The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, effective since November 2022, marks a significant step in federal efforts to combat severe animal mistreatment in the United States. Although originally focused on criminalizing acts such as crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, or impaling animals, the law has helped shape a broader supply-chain transparency culture in industries connected to animal products. Today, both regulatory expectations and consumer demands are driving meat processors, distributors, and retailers to enhance visibility over animal welfare practices throughout their supply chains. This shift highlights the increasing importance of integrating ethical animal treatment standards into procurement and production workflows.
For meat processors aiming to demonstrate responsible sourcing, leveraging USDA’s open slaughterhouse inspection data has become a key strategy. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) maintains a comprehensive set of records on facility inspections, humane handling compliance, and enforcement actions. By incorporating these records into supplier review processes, companies can identify processing facilities that maintain strong compliance histories and flag those with repeated or serious violations. This level of scrutiny supports more informed sourcing decisions and strengthens a processor’s overall risk management framework. Establishing automated connections to USDA data feeds allows processors to stay current on the compliance status of suppliers, enabling timely adjustments to sourcing strategies in response to emerging concerns.
To ensure this integration is effective, companies should establish systematic procedures for collecting, matching, and analyzing USDA inspection data against internal supplier lists. This includes maintaining up-to-date master records of all processing facilities used, integrating compliance flags into procurement approval processes, and setting clear thresholds for supplier qualification or disqualification based on humane handling records. Where possible, companies can augment federal inspection data with state-level reports and third-party animal welfare certifications to build a more comprehensive view of supplier performance.
In parallel, processors and distributors must enhance traceability of livestock origins to provide transparency from farm to finished product. The widespread adoption of Electronic Identification (EID) tags enables precise animal tracking throughout the supply chain. These tags contain unique identifiers that can be read electronically at key transfer points, such as farms, feedlots, holding yards, and slaughter facilities. By capturing EID data at each stage, processors can verify that animals originated from approved farms that adhere to specific animal welfare standards. This tracking capability is critical for validating claims such as pasture-raised or no-antibiotics-ever and for ensuring alignment with corporate animal welfare commitments.
Building an effective origin tracking system begins with requiring livestock suppliers to participate in certified EID programs and ensuring that tag data is assigned at birth or upon entry into the supply chain. Receiving facilities must be equipped to read and record EID data as animals are accepted, linking these records directly to procurement and production systems. Connecting EID data with USDA inspection results further enables processors to verify that livestock was processed only at compliant facilities, creating an unbroken chain of traceability that can withstand regulatory scrutiny and meet consumer expectations.
Processors should also formalize internal review processes to ensure ongoing compliance with these practices. This includes establishing audit protocols for reviewing EID records, USDA data integration, and supplier certifications on a regular basis. Maintaining records in formats that support both internal and external audits is essential to demonstrating accountability. Companies may choose to publish summary data on their animal welfare compliance as part of broader sustainability or corporate responsibility reporting, providing consumers and stakeholders with greater transparency into their operations.
Embracing these supply-chain transparency practices offers benefits that extend beyond regulatory compliance. As consumers become increasingly focused on animal welfare, companies that can demonstrate rigorous supply-chain oversight are better positioned to build trust and brand loyalty. Enhanced transparency also mitigates the risk of reputational harm from animal welfare scandals, providing an additional layer of protection for companies operating in the animal products sector.
The PACT Act has served as a catalyst for strengthening supply-chain visibility around animal welfare in the United States. By leveraging USDA inspection data, adopting EID technologies, and embedding animal welfare considerations into procurement systems, meat processors and distributors can move beyond compliance to create supply chains that are demonstrably ethical and resilient. This not only meets the demands of today’s regulatory and consumer landscape but also helps establish a higher standard of accountability across the industry.