Day 115 - 06 Apr 95 - Page 25
1 MR. RAMPTON: Thank you. So far as the pig is concerned?
2 A. Yes.
3
4 Q. You noticed, did you, that as Mr. Bowes was giving evidence
5 it was his belief that one of his stockmen who had done 28
6 years with the company was being sacked for kicking a pig?
7 Did you notice that?
8 A. I noticed it, yes.
9
10 Q. Does that or does that not suggest to you an attitude
11 towards the welfare of the animals which has little, if
12 anything, to do with commercial interest but everything to
13 do with animal welfare?
14 A. I really -- it does sound like that, but really, you
15 know, how can I judge on such evidence? I would much
16 rather see the thing on site. I have seen so many people
17 kick pigs and get away with it and whether the man was
18 victimized for some other reason, really, how can I make a
19 judgment on that? It would be quite unfair to the man,
20 quite apart from the pig.
21
22 Q. I will move on to something else. Did you notice that, in
23 fact, at Bowes, contrary to what you were telling was the
24 generality -- I know you have not been to Bowes -- in fact,
25 his sows environment/index.html">litter on average seven times and grow to be three
26 to four years of age?
27 A. Yes. In other words, they go another year. You get
28 about 2.2 litters at that sort of production, 2.2 litters
29 statistically in a year.
30
31 Q. Exactly. You would have it both ways, well, that is not
32 fair because it imposes an extra strain and exhaustion on
33 them; equally, if they were killed any earlier, that would
34 be unfair too, would it not?
35 A. Well, the whole thing is objectionable in my terms, but
36 these animals are weary, miserable mothers by the time they
37 have had all these litters and the same goes with culled
38 cows.
39
40 Q. Finally, I think this ----
41 A. Could I just say, I am sorry to interrupt you, my
42 generalisation, yes, it was a generalisation, and I think
43 it stands up. You have singled out a specific case so
44 I just want to make that clear.
45
46 Q. Finally this on pigs, Dr. Long: You mentioned the danger
47 which the slurry constitutes for the environment, you
48 mention the escapes into water ways, do you remember that?
49 A. Yes.
50
51 Q. What recent cases do you know of where that has actually
52 happened and where did it happen?
53 A. The last case I remember was actually part of a
54 television programme I think about two years ago. I am not
55 quite sure where it was. One does get reports from Water
56 Authorities which are reported in the farming press and so
57 on. The danger is not quite that you get a direct leakage
58 into the water system, but in order to get rid of the
59 slurry it has to be sprayed on the land, not necessarily at
60 the time that is for best agriculture practice, and then
