Businesses can take a number of steps to ensure that animal-based products are sourced responsibly for clothing and food.
RSPCA has been helping businesses to improve animal welfare in their supply chain for many years, often quietly. The RSPCA has helped companies improve animal welfare by offering expert advice and identifying where and how they can make lasting improvements.
We’ve launched a series of guides to make this advice easier to access. More companies can now work on this important issue with expert guidance and a starting place.
What is in our guides
Our resources on responsible sourcing simplify complex questions and issues about supply chains. There are 16 species-specific guides covering animals such as dairy cows, layer hens, and crustaceans.
These new resources cover four main areas:
How To Develop An Animal Welfare Policy– Helps a business develop and implement an animal welfare policy that is impactful and meaningful.
The production process provides an overview of how animals are raised in Australia. Understanding the production process of an animal to produce food or fiber is essential for reviewing animal welfare standards in the supply chain.
Analysis of the Supply Chain – analyses the supply chains for 16 different species. After a company has completed this initial analysis, it can have a more productive and detailed discussion on animal welfare issues.
Key Purchase Goals – gives quick and easy advice on how a business can improve animal welfare. The Australian market is the basis for this guidance, which should lead to a meaningful improvement in animal welfare. Setting clear and transparent procurement goals, both short-term and long-term, is one way organizations can meet the expectations of consumers.
Australians are concerned about animals. Businesses that are forward-thinking and consider animal welfare as part of their operations can enhance and maintain their social license to operate. They can also identify market opportunities and increase their brand reputation.
What you can do
These guides can be very useful in a variety of ways.
These resources may be relevant for your workplace – especially if you are reviewing your sourcing policy. Consider sending these resources to friends, family, and colleagues who may be interested in supply chain analysis or purchasing.
You can send the guides to companies if you are concerned about animal welfare and are asking them about their supply chain or products. This will give you more insight and information. It shows the company that you are concerned about animal welfare as a customer. You can also go a step further by providing them with practical information to help make a positive, lasting change.
The guides also contain a wealth of information that is relevant to the average consumer who cares about the welfare and treatment of animals raised for food or fiber. The guides can inform you when making decisions about food, clothing, and pet food. They also provide you with tools and questions that companies and brands are told to ask.
