Restaurant Giant DineEquity Announces Progress in Eliminating Controversial Pig Cages
DineEquity, Inc., owner of restaurant icons IHOP restaurants and Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar, announced it will request its pork suppliers to produce annual reports regarding their progress toward providing pork produced without the use of gestation crates. These cages, which are used to confine breeding pigs, are so restrictive, the animals cannot even turn around.
The Humane Society of the United States applauded the announcement, which follows the company’s 2013 commitment to eliminate the controversial cages from its supply chain.
DineEquity states on its website:
“Since making that pledge [eliminating gestation crates by the year 2020], we have continued to survey our suppliers and communicate our desire that they be gestation-crate free by the end of this decade…As a next step, in 2014, we will ask our suppliers for annual progress reports on their efforts to comply with our plan so that we may evaluate where each supplier is with regard to reaching our goal.”
DineEquity is one of more than 60 food companies that have mandated an end to gestation crates in their supply chains.
Josh Balk, director of food policy for The HSUS said: “We view the statement by DineEquity as another strong message to the pork industry that the practice of confining breeding animals to the point that they are unable to turn around has no place in food supply.”
About The HSUS
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest animal protection organization, rated most effective by our peers. For 60 years, we have celebrated the protection of all animals and confronted all forms of cruelty. We are the nation’s largest provider of hands-on services for animals, caring for more than 100,000 animals each year, and we prevent cruelty to millions more through our advocacy campaigns. Read more about our 60 years of transformational change for animals, and visit us online at humanesociety.org.
