Day 003 - 30 Jun 94 - Page 17


     
     1        responsible for torture and murder?"  This appears, as you
              shortly see, to be a reference to the slaughter of
     2        animals.  Skip the first two paragraphs, please:
              "Murdering a Big Mac.  In the slaughterhouse, animals
     3        often struggle to escape."  Do you know of any evidence on
              that score?
     4        A.  No.
 
     5   Q.   "Cattle become frantic as they watch the animal before
              them in the killing-line being prodded, beaten,
     6        electrocuted, and knifed."  So far as you are aware, is
              that true or false?
     7        A.  It is false.
 
     8   Q.   "A recent British government report criticised inefficient
              stunning methods", I am not asking you about what the
     9        British government report said, I am asking you about
              McDonald's and their suppliers, "which frequently result
    10        in animals having their throats cut while still fully
              conscious".
    11
              Do you, Mr. Preston, as head of this organisation in whose
    12        cause large numbers of animals every year are killed and
              consumed by human beings, know of any evidence that
    13        inefficient stunning methods used in the slaughter of
              those animals means that the animals frequently have their
    14        throats cut while they are still fully conscious?
              A.  I do not.
    15
         Q.   If you did, Mr. Preston, if you had such evidence, if you
    16        had evidence that the cattle struggled to escape, that
              they became frantic, and so on and so forth, that their
    17        conditions of keeping and rearing were inhumane and cruel,
              what would you do about it?
    18        A.  If I found out that was going on, I would counsel the
              supplier.  If I found it to go on having been counselled,
    19        I would terminate the supplier -- he would never sell to
              me again.
    20
         Q.   I do not believe that this is a contested matter,
    21        Mr. Preston; do McDonald's own any chickens, pigs or cows?
              A.  We do not.
    22
         Q.   Do you own any slaughter houses?
    23        A.  No.
 
    24   Q.   Do you own any meat processing plants?
              A.  We do not.
    25
         Q.   How then do you ensure that these horrendous practices are 
    26        not going on behind your back before the meat reaches you? 
              A.  We have a purchasing department, quality assurance 
    27        department, who regularly monitor what is happening, both
              on, as I said earlier, an unannounced and announced
    28        basis.  We have veterinarians who regularly visit the
              plants randomly to determine what, in fact, is happening.
    29
              There are European community laws regarding what has to be
    30        done.  They are monitored.  Documentation is liaised
              between those veterinarian facilities and the suppliers

Prev Next Index