Egg-farm video is latest salvo in Humane Society's animal-rights campaign

CALGARY — Animal rights activists consider it among the most horrific practices inflicted on animals raised for food. But for Rick Bergman, who has been raising hogs for three decades and is vice chair of the Canadian Pork Council, using gestation crates are simply the most humane and efficient way to breed a sow. Those who think otherwise, he said Thursday, don’t spend much time around the animals they’re trying to defend.

Turns out the faux fur on fashion designer Marc Jacobs' clothing may not actually be so "faux" after all.

MONTMORENCI, Ind. (AP) -- As more states move to ban restrictive livestock cages, the campaign to free egg-laying hens from cramped cages and shift them to pens animal rights advocates call more humane could be poised to unintentionally boost deaths among those birds....

The Humane Society of the United States' pursuit of DineEquity is part of its effort to steer restaurants away from serving eggs produced in 'battery cages,' pens that give chickens limited space. Animal rights activists are going after DineEquity Inc. the Glendale-based parent of the IHOP and Applebee's restaurant chains.

Undercover animal rights activists exposed shocking cruelty to chickens at McDonald's egg supplier, prompting the fast food giant to cut ties to the US firm after the video was released Friday."Unfortunately, much of the abuse we documented is not only standard, it's legal," said Nathan Runkle, director of Mercy for Animals.There are no federal laws governing the treatment of poultry on US farms and most states have sweeping exemptions for farmed animals which allow for abuses to run rampant without prosecution, Runkle said.

The president of the Humane Society of the United States and the president of the United Egg Producers are an unlikely duo to lobby Congress to approve new rules for egg farmers. But they agree on the need for a law that would allow farmers to keep their chickens in more spacious cages.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

McDonald's and Target dropped one of the nation's largest egg suppliers after an animal rights group released an undercover video at the egg producer's farm in three states.McDonald's Corp. said Friday ...

McDonald's and Target dropped one of the nation's largest egg suppliers after an animal rights group released an undercover video of the egg producer's farms in three states.McDonald's Corp. said Friday ...