Some abstracts do not have video files because ASAS was denied recording rights.
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New Ag Guide—What should we expect?
The 1’st edition of the Ag Guide was published in 1988 to define standards of care for agricultural animals used in agricultural research and teaching. These standards were to accomplish two important objectives. One was to ensure that the agricultural animals used for research and teaching are fit subjects so as not to compromise outcomes by having poor condition. The other objective was to give regard to and preserve the wellbeing of these animals based on our growing recognition that they, by their nature, ought to be in the realm of human moral concern. The 2’nd edition of the Ag Guide came out in 1999, with an expanded authorship and chapters devoted to specific types of agricultural animals. The current 3’rd edition (2010) has 62 authors and additional chapters covering institutional policies and principles related to health care, husbandry, environmental enrichment, and handling and transport. The title of the 3’rd edition was changed to Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Research and Teaching, on the principle that the standards therein are applicable to agricultural animals in all research and teaching situations, not just those seen as strictly agricultural. The Ag Guide has become the reference document for agricultural animals by IACUC’s nationwide, and has been adopted by AAALAC as a primary standard to evaluate animal care and use programs. At the last meeting of the FASS Scientific Advisory Committee on Animal Care (SACAC) in May 2015, it was decided to revise the Ag Guide to produce a 4’th edition. Items were identified for each chapter and a tentative timeline was developed. The sale of ASAS and PSA interests in FASS to ADSA in 2015 provided for transfer of ownership of the Ag Guide to ADSA, ASAS, and PSA and dissolved the SACAC, temporarily suspending action on the Ag Guide. As of the writing of this abstract, the revision process has been initiated, but a determinable timeline for publication has not been established. The three societies recognize the vital importance of an up-to-date Ag Guide and intend to jointly publish a revised 4’th edition.
Keywords: Ag Guide