Day 080 - 30 Jan 95 - Page 38

     
     1        A.  It is a matter of both, is it not, but we did not bring
     2        it in.  It is something that has happened in the abattoir
     3        industry.
     4
     5   Q.   It was not something that you have asked the abattoirs to
     6        take up?
     7        A.  No.
     8
     9   Q.   The tepid spray that has been brought in, when did that
    10        first start being used?
    11        A.  Well, tepid sprays on pigs have been used for a long
    12        time.  I remember tepid sprays being used on pigs in 1962.
    13        But damping down cattle, that is a fairly new thing but it
    14        has been going for a long, long time with pigs.
    15
    16   Q.   The primary reason for that would be to cut down the risk
    17        of contamination?
    18        A.  Yes, stopping the dust flying everywhere.
    19
    20   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Are lairages normally on earth or grass or
         hardstanding of some kind?
    22        A.  Hardstanding concrete, sir.
    23
    24   MS. STEEL:  You said that you had seen animals watching other
    25        animals being slaughtered and they did not show any signs
    26        of stress.  Have you ever seen that in the UK?
    27
    28   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Forget the horses because that is one animal
    29        I am not concerned with in this case.
    30        A.  Have I ever seen in the UK?  Well, of course, I have
    31        seen it with pigs, pigs in a pen being stunned with tongs.
    32        I have never seen cattle together in a pen being shot in
    33        the UK.
    34
    35   MS. STEEL:   Where did you see it in Australia?
    36        A.  New South Wales.
    37
    38   Q.   How long ago was that?
    39        A.  1958.
    40
    Q.   So, is it something that is outlawed in Australia as well?
    42        A.  I do not know.  I mean, when I quoted that, it was
    43        historical.  I do not know what the current laws are in
    44        Australia.  I am sure they have changed too.
    45
    46   Q.   You cited an incident where you had to visit one abattoir
    47        five times in 12 months.  What was that for?
    48        A.  Irregularities in the boning room.
    49
    50   Q.   For what? 
    51        A.  Things going wrong in the boning room. 
    52 
    53   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  What sort of things, can you remember?
    54        A.  Inspectors coming back and reporting bad practice in
    55        the boning room; Coca Cola bottle in the boning room; a
    56        knife stuck into the dado walling in the boning room;
    57        sterilizers not working to a high enough temperature and,
    58        when I went eventually and closed them down, the state of
    59        the cloakroom and the changing room and the overalls.
    60