If I understand you correctly @reqs is an array of "requirements" that if all are true you want to accept the line? If that is the case you can create a custom subroutine on the fly using eval

@reqs = qw/foo bar cat/;
$reqsub = eval  'sub { ' . (join ' && ',  map { '/\\Q' . $_ . '/'} @re
+qs) . ' } ';
while (<DATA>) {
    print if &$reqsub;
}
__DATA__
*R_dog_cat_horse_foo_bar
*R_dog_cat_foo
*R_dog_cat_horse_bar
*R_dog_cat_horse_foo_bar
*R_cat_horse_foo_bar

__OUTPUT__
*R_dog_cat_horse_foo_bar
*R_dog_cat_horse_foo_bar
*R_cat_horse_foo_bar
[download]

--

flounder