Day 020 - 28 Jul 94 - Page 71
1 bleeding rail they had to be reshot.
A. Yes.
2
Q. You said you did not see either of the two pigs resume
3 breathing before the shock was applied, but were you
actually close enough to see that?
4 A. Yes, definitely. I was splashed by the blood once
they landed in the trough.
5
Q. You go on to say you only felt able to say you thought
6 neither of the pigs did regain consciousness. You are not
100 per cent certain about that?
7 A. That is correct.
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Precisely what stage did they fall off? Had
they been stuck at all?
9 A. These two pigs in question had not been stuck.
10 MR. MORRIS: Just to quickly go through some general things:
In your conclusions on your report you said: "The rearing
11 system used for chickens by the McDonald's Restaurants
Limited supplier is no more cruel than that used by its
12 competitors in the United Kingdom". So you feel, do you
not, there are various degrees of cruelty involved in, for
13 example, the chicken industry?
14 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, that is a bit like asking when
Mr. Gregory stopped beating his wife, because what he is
15 commenting on is the defendants' allegations. It cannot
be thought that cruelty was a good word.
16 A. You have taken the words out of my mouth.
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is that right?
A. Yes. As I explained before, I am not prone to using
18 the words "cruel" or "cruelty" in a professional
capacity. I was there considering the allegations,
19 because the heading in this part, part 7, "Conclusions
with regard to the allegations".
20
MR. MORRIS: I will not go into detail, but when you mentioned
21 the conditions relevant to welfare -- we went through them
over the last three days -- virtually all the ones that
22 were relevant to the welfare of the animals, were they not
also relevant to, for example, the quality of the meat?
23 For example, what I am saying is, as you went through over
the last three days, did it strike you that the conditions
24 that may have produced less bad conditions for the animals
were also good from a hygiene or quality point of view or
25 management point of view?
A. Since this is a general question, can I answer it in a
26 general way? In general, there are some relationships
between the welfare of animals prior to and during
27 slaughter and the quality of the meat that is produced,
yes, there are. Many of those relationships are such that
28 very poor welfare results in poor quality meat.
29 Q. Can you think ---?
A. So it is to the advantage in quite a few instances to
30 avoid poor welfare.
