This sounds like a directed graph. I'd recommend looking at Graph::Directed. The following worked for me: 
use Graph::Directed;

my @array1 = qw(dog cat rat mouse);
my @array2 = qw(dog rat mouse bird);
my @array3 = qw(cat rat fish mouse);

my $graph = Graph::Directed->new;

$graph->add_path(@array1);
$graph->add_path(@array2);
$graph->add_path(@array3);

my @toposort = $graph->toposort;

print "@toposort\n";

------

dog cat rat fish mouse bird

[download]

------
We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

Please remember that I'm crufty and crochety. All opinions are purely mine and all code is untested, unless otherwise specified.

In reply to Re: "Intelligent" array joining by dragonchild
in thread "Intelligent" array joining by ngomong

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