Day 115 - 06 Apr 95 - Page 23
1 within sight of another, it means you must not use captive
2 bolt pistol because it may very well kill, it is designed,
3 maybe, to stun, but it is obvious that it may very well
4 kill and I have heard expressions of view that it probably
5 does in those cases, but you certainly would be taking, at
6 the very least, considerable risk of actually killing a
7 heifer if you used the captive bolt on it in the sight of
8 another heifer, would you not?
9 A. Yes, and usually the stunning pen, I mentioned, was a
10 pen like this with high sides so that the animal could not
11 be seen.
12
13 Q. I understand that. Also the captive bolt pistol makes
14 quite a noise whereas the stunning tongs do not.
15
16 MR. RAMPTON: Notwithstanding all of which, Dr. Long, it is
17 right, is it not, that in 1984 the Farm Animal Welfare
18 Council recommended for cattle as well as pigs that all
19 prohibitions on stunning animals in the presence of their
20 fellows be lifted?
21 A. They recommended that, but I am not sure that it was
22 implemented.
23
24 Q. It has not been, so far as anybody knows, but that is
25 right, is it not?
26 A. I think so, yes, without looking at that.
27
28 Q. I can tell you the reference. It is paragraph 80 on page
29 22. They recommended, however ----
30 A. This?
31
32 Q. I do not know what it looks like in its original. I have a
33 photocopy.
34 A. Paragraph 80?
35
36 Q. It is a passage in bold type in paragraph 80.
37 A. I see. "We recommend that the law be changed to make a
38 clear distinction" ----
39
40 Q. That is right.
41 A. Yes, I know about those, and it is also interesting
42 that the Scottish legislation, that was referring to some
43 extent to the deer which I mentioned. I myself when I have
44 seen slaughtering, well, first of all, I am not sure that
45 the law has been changed but when I have seen slaughtering
46 in different animals, I must say that sometimes this is an
47 advantage, according to the layout of the slaughterhouse,
48 to do pigs quickly singularly and out of sight of one
49 another, and on other occasions I have seen it where it has
50 been done, and it appears that a bit of companionship in
51 their last moments does settle the pigs a bit. I think it
52 is very empirical, and again I cannot say very much about
53 this again because my offer to go there was not taken up.
54
55 Q. Did you notice what Mr. Bowes had to say about his new
56 stunning equipment?
57 A. Was this the so-called fail-safe equipment?
58
59 Q. Yes.
60 A. Yes.
