Humane Farm Animal Care

In 2024, over 400 companies represented more than 35,000 farms were Certified Humane. Producers or products can be found in the U.S., Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Turkey, Uruguay & Vietnam. We can all be advocates for farm animals by purchasing Certified Humane products and by utilizing the tools provided on our website and through our new app. To become certified by HFAC, farmers must meet HFAC Animal Care Standards and pass inspections. HFACs Animal Care Standards were developed and subject to regular review by a veritable Whos Who of national and international animal scientists and farm-animal welfare experts. Our voluntary Scientific Committee consists of, Kenneth E. Anderson, PhD North Carolina State University, USA Michael Appleby, PhD World Animal Protection, USA Richard Blatchford, PhD University of California, Davis, USA Elisabetta Canali, PhD Universit degli Studi, Milan, Italy Sylvie Cloutier, PhD Associate Director of Assessment, Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada Brenda Coe, PhD Pennsylvania State University, USA Hans Coetzee, PhD Iowa State University, USA Luiz Dematte, DVM, PhD Industrial Director of Korin Ltd, and General Coordinator of Mokiti Okada Foundation, Brazil Inma Estves, PhD Research Professor, Neiker-Tecnalia University, Spain Anne Fanatico, PhD Appalachian State University, USA Valentina Ferrante, PhD University of Milan, Italy Trent Gilbery, MS North Dakota State University, USA Alan Goldberg, PhD The Johns Hopkins University, USA Temple Grandin, PhD Colorado State University, USA Thomas G. Hartsock, PhD University of Maryland, USA Jrg Hartung, DVM Institute of Animal Hygiene, Welfare and Farm Animal Behavior University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover, Germany Brittany Howell, PhD Fort Hays State University, USA Pam Hullinger, DVM, MPVM University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA Joy Mench, PhD University of California, Davis, USA Suzanne Millman, PhD Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, USA Malcolm Mitchell, PhD SRUC, Scotlands Rural College, Scotland Priya Motupalli, PhD IKEA, Sweden Ruth Newberry, PhD Associate Professor, Norwegian University of Life Sciences; Adjunct Professor, Washington State University, USA Humane Farm Animal Care Scientific Committee January 2018 Abdullah Ozen, PhD Professor, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey Edmond Pajor, PhD University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada Jose Peralta, PhD, DVM Western University of Health Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Pomona California, USA Rosangela Poletto, DVM, PhD Professor, Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Martin Potter, PhD Animal Welfare Consultant, Member of FAWT, UK and Advising Member of EIG, UK Mohan Raj, PhD Honorary Visiting Fellow, School of Veterinary Sciences, Bristol University, Bristol, UK Jean-Loup Rault, PhD Institute of Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare at Vetmeduni, Vienna, Austria Karen Schwean-Lardner, PhD University of Saskatchewan, Canada J.K. Shearer, PhD Iowa State University, USA Marilyn M. Simunich, DVM Director, Animal Health Laboratory, Division of Animal Industries, Idaho State Dept. of Agriculture, USA Carolyn Stull, PhD Chairman, Scientific Committee University of California, Davis, USA Janice Swanson, PhD Michigan State University, USA William VanDresser, DVM Retired Extension Veterinarian, USA Andreia De Paula Vieira, DVM, PhD Animal Welfare Scientist, Universidade de So Paulo, Brazil Daniel M. Weary, PhD Professor and NSERC Industrial Research Chair, Animal Welfare Program, University of British Columbia, Canada Julia Wrathall, PhD Director, Farm Animals Division, RSPCA, West Sussex, UK Adroaldo Zanella, PhD Professor, Dept. Medicina Veterinria Preventiva e Sade Animal / FMVZ Universidade de So Paulo, Pirassununga/SP, Brazil The credibility of our program rests with farmers and ranchers meeting the high welfare standards we set by passing annual inspections. The program also must inspect processing plants to make sure that the slaughter of the animals is humane and the handling of the animals before slaughter is gentle. In addition, traceability audits are performed on all products, ensuring that every package, carton, or case that has the Certified Humane logo on it can be traced back to the farm, barn, flock, or herd that was inspected and certified. HFAC continues to be the only animal welfare certification organization to conduct traceability audits. This requires three different types of inspectors. The first are those that have species-specific knowledge and do the on-farm inspections. They are usually University Professors with a masters degree or PhD in Animal Science or a DVM/VMD and have a great deal of expertise on the species they are inspecting. Additionally, slaughter/processor inspections require a different expertise. For example, only poultry scientists or poultry veterinarians would be considered to inspect poultry on the farm. Even with cows, scientists, or veterinarians with experience in dairy cows have different expetise than those with beef cattle experience. These inspectors are specially trained to understand what to look for during the slaughter process and how to recognize insensibility and careful handling techniques. Finally, the traceability auditors understand how to look for separation and segregation of products, how to do in/out audits to make sure the amount of product that comes in is the same amount that goes out, and that non-certified product does not end up in packages with the Certified Humane seal. With every producer who agrees to abide by Humane Farm Animal Cares, Animal Care Standards, thousands more animals benefit, and many more farmers have a chance to see that they, too, can change the way they raise animals without fearing for their bottom line. Funding received has helped HFAC bring many small farms, into our program. The collected are often less than half of the actual cots to inspect a site. HFAC keeps the fees low so that the program is assessable to even small family farms willing to make and sustain the changes necessary to become Certified Humane. All farms and processing plants are inspected initially and then again when they renew to verify that they are meeting all the requirements as described in our Animal Care Standards. (The standards are available for download by consumers and producers alike from our website at www.certifiedhumane.org). HFAC has created an infrastructure and processes that meet the highest international standards for a certification body. The achievements of the Certified Humane program are the result of a committed staff, volunteers, supporters, as generous contribution from the public and foundations, and loyal consumer who request and shop for Certified Humane products.