Day 096 - 03 Mar 95 - Page 62


     
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Thank you.
     2
     3   MS. STEEL:  So five years ago more of your pigs would have been
     4        tail docked?  You said you were trying to build up a
     5        knowledge of strains?
     6        A.  Yes, but I am now talking about general of all our
     7        suppliers in that context.  Our own farms, no, I would say
     8        we have been very much in the arena we are for the last 10
     9        years.
    10
    11   Q.   What about your suppliers then, more of them would have
    12        tail docked five years ago?
    13        A.  Possibly.
    14
    15   Q.   Well, it stands to reason, does it not, that if you are
    16        building up, you are keeping a check on which strains ----
    17        A.  Yes, it is possible there were more 10 years ago.
    18
    19   Q.   Is that the same case for teeth clipping, that that is done
    20        less often now than it was five years ago?
    21        A.  No.  I would say that teeth clipping has always been
    22        very, very discretionary.  There are some people who do not
    23        teeth clip.  Their teeth do not have the problem.  It is
    24        all down to management.
    25
    26   Q.   So that is something that is down to management rather than
    27        breeds?
    28        A.  Yes, down to management that is definitely.
    29
    30   MR. MORRIS:  So is tail docking more prevalent outside of your
    31        own direct farms are you better than the average?
    32        A.  I would like to think we are.  We have not obviously
    33        done a survey on the whole of the UK, but I would reckon we
    34        would be in definitely the top 10 per cent in the country.
    35        I honestly cannot answer that.  It is very difficult to
    36        answer.
    37
    38   Q.   So the other 80 per cent of the pigs that you buy in for
    39        the slaughterhouse, they will have a higher percentage of
    40        tail docking, tails docked, than you would from your own
    41        farms?
    42        A.  Yes, that would be fair to say.
    43
    44   MS. STEEL:   No further questions.
    45
    46                     Re-examined by Mr. Rampton.
    47
    48   Q.   My Lord, my re-examination will be very short and when
    49        I have completed it there is something I wish to say to
    50        your Lordship before the Defendants say anything more. 
    51 
    52        Mr. Bowes, a very few things.  Do you remember those films 
    53        you were shown excerpts from during the course of today?
    54        A.  Yes.
    55
    56   Q.   The one with pigs in stalls, perhaps a sow in a farrow
    57        crate, the one we saw this afternoon with rotting corpses
    58        afterbirth, dead piglets, deformities, death, illnesses and
    59        stress.  Do you remember that one?
    60        A.  Yes, I do very clearly.

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