Day 052 - 21 Nov 94 - Page 19


     
     1        slaughter, day by day, of animals born and bred solely to
     2        be turned into McDonald's products".  At least two mentions
     3        of McDonald's there, of course.  "Some of them - especially
     4        chickens and pigs - spend their lives in the entirely
     5        artificial conditions of huge factory farms, with no access
     6        to air or sunshine and no freedom of movement.  Their
     7        deaths are bloody and barbaric.
     8
     9        Murdering a Big Mac.  In the slaughterhouse, animals often
    10        struggle to escape.  Cattle become frantic as they watch
    11        the animal before them in the killing-line being prodded,
    12        beaten, electrocuted, and knifed.
    13
    14        A recent British government report criticised inefficient
    15        stunning methods which frequently result in animals having
    16        their throats cut while still fully conscious.  McDonald's
    17        are responsible for the deaths of countless animals by this
    18        supposedly humane method."
    19
    20        My Lord, there cannot be any argument, we would submit,
    21        about application of those allegations to the animals which
    22        are killed to provide McDonald's products.  That being so
    23        we what we invite your Lordship to allow us to do is to
    24        focus our complaint on those areas within that passage
    25        I have just read which are constituted by statements of
    26        fact.
    27
    28        Your Lordship will recall that in opening this case I said
    29        (and I have said it since) that the question of whether or
    30        not the keeping and slaughter of animals for food is a good
    31        or bad thing, and whether it may properly be described as
    32        murder by somebody who holds strong views about the
    33        subject, is a entirely a matter of opinion.
    34
    35        I do not include in that the expression "McTorture" for
    36        this reason, that the word "torture" may be thought by your
    37        Lordship at the end of all this to carry an implication
    38        (which is an implication of fact) about the state of mind
    39        of the person who does the acts which are said to be bloody
    40        and barbaric and inhumane.
    41
    42        It is for that reason, my Lord, that the proposed amendment
    43        to 4L contains the words to the effect that McDonald's are
    44        utterly indifferent to the welfare of the animals which are
    45        used to produce their food.  That being an assertion of
    46        fact, if we are right, about McDonald's state of mind in
    47        relation to animals.
    48
    49        My Lord, I do not believe I need say anything about the
    50        leaflet.  It may be that I will not have anything much more 
    51        to say about what I call the "animals" paragraph.  I do, 
    52        however, wish, if I may, to expand on the submission which 
    53        I take to be the important submission on this application,
    54        that the amendment to neither paragraph but, in particular,
    55        paragraph 4F will cause the Defendants any injustice or
    56        prejudice.
    57
    58        I add to that by saying this, that on the materials before
    59        your Lordship, it would be our submission that the
    60        Defendants' assertion they are prejudiced by these proposed

Prev Next Index