Day 018 - 26 Jul 94 - Page 38
1 A. Thereabouts. There would be a sliding gate.
2 Q. Stop there. Give us your answer to this question: When
the five pigs, or whatever it was, were waiting in that
3 thing, pen, you have just described, did you observe any
signs of distress or anxiety or fear in those pigs?
4 A. No, no overt signs.
5 Q. No overt signs. What are the overt signs of anxiety in a
pig?
6 A. They would be what could be interpreted as escape
behaviour; the pigs would be moving rapidly around each
7 other; they might be looking for an escape avenue out of,
for instance, the confined pen. They would be oblivious
8 of the other pigs. They would be pushing the other pigs
out of the way in order to fulfil their escape behaviour.
9
Q. This was not happening?
10 A. No, it was not.
11 Q. Were the pigs paying attention to each other?
A. They were paying more attention to what was on the
12 floor, being a novel floor environment for them, than
anything else.
13
Q. Are they creatures with a sense of curiosity, pigs, so far
14 as one can tell?
A. Yes, I believe they are.
15
Q. Do pigs squeal when they are frightened or only when they
16 are excited?
A. Both.
17
Q. Was there any large amount of squealing at this juncture?
18 A. No, it was unusual in comparison to other abattoirs in
that respect.
19
Q. Unusual?
20 A. Unusual, yes.
21 Q. What do you perceive to be the reasons for that
difference?
22 A. Right from the word "go", when the pigs were taken out
of the lairage, they were not stressed. If you start
23 stressing a pig, even early on, that stress remains with
the pig all the way up to the time of stunning. So it is
24 considerate handling throughout the whole procedure which
made that successful in that particular respect.
25
Q. I see. Take us into the stunning pen, please,
26 Dr. Gregory. How many men are inside the stunning pen?
A. Two.
27
Q. What functions do they perform?
28 A. One is there to stun the pigs with the tongs; the
other is to shackle the hind leg with a chain and suspend
29 the shackle, the chain -- sorry -- to a hoist which
conveys the pig out of the stunning pen to the bleeding
30 area.
