How Two Bitter Adversaries Hatched A Plan To Change The Egg Business

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.

Humane Society footage of treatment of chickens escalates food-sector battle. The Humane Society of the United States has released undercover video footage shot at two of the nation's largest egg farms showing workers slamming chickens into metal bins and dead birds littering cages -- the latest salvo in an escalating war between the food sector and the country's leading animal-rights organizations.

The egg industry and the Humane Society of the United States support a bill to require egg-laying hens to be raised in bigger cages, but a new organization backed by the pork industry and others is urging Congress to kill the egg bill.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

The president of the Humane Society of the United States said Tuesday that he's seeking a spot on Tyson Foods Inc.'s board of directors in an attempt to convince one of the world's largest meat companies to move away from cramped cages for pregnant pigs.

The Humane Society is accusing the Pork Producers Council of financing its lobbying efforts through a questionable sale of the slogan,"The Other White Meat." The lawsuit shines a spotlight on the odd and controversial world of agriculture "checkoff" programs.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

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.

For the first time since a massive recall of eggs due to salmonella risks, members of the family farming business at the center of the outbreak will publicly answer questions. The venue is a House hearing that starts at noon.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

There is almost a century's worth of natural gas in shale rock formations all over the county, enough to make a significant change in the debate about America's energy future. But as Congress moves toward writing a new national energy policy, natural gas lobbyists have been mostly missing in action.» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us