Day 115 - 06 Apr 95 - Page 32

     
     1        the pigs.  The only way I can comment on it properly is to
     2        say that I have made the effort to go there and then I
     3        could assess it.
     4
     5        I mean, in some places I have been with someone wanting to
     6        do a radio programme and the noise has been so great that
     7        it has overwhelmed the recorder.  It could not get it on
     8        the tape machine.  Now, we know (and I think it has been
     9        admitted several times in this and I think Neville Gregory
    10        also accepted that) that these animals are sensitive to
    11        noise and commotion.
    12
    13   Q.   Yes.  In that Farm Animal Welfare Council, paragraph 73,
    14        which I quoted before, it talks about the stress in the
    15        stunning box and says:  "In our view such handling
    16        arrangements prior to stunning" of being in that stunning
    17        box "often create a high level of stress, even terror, to
    18        the animals".  You agreed with that?
    19        A.  I do.
    20
    Q.   So the comments about lifting the prohibition at the end of
    22        that section in the Farm Animal Welfare Council, paragraph
    23        80, should that or should that not be seen in the context
    24        of rest of that section on the comment on the -----
    25
    26   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think you are giving a bit of evidence
    27        yourself now.  I have read through it quickly.
    28
    29   THE WITNESS:  If I could give you an example of a typical case?
    30        If the animal is in the stunning box, it is a metal box
    31        with a lot of noise, and a gate comes down behind it.  Now,
    32        often that startles the animal, it backs into it and makes
    33        a lot more noise.  There is an animal just behind waiting
    34        to come in and that startles the next animal.  Now,
    35        technically the one behind cannot actually see the one in
    36        front, but it is still being frightened by the noise and
    37        the commotion that is caused by what is going on with the
    38        one in front.
    39
    40   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  My last question is, just to clarify your
         expertise on the effect of antibiotics and hormones on the
    42        human body:  Can you just elaborate on your professional
    43        background, research and expertise, to give opinion on
    44        that?
    45        A.  I had the responsibility of preparing material for
    46        various registration bodies, finally, the FDA, USA, who are
    47        probably the strictest.  That related, obviously, to the
    48        biological effect of new compounds, to their metabolism, to
    49        the effect of their biochemistry, their excretion and also
    50        latterly more and more to the effects of the distribution 
    51        through the environment, not only of those compounds, but 
    52        also of their metabolites.  So, I had to use my 
    53        professional, expert knowledge to try to deal with those
    54        matters and, obviously, to anticipate objections that
    55        registration bodies who had different views in different
    56        countries would take to all of this.
    57
    58   Q.   Sorry, was this part of your professional position as a
    59        research director at Glaxco?
    60        A.  I was not actually given that style.  I was head of --