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. 
Mkwanazi, M. V., Kanengoni, A. T., Chimonyo, M. 2018. Pen enrichment and sex interaction on growth performance and metabolite concentrations of autochthonous Windsnyer pigs kept in a high stocking density. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 98(4), 826-832.

The objective of the study was to determine the interaction of pen enrichment and sex on growth performance and blood metabolite concentrations of Windsnyer pigs. Forty-eight growing Windsnyer pigs of both sexes, with an average...

Bulens, A., Van Beirendonck, S., Van Thielen, J. et al. 2018. Rearing finishing pigs with intact tails: Do they benefit from an enriched environment? Journal of Veterinary Behavior 24, 1-8.

In an attempt to prevent tail biting in pigs, tail docking is often done. This management procedure is painful for the pigs, so the question arises whether pigs can be raised with intact tails and...

Döring, D., Backofen, I., Schmidt, J. et al. 2018. Use of beds by laboratory beagles. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 28, 6-10.

Comfortable resting areas for laboratory dogs have been recommended by many authors and by the European Directive 2010/63/EU. They are particularly important for geriatric dogs for age- and health-related reasons. Systematic research in this area...

Heyworth, C., Olivo, D. 2018. Environmental and psychological enrichment for NHPs reimagined and repurposed. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(4) (December), 39-43.

This article describes creative enrichment ideas for nonhuman primates, including celery stalks embedded with seeds; paper rolled into tubes, braided and filled with fruit and seeds; pineapple crowns loaded with treats; dry spaghetti noodles coated...

Benedict, D., Megrath, B. 2018. Upgrades to nonhuman primate tethered infusion system. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 6(3) (September), 62-64.

Continuous tethered infusions in any animal model pose a unique set of problems. These problems are amplified when nonhuman primates are the model. A high tolerance to the tether system by an animal model is...

Coursodon, P., Cox, L., Largent-Milnes, T. M. et al. 2018. Enhanced environmental enrichment strategies for retired rhesus macaques. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 6(2) (June), 41-43.

One challenge in providing enrichment to NHP arises following completion of their assigned studies (retired) when there tends to be a sudden decrease in provision of daily human interaction and overall stimulation that results from...

Machado, S. P., Caldara, F. R., Foppa, L. et al. 2017. Behavior of pigs reared in enriched environment: Alternatives to extend pigs attention. PLOS ONE 12(1), e0168427.

Three trials were carried out in a completely randomized design aiming to assess the behavior of pigs in growth phase in enriched environments. Trial 1 evaluated the effects of frequency of availability of environmental enrichment...

Sommerville, R., Ruiz, R., Averós, X. 2017. A meta-analysis on the effects of the housing environment on the behaviour, mortality, and performance of growing rabbits. Animal Welfare 26(2), 223-238.

Although the number of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) produced in Europe is important, they are under-represented in welfare research. Studies on the effects of housing conditions have focused on performance and mortality. We conducted a meta-analysis...

Pluschke, A. M., Simmons, G. S., Keates, H. L. et al. 2017. An updated method for the jugular catheterization of grower pigs for repeated blood sampling following an oral glucose tolerance test. Laboratory Animals 51(4), 397-404.

Jugular catheterization is a common procedure used under experimental conditions. However, there is considerable variation in the reported techniques, particularly for grower pigs (>40 kg and 10 mL) are required. This paper provides a complete...

Miranda, A., Pego, J. M., Correia-Pinto, J. 2017. Animal facility videoendoscopic intubation station: Tips and tricks from mice to rabbits. Laboratory Animals 51(2), 204-207.

Endotracheal intubation of laboratory animals is a common procedure shared by several research fields for different purposes, such as mechanical ventilation of anaesthetized animals, instillation of cytotoxic nanoparticles, infectious agents or tumour cells for induction...

Winfield, J., Macnamara, G., Macnamara, B. et al. 2017. Environmental enrichment for sucker and weaner pigs: The effect of enrichment block shape on the behavioural interaction by pigs with the blocks. Animals 7(12), 91.

This experiment tested the effect of enrichment-block shape on oro-nasal contact by young pigs, and possible habituation to the blocks. Nineteen litters (197 piglets) were randomly allocated to one of three block-shape treatments: Cube, Brick...

Vermeer, H., Dirx-Kuijken, N., Bracke, M. 2017. Exploration feeding and higher space allocation improve welfare of growing-finishing pigs. Animals 7(5), 36.

Lack of environmental enrichment and high stocking densities in growing-finishing pigs can lead to adverse social behaviors directed to pen mates, resulting in skin lesions, lameness, and tail biting. The objective of the study was...

Kiddie, J., Bodymore, A., Dittrich, A. 2017. Environmental enrichment in kennelled pit bull terriers (Canis lupus familiaris). Animals 7(4), 27.

Although social enrichment can be considered beneficial in helping dogs cope with the kennel environment, when taking individual needs into account, it places a large demand on the carers and may not be appropriate in...

Backus, B. L., Sutherland, M. A., Brooks, T. A. 2017. Relationship between environmental enrichment and the response to novelty in laboratory-housed pigs. JAALAS 56(6), 735-741.

Environmental enrichment is the enhancement of the physical or social environment in which an animal lives with the goal to improve its quality of life. Our objective was to investigate the effect of providing environmental...

Brown, S. M., Peters, R., Lawrence, A. B. 2017. Up-regulation of IGF-1 in the frontal cortex of piglets exposed to an environmentally enriched arena. Physiology & Behavior 173, 285-292.

Environmental enrichment (EE) is widely used in the life sciences to study effects of environment on the brain. In pigs, despite lack of EE being a key welfare issue there is little understanding of brain...

Bowman, A., Scottish SPCA, Dowell, F. J. et al. 2017. 'The effect of different genres of music on the stress levels of kennelled dogs'. Physiology & Behavior 171, 207-215.

Classical music has been shown to reduce stress in kennelled dogs; however, rapid habituation of dogs to this form of auditory enrichment has also been demonstrated. The current study investigated the physiological and behavioural response...

Cannon, T. 2017. Tailored enrichment strategies and stereotypic behaviour in captive individually-housed macaques (Macaca spp.). Canopy 17(2), 13-16.

In this study, I combine both physiological and behavioural measures of well-being to comprehensively assess the unique needs of individually-housed captive macaques (Macaca spp.) at OPR Coastal Primate Sanctuary in Longview, WA, with the aim...

Palmer, S. 2017. Rescue-Enrich-Release: The environmental enrichment program for three species of captive primates at Colobus. Canopy 17(2), 27-30.

It is widely known that the psychological wellbeing of captive animals can become compromised by a captive environment that lacks proper environmental stimulation. Environmental enrichment programs have become the norm in captive environments yet research...

Carlson, A., Allen, C., Skoumbourdis, E. et al. 2017. Cooked food for non-human primates: A discussion by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 124-126.

"Do any of you give cooked food like pasta, potatoes or vegetables to non-human primates? What’s your experience? Do the animals benefit from cooked food; do they like it; does it affect their health in...

Devenport, M., Levent, S., Storer, R. 2017. Rabbits housed in pens: Do they have an enrichment preference? Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 130-132.

Since the antibody production facility at Envigo RMS opened in 2015 we have been offering our rabbits a variety of disposable and non-disposable enrichment in a floor pen arrangement. There is a perception that our...

Holmes, J., Waters, D., Maisonave, I. et al. 2017. Social interaction for non-sibling pregnant New Zealand white rabbits on reproductive toxicology. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 139-141.

Rabbits are gregarious animals that live in social groups in the wild so individually housing our animals, while meeting the present scientific objectives, restricts their natural social behaviour. How to meet the social needs of...

Coleman, K., Novak, M. A. 2017. Environmental enrichment in the 21st century. ILAR Journal 58(2), 295-307.

More than a quarter of a century has elapsed since the Animal Welfare Act mandated that research facilities develop and follow a plan to promote the psychological well-being of captive primates. Since passage of this...

Nasirahmadi, A., Edwards, S. A., Matheson, S. M. et al. 2017. Using automated image analysis in pig behavioural research: Assessment of the influence of enrichment substrate provision on lying behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 196, 30-35.

Visual monitoring of pig behaviours over long periods is very time consuming and has possibility for observer bias. Automated image processing techniques now give the potential to carry out behavioural research in a more effective...

Casal-Plana, N., Manteca, X., Dalmau, A. et al. 2017. Influence of enrichment material and herbal compounds in the behaviour and performance of growing pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 195, 38-43.

Pigs reared in barren conditions are exposed to many different stressors, compromising their welfare and producing physiological and behavioural changes. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of environmental enrichment (EE) consisting...

van der Staay, F. J., van Zutphen, J. A., de Ridder, M. M. et al. 2017. Effects of environmental enrichment on decision-making behavior in pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 194, 14-23.

The animal’s emotional state, potentially modulated by environmental conditions, may affect cognitive processes such as interpretation, judgement and decision making behaviour. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a common method to examine decision making behavior...