In 1877, in America’s heartland, a movement began that would forever shape the course of animal welfare in the United States – and beyond. That year, humane organizations from throughout the country gathered at a landmark meeting in Ohio to unite their missions and resources into a stronger voice to protect livestock from inhumane treatment.

It is a unified voice that has been heard like no other for over the past 130 years, as affirmed by American Humane’s heritage of creating important breakthroughs in all types of animal welfare issues. So it’s no surprise that this tradition of leadership in the cause would also result in the first and most-respected independent third-party farm animal welfare audit program.

The science-based standards that comprise the core practices of the American Humane Certified program were created with input from animal science experts, familiar with all species. These thorough, comprehensive measures were built upon accepted values including the Four Freedoms as used by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the 1999 Federation of Animal Science Societies Guide, and other practical standards and animal husbandry guidelines. In order to constantly maintain the program’s effectiveness, American Humane regularly reviews the standards with its distinguished Scientific Advisory Committee and Fellows so that producers have the benefit of the latest technological advances, best practices and new methods for more humane care.

True Humane Tracking™

The American Humane Certified program is based on the most advanced system of independent monitoring, oversight and third-party certification through an exclusive three-tier process that provides optimum accountability through transparency.

1. Annual independent on-site audits of more than 200 science-based standards and measures conducted by Professional Animal Audit Certification Organization trained and certified auditors.
2. Online Compliance Resources to provide regular mandatory audit updates, and monitoring throughout the year.
3. State-of-the-art, web-based independent video monitoring that provides 24/7, real-time monitoring and instant alerts of potential problems to the producer and American Humane.

To learn more about how the Certified Process works, click here.