Animal rights activists are going after DineEquity Inc., the Glendale parent of the IHOP and Applebee's restaurant chains. They want the restaurant company to start buying eggs from suppliers that they believe treat chickens in a more humane fashion.
The Humane Society of the United States is circulating a video of what it describes as inhumane conditions at a Le Sueur, Minn., facility owned by Michael Foods Inc., one of IHOP's egg suppliers.
The video shows decomposing dead hens in cages with live hens, sick and injured chickens, and both living and dead hens stuck between cage wires.
It's part of the Humane Society's efforts to steer restaurants away from serving eggs produced in "battery cages," which are pens shared by several birds, each of which gets living space about the size of a piece of paper.
In a referendum in November, California voters outlawed battery cages. The law does not take effect until 2015. Michigan adopted a similar law Monday.
DineEquity says it has no plans to change its egg suppliers now, and it also said it was not clear that keeping hens in battery cages was any worse than other ways of producing eggs.
"Mortality is going to be part of the process," said Patrick Lenow, DineEquity's spokesman.
He said the restaurant company investigated production at Michael Foods and came away confident that the video "was not representative" of conditions at the supplier.
Michael Foods said the video "is not an accurate depiction of the laying facilities." The company confirmed the video was shot at its plant but said some scenes "were staged for effect." Michael Foods said it "does not contend that it is perfect or that its employees never make mistakes." But the company said the video was designed to promote vegetarian eating and was "unbalanced."
IHOP's corporate policy states that "we are against the cruel treatment of animals used in the production of food for our restaurants."
By not moving to offer cage-free eggs, the chain is ignoring its policy, said Paul Shapiro, spokesman for the Humane Society.
"Not only are the hens abused in ways that are egregious, but the company is also misleading consumers about that abuse. These birds are confined in cages so small, they can't even spread their wings. IHOP can and should do better," Shapiro said.
