Denny’s and the extreme cruelty against pigs
Denny’s, an American diner-style restaurant chain known for being always open, promised in 2012 to end the use of cages for pregnant mother pigs. However, instead of fulfilling this commitment, Denny’s has refused to eliminate gestation crates from its supply chain and continues to support keeping pregnant pigs in cages barely larger than their own bodies.
In June 2024, under mounting pressure from a national animal cruelty campaign, Denny’s CEO Kelli Valade told the media that the company is “committed to the highest standards of animal welfare.” However, in May 2024, during Denny’s annual meeting of stockholders, Kelli Valade and the Board of Directors rejected a shareholder proposal asking the company to phase out the use of cruel gestation crates.
Ms. Valade’s words do not align with the company’s actions. Animal welfare experts have deemed these cages exceedingly cruel, and the majority of the American public opposes this extreme confinement.
Confining a pig to a cage for an entire pregnancy is illegal or restricted in 11 U.S. states, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and Sweden. It is being phased out in Canada and Brazil.
Dozens of major companies, including restaurants, hotel chains, and grocery stores, have eliminated or are in the process of eliminating the use of gestation crates. It’s time for Denny’s to do the same.
Tell Denny’s to end the use of cages
CONTINUE TAKING ACTION BY CONTACTING DENNY’S CEO & FRANCHISE BOARD MEMBERS
Denny’s Chief Executive Officer
Board member of the Denny’s Franchise Association and Chair of its Strategic Supply Chain Committee
Board member of the Denny’s Franchise Association and on the Strategic Supply Chain Committee
Is Keke’s Breakfast Cafe allowing the same cruelty?
Keke’s Breakfast Cafe is owned by Denny’s Corp and overseen by the same CEO, Kelli Valade. With the purchase of Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, Denny’s may be trying to re-invent their image and expand to new markets, but what does this mean for the pigs suffering in cages in the company’s supply chain? Keke’s has no public animal welfare standards on its website.
Rather than disregarding calls for change in favor of business as usual, Keke’s and Denny’s leadership must take responsibility and evolve their standards for acceptable animal treatment that falls in line with the rest of society and their competitors. Keeping an animal confined in a small cage for nearly their entire life should never be acceptable.
6 million pigs are in gestation crates
In U.S. pig factory farms, most of the 6 million female pigs are confined in a gestation cage for nearly four months during their pregnancy.
After they give birth and their piglets are weaned and taken away from them, they are forced into these crates again to repeat the painful cycle.
Cruelest forms of confinement
These 7-by-2-foot crates take a large physical and mental toll on the animals. Pigs cannot walk, turn around, or even stand comfortably in these crates. Beneath them are hard floors with slats for the urine and feces to fall through before collecting in giant outdoor waste lagoons.
Professor Ian Duncan, a scholar of animal welfare at the University of Guelph, has described it as “one of the cruelest forms of confinement devised by humankind.”
Pigs can’t even turn around
Scientific research shows that living crammed in a gestation cage causes physical and psychological suffering to pigs.
This includes lameness due to weak bones and muscles, abrasion injuries, cardiovascular problems, overgrown hooves, digestive problems, and urinary tract problems.
These companies have committed to banning cages for mother pigs
Experts agree:
Mother pigs suffer in crates
Gestation crates for pigs are a real problem…
Temple Grandin
Basically, you’re asking a sow to live in an airline seat…
I think it’s something that needs to be phased out.
[T]he close confinement of sows in stalls or tethers is one of the most extreme examples of cruelty to an animal. It continues throughout much of life and is much worse than severely beating an animal or most laboratory experiments.
Donald M. Broom
Confinement of sows during pregnancy, especially in individual stalls or on tethers, can be cold, uncomfortable and injurious, and imposes severe restrictions on natural behaviour.
John Webster
Spare animals by eating plant-based
There is no easier way to help animals and prevent suffering than by choosing plant-based foods over meat, fish, eggs, and dairy.
Visit LoveVeg.com for tips and recipes.