available to
    30        colleagues who they thought had an interest and possibly.
    31        Some laymen would have more knowledge because of those
    32        laymen have taken an interest in a particular species.
    33        People who look after dogs, for instance, very often have
    34        more intimate knowledge of dogs than some vets.
    35
    36   Q.   That is the next thing.  You are constantly ahead of me but
    37        that does not matter.  There is really another layer on top
    38        of theoretical veterinary or scientific knowledge in these
    39        fields, such is as possessed by Dr. Gregory who is not a
    40        veterinary or Dr. Pattison of Sun Valley who is, but there
    41        is also practical experience, experience in the field
    42        literally, is there not?
    43        A.  Yes.
    44
    45   Q.   Day-to-day management of animals under one's care?
    46        A.  You asked me about science.  Science depends a great
    47        deal on both the practical man who might be a farmer as
    48        well the theoretical man, the man in the lab who is looking
    49        at bacteria, if you like take bacteria and viruses, so the
    50        two have to combine; they have to communicate.  One cannot 
    51        really get on without the other. 
    52 
    53   Q.   What I am driving at, and you probably already anticipate
    54        it, Dr. Long, is this.  As I have understood your evidence,
    55        and this is in not a criticism of you at all, I hope it is
    56        a piece of history, you are not qualified by reason either
    57        of scientific qualification or of practical experience to
    58        give evidence about the day-to-day management of animals on
    59        intensive farms, are you?
    60        A.  I am not sure what qualifications you are talking

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