Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every four months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Tips for using the database:

  • This landing page displays all of the publications in the database.
  • Use the drop-down menus to filter these publications by Animal Type, Setting, and/or Topic.
  • Clicking on a parent category (e.g., Rodent) will include publications relating to all the items in that category (e.g., Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, etc.).
  • You may also add a keyword to further narrow your search.
  • Please note that at this time, only publications dated 2010 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Animal Type and Topic, and only publications dated 2020 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Setting. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Hennesy, M. B., Levine, S. 1977. Effects of various habituation procedures on pituitary-adrenal responsiveness in the mouse. Physiology and Behavior 18, 799-802.

Novelty of the environment is a powerful stimuli to activate the pituitary-adrenal axis.

Gardiner, S. M., Bennett, T. 1977. The effects of short-term isolation on systolic blood pressure and heart rate in rats. Medical Biology 55, 325-329.

Rats in metabolic cages develop hypertension within five days.

Fiala, B., Snow, F. M., Greenough, W. T. 1977. Impoverished rats weigh more than enriched rats because they eat more. Developmental Psychobiology 10, 537-541.

Rats housed in barren environments consume more food due to boredom and are heavier than enriched rats.

Denenberg, V. H., DeSantis, D., Waite, S. et al. 1977. The effects of handling in infancy on behavioral states in the rabbit. Physiology and Behavior 18, 553-557.

Handling significantly affected the organization of behavioral states and open-field performance.

Dawkins, M. 1977. Do hens suffer in battery cages? Environmental preferences and welfare. Animal Behaviour 25, 1034-1046.

The really rather surprising result of this experiment was the lack of demonstrated preference for either the [barren] pen or the [barren] battery cages. ... Once reason why a preference was not demonstrated may have...

Dohler, K. D., Gartner, K., Muhlen, A. V. et al. 1977. Activation of anterior pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands in rats after disturbance stress. Acta Endocrinologica 86, 489-497.

Cortisol levels increased within 5 minutes after the entry of an investigator - who moved the cages - and reached peak levels after 15 minutes.

Carr, E. G. 1977. The motivation of self-injurious behavior: A review of some hypotheses. Psychological Bulletin 84, 800-816.

Self-injurious behavior is perhaps the most dramatic and extreme form of chronic human psychopathology.

Byrd, L. D. 1977. Introduction: Chimpanzees as biomedical models. In: Progress in Ape Research. Bourne, G. H. (ed), 161-165. Academic Press, New York, NY.

Our efforts in training chimpanzees to extend an arm and accept an intramuscular injection were successful. [Training technique is not described.]

Bush, M., Custer, R., Smeller, J. et al. 1977. Physiologic measures of nonhuman primates during physical restraint and chemical immobilization. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 171, 866-869.

Of 56 physically restrained [during blood collection] primates, 30 (54%) experienced severe metabolic acidosis (p. 866). The animals had more rapid respiration and pulse rates, higher rectal temperatures, and larger base deficit. ... Primates immobilized...

Bernstein, I. S., Gordon, T. P. 1977. Behavioral research in breeding colonies of Old World monkeys. Laboratory Animal Science 27, 532-540.

The establishment of a breeding colony presents immediate problems of techniques of group formation and animal introductions. In our experience, the simultaneous release of all animals has proven to produce the fewest injuries and the...

Bernstein, I. S., Rose, R. M., Gordon, T. P. 1977. Behavioural and hormonal responses of male rhesus monkeys introduced to females in the breeding and non-breeding seasons. Animal Behaviour 25, 609-614.

Group-housed animals had been trained to present a leg for blood collection in sampling cage.

Boice, R. 1977. Burrows of wild and albino rats: Effects of domestication, outdoor raising, age, experience, and maternal state. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 91, 649-661.

Rats spend most of their time in burrows if given the choice.

Azrin, N. H. , Nunn, R. G. 1977. Habit Control in a Day. Simon & Schuster, New York.

Authors estimate a 4% prevalence of trichotillomania in the American population.

Altmann, J., Altmann, S. A., Hausfater, G. et al. 1977. Life history of yellow baboons: Physical development, reproductive parameters, and infant mortality. Primates 18, 315-330.

Infants may continue to suckle for up to 17 months.

Argen G, Meyerson BJ. 1977. Influence of gonadal hormones and social housing conditions on agonistic, copulatory, and related sociosexual behaviour in the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). Behav Processes. 2;265-82.

The Mongolian gerbil is colonial, but its social organization within its colonies is not known. Pair formation has been suggested by breeders and has been observed under semi-natural conditions. Family units remain stable under such...

Arave, C. W., Albright, J. L. 1976. Social rank and physiological traits of dairy cows as influenced bychanging group membership. Journal of Dairy Science 59, 974-981.

Since the average persistency of milk yield for all cows dropped 5% from wk 7 to wk 8, it appears exchange of cows between groups affected both exchanged and nonexchanged cows in a random manner...

Anchel, M. 1976. Beyond adequate veterinary care. . Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 168, 513-517.

The veterinarian, hired as he is by the institution and not by the animals, often will find himself in a delicate position. ... The veterinarian must have the courage - and it will require courage...

Weihe, W. H. 1976. The effect of light on animals. Laboratory Animal Handbooks 7, 63-76.

In mammals light ... serves the function of vision, regulation of optokinetic reflexes, and regulation of neuro-endocrine functions and behaviour. ... The illumination conditions existing around the animals in their cages need to be considered...

Murphy, D. E. 1976. Enrichment and occupational devices for orangutans and chimpanzees. International Zoo News 137(23.5), 24-26.

A heavy metal cylinder, 60 cm long and 45 cm in diameter, was capped on each end and bolted to a platform. Three 8 cm holes in the cylinder allowed access to the inside. A...

Mulder, J. B. 1976. Behavior patterns of laboratory animals. Lab Animal 5(5), 22-28.

Placing of the cage on a rack even further reduces the available light. During experimentation, care must be exercised to use cages of the ... same placement to avoid variations in lighting. If this is...

Mitchell, G., Gomber, J. 1976. Moving laboratory rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) to unfamiliar home cages. Primates 17, 543-547.

The results of this study should serve as a warning to those who wish to observe behavior or take physiological measurements on monkeys. Removing an animal from its home cage prior to monitoring anything biological...

Maxim, P. E. 1976. An interval scale for studying and quantifying social relations in pairs of rhesus monkeys. Journal of Experimental Psychology 105, 123-147.

When adult monkeys were paired [without prior familiarization!] the relationship typically began with intense action [in male-male pairings there were frequently several minutes of initial fighting] leading to establishment of a dominant-submissive relationship.

Lang, C. M., Vesell, E. S. 1976. Environmental and genetic factors affecting laboratory animals: impact on biomedical research. Federation Proceedings [Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. Federation Proceedings] 35, 1123-1124.

The survey suggests that many investigators do not fully recognize the influence of environmental and genetic variables on experimental results.... Failure to give an adequate description of these variables makes it difficult, if not impossible...

Henrickson, R. V. 1976. The nonhuman primate. Lab Animal 5(4), 60-62.

Nonhuman primates are difficult and dangerous to handle. ... Large or aggressive animals such as male rhesus monkeys should not be handled without the use of chemical restraint. ... Animals are squeezed to the front...

Ferin, M., Carmel, P. W., Warren, M. P. et al. 1976. Phencyclidine sedation as a technique for handling rhesus monkeys: Effects on LH, GH, and prolactin secretion. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 151, 428-433.

These monkeys, however, are readily alarmed, and it may be difficult to obtain stable control levels for hormones which are easily influenced by stress.