Day 114 - 04 Apr 95 - Page 53
1 keep you on what I consider to be the proper road.
2
3 MR. MORRIS: Dr. Long wants to comment. If you can get the
4 material out that you have -- let us see what it is -- that
5 you wanted to comment on. I believe you had the list, the
6 forms, that were filled in from around the world. There
7 were some specific things there you wanted to comment on
8 that were practices that did not happen in this country?
9 A. I was shown various -----
10
11 Q. Can you get them out?
12 A. Yes, they are here. I was shown this information
13 and, in my scientific way, I looked at them to see if they
14 were indications of good practice and what I thought. One
15 thing that struck me was there was quite a number of
16 inconsistencies. For instance, generally speaking, one
17 would expect a good practice that the answers to most of
18 those questions would be "yes". But, if you look at the
19 reports for Costa Rica, a number of the practices seem to
20 be recognised with a "no". In the stunning practice -- you
21 referred to this before -- apparently that was done with a
22 .22 rifle.
23
24 Q. Is there any concern you have about that?
25 A. Yes, it would not be acceptable in this country.
26
27 Q. Because?
28 A. Because it would infringe the rules on slaughter of
29 animals, slaughter of farm animals.
30
31 Q. Yes, but would it cause the animals any particular
32 suffering or pain?
33 A. Because it is not very accurate, it is regarded as
34 unacceptable because you might miss or might put the bullet
35 in the wrong place. Then, if you look at this document,
36 the question of the flooring used, whether it should be
37 acceptable. The answers are "no" for beef and pigs.
38 "Gates, fences, chutes and cages have smooth surfaces to
39 prevent bruises" the answers are "no".
40
41 "Noise level prior to slaughter control to reduce stress
42 to animals?" the answers again are "no". "Are animals
43 protected from the cold or hot environment prior to
44 slaughter?" again the answers are no.
45
46 I have been asked today many questions on these matters and
47 these, obviously, concern me in the light of what we have
48 heard. "Is sufficient space provided to load and unload
49 animals from trucks?", the answers are "no" for beef, pig
50 and chicken.
51
52 In the case of Finland, a Scandinavian country, which
53 adopts stunning by carbon dioxide to pigs, the evidence
54 that I have seen on that is that carbon dioxide is an
55 irritant gas for poultry and for pigs, and that that method
56 should not be used in this country, for example, for that
57 reason.
58
59 In the case of Guatemala, a number of the boxes have been
60 left vacant for beef, so that one has no idea what to say
