Activists hit restaurants on egg sources

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- An animal rights group says it is urging the parent company of two U.S. restaurant chains to buy eggs from suppliers that treat chickens humanely.

The Humane Society of the United States, based in Washington, released a video it says depicts inhumane treatment of chickens at a facility in Le Sueur, Minn., that supplies eggs to IHOP Corp., the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. The video shows decomposing bodies of dead hens in cages with live hens, along with sick and injured chickens and chickens -- both living and dead -- stuck between cage wires, the newspaper said.

DineEquity Inc., based in Glendale, Calif., is the parent company of IHOP and Applebee's IP LLC.

The Minnesota facility shown in the video is owned by Michael Foods Inc., which issued a statement saying the images in the video are "not an accurate depiction of the laying facilities" and charging the video was "unbalanced" and was intended to promote vegetarianism, the Times reported.

DineEquity said it has no plans to change suppliers. The company said it has investigated the Minnesota facility and determined the video "was not representative" of conditions there.

Human Society spokesman Paul Shapiro told the newspaper IHOP is violating its corporate policy "against the cruel treatment of animals used in the production of food for our restaurants" by not taking steps to offer consumers cage-free eggs.