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. 
Dawkins, M. S. 2024. Active walking in broiler chickens: A flagship for good welfare, a goal for smart farming and a practical starting point for automated welfare recognition. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.

Automated assessment of broiler chicken welfare poses particular problems due to the large numbers of birds involved and the variety of different welfare measures that have been proposed. Active (sustained, defect-free) walking is both a...

Robinson, L. M., Weiss, A. (Eds.) 2023. Nonhuman Primate Welfare: From History, Science, and Ethics to Practice. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. 671 p.

This volume reviews the broad topic of welfare in nonhuman primates under human care. Chapters detail the history of primates in captivity, ethical and legal issues surrounding the use of nonhuman primates as entertainment or...

Alig, B. N., Ferket, P. R., Malheiros, R. D. et al. 2023. The effect of housing environment on commercial brown egg layer production, USDA grade and USDA size distribution. Animals 13(4), 694

Consumer demand for retail cage-free eggs is driving the layer industry towards greater use of extensive housing environments. However, there is limited research on how these environments affect egg production characteristics of brown egg layers...

Ausderau, K. K., Colman, R. J., Kabakov, S. et al. 2023. Evaluating depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in non-human primates. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 16, 1006065.

Depression and anxiety are some of the most prevalent and debilitating mental health conditions in humans. They can present on their own or as co-morbidities with other disorders. Like humans, non-human primates (NHPs) can develop...

Cohen, S., Ho, C. 2023. Review of rat (Rattus norvegicus), Mouse (mus musculus), Guinea pig (Cavia procellus), and rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) indicators for welfare assessment. Animals 13(13), 2167.

The monitoring and assessment of animals is important for their health and welfare. The appropriate selection of multiple, validated, and feasible welfare assessment indicators is required to effectively identify compromises or improvements to animal welfare...

Contreras-Jodar, A., Varvaró-Porter, A., Velarde, A. et al. 2023. Relevant indicators of consciousness after waterbath stunning in turkeys and stunning efficiency in commercial conditions. Animals 13(4), 668.

The prevalence and inter-observer repeatability of the four most valid and feasible indicators of consciousness after waterbath stunning in turkeys were evaluated before bleeding (i.e., tonic convulsion, breathing, spontaneous blinking and vocalization) and during bleeding...

Marks, C. A., Allen, L., Lindeberg, H. 2023. Non-lethal dose-response models replace lethal bioassays for predicting the hazard of para-animopropiophenone to Australian wildlife. Animals 13(3), 472.

Para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) is a potent methaemoglobin (MetHb) forming agent used for the lethal control of exotic carnivores and mustelids. To assess the sensitivity of Australian wildlife to PAPP we developed an in vivo assay that...

Swan, J., Boyer, S., Westlund, K. et al. 2023. Decreased levels of discomfort in repeatedly handled mice during experimental procedures, assessed by facial expressions. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17, 1109886.

Mice are the most commonly used laboratory animal, yet there are limited studies which investigate the effects of repeated handling on their welfare and scientific outcomes. Furthermore, simple methods to evaluate distress in mice are...

Goodenough, A. E., Sewell, A., McDonald, K. 2023. Behavioural patterns in zoo-housed Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) revealed using long-term keeper-collected data: Validation of approaches and improved husbandry. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 258, 105811.

Given the increasing obligation to elevate animal welfare beyond minimum expectations, zoos need robust mechanisms to monitor physical activity and species-appropriate behaviours. This is not without challenge as animal behaviour can vary seasonally or be...

Moëne, O. L., Larsson, M. 2023. A new tool for quantifying mouse facial expressions. ENeuro 10(2) ENEURO.0349-22.2022.

Facial expressions are an increasingly used tool to assess emotional experience and affective state during experimental procedures in animal models. Previous studies have successfully related specific facial features with different positive and negative valence situations...

Campbell-Ward, M. 2023. Quality-of-life assessments in zoo animals: Not just for the aged and charismatic. Animals 13(21), 3394

Zoos should aim to provide all of their animals with a good quality of life (QoL) throughout all life stages. In parallel with the evolution of QoL assessment questionnaires and tools in human and domestic...

Dietrich, T., Aigner, A., Hildebrandt, A. et al. 2023. Nesting behavior is associated with body weight and grip strength loss in mice suffering from experimental arthritis. Scientific Reports 13(1), 23087.

Objective animal health evaluation is essential to determine welfare and discomfort in preclinical in vivo research. Body condition scores, body weight, and grimace scales are commonly used to evaluate well-being in murine rheumatoid arthritis (RA)...

Goma, A. A., Uddin, J., Kieson, E. 2023. Lateralised behavioural responses in livestock to environmental stressors: Implications for using infrared thermography to assess welfare conditions. Animals 13(23), 3663.

Lateralised behavioural responses to environmental stressors have become more frequently used as indicators of social welfare in animals. These lateralised behavioural responses are under the control of asymmetrical brain functions as part of the primary...

Imboden, T. J., Pownall, W. R., Rubin, S. et al. 2023. Determination of a safe sedative combination of dexmedetomidine, ketamine and butorphanol for minor procedures in dogs by use of a stepwise optimization method. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 65(1), 41.

In veterinary practice, most minor procedures such as radiographs, skin biopsies, and wound treatments require sedation. The combination of butorphanol, ketamine, and dexmedetomidine is commonly used, but the ideal dosages for this combination have not...

Jahn, K., Ley, J., DePorter, T. et al. 2023. How well do dogs cope with air travel? An owner-reported survey study. Animals 13(19), 3093.

It is estimated that 2 million domestic animals travel on commercial flights every year in the US alone and that dogs make up 58% of pets travelling worldwide. There has been little research on the...

rueger, J. C., Boecker, M., Gauggel, S. et al. 2023. Using photographs for rating severity degrees of clinical appearance in research mice enables valid discrimination of extreme but not mild and moderate conditions: A pilot study. PLOS ONE 18(11), e0287965.

To ensure good animal welfare in laboratory research and in stockbreeding severity ratings of the animals´ wellbeing are essential. The current study investigated how valid raters can evaluate different severity degrees of clinical appearance and...

Lertwanakarn, T., Purimayata, T., Luengyosluechakul, T. et al. 2023. Assessment of tilapia (oreochromis spp.) welfare in the semi-intensive and intensive culture systems in Thailand. Animals 13(15), 2498.

Welfare assessments have risen to prominence in the aquaculture industry, with increasing awareness of their significance among stakeholders in Thailand. In this study, we conducted a welfare assessment of tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) farms in Thailand...

Littlewood, K. E., Heslop, M. V., Cobb, M. L. 2023. The agency domain and behavioral interactions: Assessing positive animal welfare using the Five Domains Model. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.
Pedrazzani, A. S., Cozer, N., Quintiliano, M. H. et al. 2023. From egg to slaughter: Monitoring the welfare of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, throughout their entire life cycle in aquaculture. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.
Pretorius, Y., Eggeling, T., Ganswindt, A. 2023. Identifying potential measures of stress and disturbance during a captive to wild African elephant reintegration. PLOS ONE 18(10), e0291293.

There is increasing evidence of compromised welfare for elephants managed in captivity. Should such facilities eventually close, more elephants will need to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into the wild. The goal of such reintegration would...

Reiber, M., Schumann, L. von, Buchecker, V. et al. 2023. Evidence-based comparative severity assessment in young and adult mice. PLOS ONE 18(10), e0285429.

In animal-based research, welfare assessments are essential for ethical and legal reasons. However, accurate assessment of suffering in laboratory animals is often complicated by the multidimensional character of distress and pain and the associated affective...

Sadeghi, M., Banakar, A., Minaei, S. et al. 2023. Early detection of avian diseases based on thermography and artificial intelligence. Animals 13(14), 2348.

Non-invasive measures have a critical role in precision livestock and poultry farming as they can reduce animal stress and provide continuous monitoring. Animal activity can reflect physical and mental states as well as health conditions...

Stevens, C., Hammonds, T., Hinchcliffe, J. et al. 2023. Report of the 2022 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group Meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 22(2), 91–100.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 29 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and share experiences of...

Tanaka, Y., Nakata, T., Hibino, H. et al. 2023. Classification of multiple emotional states from facial expressions in head-fixed mice using a deep learning-based image analysis. PLOS ONE 18(7), e0288930.

Facial expressions are widely recognized as universal indicators of underlying internal states in most species of animals, thereby presenting as a non-invasive measure for assessing physical and mental conditions. Despite the advancement of artificial intelligence-assisted...

van der Laan, J. E., Vinke, C. M., Arndt, S. S. 2023. Nocturnal activity as a useful indicator of adaptability of dogs in an animal shelter and after subsequent adoption. Scientific Reports 13(1), 19014.

Dogs in shelters are faced with the challenge of adapting to a kennel after relinquishment and to a novel home after adoption. To measure adaptability of dogs, more feasible behavioural and physiological parameters need to...