Agricultural Animals

Excerpt

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the important considerations associated with the care and use of agricultural animals regarding their environment and housing and to highlight the available resources to assist program managers, veterinarians, and research staff. In the United States, two guidelines may be utilized when managing programs engaged in research, testing, and teaching with agricultural animals: the Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS) Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Research and Teaching (Ag Guide) (FASS 2010) and the National Research Council (NRC) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NRC Guide) (NRC 2011). In most developed countries, there are laws and/or standards in place for the use of animals in research. For example, in Europe the EU 2010/63/EU Directive is used (European Commission 2016), and in Canada the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) guidelines and the Canadian Codes of Practice are referenced. Care should be taken to check for laws and guidance documents operating within a country if your animal research program is international in scope. For the purpose of providing a range of resources to draw guidance, we include references to guidelines and training materials from other countries that may be useful auxiliary resources.