Humane Farm Animal Care

Humane Farm Animal Care

Founded	2003
Type	Non-profit organization
Focus	Animal welfare, humane animal husbandry practices
Location	Herndon, Virginia, USA
Area served	USA
Key people	Adele Douglass, Executive Director
Website	www.certifiedhumane.org

Humane Farm Animal Care was established to promote and administer its certification and labeling program, Certified Humane Raised & Handled, for meat, dairy, eggs and poultry raised under its animal care standards in the USA. It is a non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors and retains a Scientific Committee which includes scientists and veterinarians. The organization is endorsed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the United States.

History

Both the organization and the Certified Humane Raised & Handled program were founded in 2003, by Adele Douglass. In the late 1990s, Douglass had traveled to England to study "Freedom Food", a single brand of farm products which claimed to derive from "humanely raised" animals.

Mission

Humane Farm Animal Care's mission is "to improve the welfare of farm animals by providing viable, credible, duly monitored standards for humane food production and ensuring consumers that certified products meet these standards."

"Certified Humane Raised and Handled" program

The certification program requires the inspection of aspects of production, including raising of live animals, slaughter and the processing/packaging of animal products, to ensure the authenticity of the Certified Humane Raised & Handled label. It publishes an annual Policy Manual which describes its certification program requirements and specifications. The program has obtained International Organization for Standardization, ISO Guide 65 certification and is the only humane organization in the US to have received this designation.