Day 096 - 03 Mar 95 - Page 26
1 Q. This farm that you saw, is it supplying McDonald's?
2 A. I have not got a clue.
3
4 Q. They said to you it was the best, it seemed to be the best
5 possible -- the standard that they had reached there was
6 the best standard in America, as far as you could see, or
7 you were told?
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: He cannot possibly say that.
10
11 MR. MORRIS: No, he did say -----
12
13 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am going to ignore all the hearsay when we
14 come to the end of the case. If he has not seen the other
15 plants, by all means -- it is fair to assume that whatever
16 he saw was better than what was there before because,
17 presumably, that is why they put in a new plant. But I do
18 not seem to be getting very far on what was there before.
19
20 MR. MORRIS (To the witness): Can I ask you one question about a
21 farrowing crate? Would it be practicable to double the
22 width or treble the width of a farrowing crate so the pig
23 could turn round?
24 A. Of course, it could, but that would be totally to the
25 detriment of the small pigs that are born. You would lose
26 more pigs, quite definitely. We can give you a straight
27 comparison.
28
29 Q. So the whole purpose of the farrowing crate -----
30
31 MR. RAMPTON: Wait a minute, "a straight comparison" -- might he
32 allowed finish his answer.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, finish the answer.
35
36 THE WITNESS: I can give you a simple, straight comparison of
37 pigs in the farrowing crates in our intensive system is we
38 get many more saviour of pigs than we do the pigs in an
39 outdoor arks on the outdoor system where the sow is left to
40 make a nest, if you like, and then you got the space that
41 you are speaking of and the sow will, undoubtedly, lie on
42 more pigs then.
43
44 MR. MORRIS: So the whole purpose of a farrowing crate is to
45 prevent the pig from turning round?
46 A. No, no, no. The purpose of the farrowing crate is for
47 the benefit of the new born piglet.
48
49 Q. By preventing the ---
50 A. Save the new born piglet.
51
52 Q. -- by preventing the -----
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, because something is so you have gone to
55 concluding that it is its purpose. The purpose is, as
56 I understand it, that you not have such a wide space at the
57 bottom that the piglets can end up under their mother.
58 That is why you have a relatively narrow farrowing crate?
59 A. Yes, but also the sow, sir, as I explained, they
60 gradually go out but the bottom part is adjustable. That
