Day 020 - 28 Jul 94 - Page 51
1 A. Yes.
2 MR. MORRIS: Do you know what the power of the cartridges were?
A. For the case in abattoir A, they were using three
3 grain cartridges.
4 Q. For B, plant B?
A. Three grain cartridges.
5
Q. Yes, sorry, that is in your statement. Could you just say
6 what the speed was for plant A and plant B?
A. It was not measured.
7
Q. Is that an important indicator?
8 A. It is one of the most important features of captive
bolt guns is the velocity of the bolt as it strikes the
9 cranium.
10 Q. Is there some reason why it was not measured?
A. It is not an easy thing to measure. Also it involves
11 a lot of interference in order to actually measure it.
There are two ways: You can either measure it as the bolt
12 is being applied to the animal. For that you need to put
a collar around the end of the gun, you have to make some
13 sort of marking system on the bolt, use of a
photo-electric beam to reflect light off the bolt as it
14 actually enters the head of the animal, and then log that
on an analogue system to calculate what the bolt velocity
15 is. That is quite an involved procedure.
16 Another system would be to fire the gun in air and do a
similar sort of measurement. They are fairly involved
17 procedures which you have to have a lot of preparation for
-- but it is done.
18
Q. Do you happen to know if the pistols themselves as opposed
19 to the cartridges were well maintained?
A. No, I did not inspect the guns closely.
20
Q. You said that half of the -----
21 A. The reason for that is they were in use actually; it
would be an interference.
22
Q. Can the fact if they are not well cleaned make a
23 difference in terms of velocity, for example?
A. Yes.
24
Q. Of the 10 animals which you studied after stunning, five,
25 i.e. 50 per cent, were more than two centimetres out from
the ideal position, yes?
26 A. Of the 10 skulls examined, yes.
27 Q. You concluded that the accuracy of the shooting was not
particularly good?
28 A. Yes.
29 Q. "Abattoir A had stopped using pithing" ---
A. Yes.
30
Q. -- "two or three months prior to my visit." I am
