Day 288 - 28 Oct 96 - Page 30


     
     1        humane methods of rearing and slaughter.  I think it was
     2        day 90, page 11, line 30, that Mr. Patteson said on behalf
     3        of Sun Valley -- well, Mark Patteson, who is the group
     4        technical manager of Sun Valley Poultry, called as a
     5        witness on behalf of McDonald's, said that there were no
     6        special animal welfare requirements that McDonald's had
     7        over and above what the company requirements were for all
     8        the other customers that they had asked for information
     9        about the rearing processes but what they asked for was
    10        pretty standard.
    11
    12        I think he went to America at one point to look at the
    13        methods used for rearing poultry over there for McDonald's
    14        products.
    15
    16   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.
    17
    18   MS. STEEL:   He said something, it was connected to this, I
    19        cannot remember the exact context, but he said that the
    20        only suggestions that he had got while he was over there,
    21        or from McDonald's, the only suggestions they got were that
    22        "we should use a bird which is produced that has a good
    23        meat yield", and then he says "... and the ones that we
    24        used in the UK for Ross and Cobb are recognised world, as
    25        being the most efficient bird in that respect".  And he
    26        said, "So they were already doing what was suggested."
    27
    28        Clearly there the only thing that McDonald's appeared to be
    29        interested in is the meat yield and their profits.  There
    30        were no suggestions referred to of improving the type of
    31        breed to, for example, have birds that were less likely to
    32        suffer from leg problems and so on.
    33
    34        Mr. Patteson and Dr. Gregory related how the chickens
    35        reared for McDonald's products are slaughtered at a very
    36        young age, the females being slaughtered at 42 days old and
    37        the males at 52 days old.  That was contrasted with
    38        farmyard chickens who can live up to five to ten years.
    39        Clearly, the birds are being bred for rapid weight gain in
    40        a very short period of time so that they can be slaughtered
    41        at a very young age to enable more profits to be made.
    42
    43        Dr. Patteson admitted that throughout the entire lives of
    44        the chickens that were reared by Sun Valley there was never
    45        any opportunity to go outside, and that was on day 89, page
    46        15, line 50, and obviously that means that they never had
    47        any access to the open air or to sunshine, which are two of
    48        the statements made in the fact sheet which McDonald's are
    49        alleging are libelous.
    50 
    51        The chicks that are reared at the hatchery, Mr. Patteson 
    52        said that Sun Valley hatched chicks on four days of the 
    53        week in the order of 200,000 chickens a day.  He said they
    54        were hatched out in incubators and never saw the hen that
    55        laid them.  Obviously, that in itself is something that a
    56        great many people would consider to be cruel and inhumane.
    57        That was on day 89, page 23, line 36.
    58
    59        Mr. Patteson related that the eggs that do not hatch out
    60        are put through a macerator and he agreed that this could

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