Day 091 - 17 Feb 95 - Page 14
1 years, have they not?
2 A. As long as chickens have been alive there have been
3 problems.
4
5 Q. But, in particular, the kind of problems that you get in
6 the broiler industry have become a particular problem in
7 the last 20 or so years?
8 A. They have been around for 20 years.
9
10 Q. Why is it that this investigation has not been done 20
11 years ago?
12 A. You could say that there is never a right or a wrong
13 time to start an investigation. I think it is good that it
14 has started now. I cannot answer the fact why it was not
15 started five years ago. I think it is a question of the
16 industry needing to get together to define and measure the
17 problem in the hope that leg deformities can be reduced.
18
19 Q. It is something that welfarists have been bringing up for
20 10 years or more now?
21 A. I am sure it has been a great concern to everybody.
22
23 Q. You would recognise it has been raised as a welfare issue
24 for 10 years or more?
25 A. As a veterinarian involved in the industry, I am as
26 concerned as you are that if animals are suffering from
27 disease or any sort of abnormality like that, it is my duty
28 to do something about it. So, the fact is that that is
29 part of my day-to-day work to try and improve things.
30
31 Q. But when did you start looking at it then?
32 A. I have been aware of different types of leg
33 abnormalities ever since I have been in the industry. As
34 I said to you, tibial dyschondroplasia was one of the most
35 prevalent abnormalities 15 years ago. When I worked for
36 the Ross Breeding Company (which is now over 12 years ago)
37 we actually initiated the programme of X-ray examination of
38 pedigree stock to eliminate this genetic disorder and
39 because genetics takes you a long time, it is only now that
40 the real benefits of that are starting to be seen.
41
42 Q. It has only been since the Farm Animal Welfare Council
43 Report that this survey has been undertaken of flocks up
44 and down the country?
45 A. They asked that the industry carry out this survey.
46 The industry have agreed to carry out this survey with no
47 financial help whatsoever. So, that is one of the good
48 things about Farm Animal Welfare Council, that it can
49 prompt that kind of investigation. I would regard that as
50 one of its duties.
51
52 Q. Right, but the industry did not think to do it of its own
53 initiative 20 years ago?
54 A. I think people within different companies were working
55 variously on the problem. The idea to get to together and
56 do a national survey was as a result of the Farm Animal
57 Welfare Council Report.
58
59 Q. Have you still got the FAWC Report? We were going through
60 the leg diseases at the back of the report on page 39.
