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. 
Turner, P. V., Ovari, J., Pinelli, C. et al. 2010. Long-term effects of housing and enrichment on affective behavior and responsiveness of Sprague-Dawley rats. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 658-659 (Abstract #PS12).

Most rodent studies evaluate different caging paradigms over short periods of time, which may not be realistic for typical colony settings. Inappropriate housing may lead to boredom, aggression, stereotypies, and altered metabolism, which in turn...

Howard, B., Nevalainen, T., Perretta, G. (ed). 2010. The COST Manual of Laboratory Animal Care and Use: Refinement, Reduction, and Research (1st Ed). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

COST Action B-24 established four working groups to research and discuss issues relevant to laboratory animal science. These included the housing of animals, environmental needs, refinement of procedures, genetically modified animals, and cost-benefit analysis. Based...

Burgess, W., French, E. D., Kendall, L. V. 2010. A socialization program to improve research dog adoption rates. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 714 (Abstract #P104).

Investigators using companion animals for research are often faced with the dilemma of what to do with healthy animals when a study is complete. At our institution, it is not uncommon for investigators to submit...

Villeneuve, L., Méthot, H., Cinq-Mars, D. et al. 2009. Effect of individual or paired housing during post-weaning on feed intake, growth rate and behaviour of lambs. Small Ruminant Research 85(2-3), 99-104.

The aim of this study was to compare the behaviour and weight gain of weaned lambs penned either in pairs or alone, with visual and tactile contacts between pens. A 2 × 2 factorial experiment...

Reed, B., Hawkins, P., Latham, N. et al. 2008. Report of the 2006 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group meeting. Lab Animal 37(5), 216-222.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group holds a one-day meeting every autumn to discuss current welfare research and to exchange views on rodent welfare issues. A key aim of the group is to encourage people to...

Nowak, R., Porter, R. H., Blache, D. et al. 2008. Behavior and welfare of the sheep. In: The Welfare of Sheep. Dwyer, C. M. (ed). Springer, New York, NY.

The most important features of the behaviour of sheep are their marked sociality and the bond formation between mother and young. Sheep show a strong need to stay with their group (or subgroup for some...

Branson, E. J. (Ed.) 2008. Fish Welfare. Blackwell Publishing Ltd: Oxford, UK, 300 p.

Fish have the same stress response and powers of nociception as mammals. Their behavioural responses to a variety of situations suggest a considerable ability for higher level neural processing – a level of consciousness equivalent...

Gonder, J. C., Laber, K. 2007. A renewed look at laboratory rodent housing and management. ILAR Journal 48(1), 29-46.

In this article, recent publications are examined to determine the potential impact of new scientific evidence on current practices for the housing and care of laboratory rodents. The discussion points out recent advances in technology...

Van Loo, P., Skoumbourdis, E., Reinhardt, V. 2006. Postsurgical pairing: A discussion by the Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology and Welfare 5(1), 17-19.

Our experience-based discussion suggests that social animals benefit from compatible companionship during post-operative recovery. The traditional practice of keeping animals alone in an unfamiliar environment after surgery increases the subjects surgery-associated stress. Providing a familiar...

Conour, L. A., Murray, K. A., Brown, M. J. 2006. Preparation of animals for research -- Issues to consider for rodents and rabbits. ILAR Journal 47(4), 283-293.

This article provides details to consider when preparing to use animals in biomedical research. The stress of transport and receipt of animals into a new environment mandate the need for a period of stabilization and...

Kulpa-Eddy, J. A., Taylor, S., Adams, K. M. 2005. USDA perspectives on environmental enrichment for animals. ILAR Journal 46(2), 83-94.

This article provides a brief historical background of the events and circumstances that led to the 1985 Animal Welfare Act (AWA) amendments. It describes the development of the regulations promulgated by the US Department of...

Bayne, K. 2005. Potential for unintended consequences of environmental enrihment for laboratory animals and research results. ILAR Journal 46(2), 129-139.

Many aspects of the research animal's housing environment are controlled for quality and/or standardization. Of recent interest is the potential for environmental enrichment to have unexpected consequences such as unintended harm to the animal, or...

Sharp, J. L., Zammit, T., Azar, T. A. et al. 2003. Stress-like responses to common procedures in individually and group-housed female rats. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 42(1), 9-18.

Mean resting HR values in the mornings prior to human contact were significantly (P

Sharp, J. L., Zammit, T., Azar, T. A. et al. 2003. Are "by-stander" female Sprague-Dawley rats affected by experimental procedures? Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 42(1), 19-28.

The objective of this study was to test the hypotheses that female rats are stressed by being in the same room as animals subjected to common husbandry and experimental procedures and that the level of...

Kaliste-Korhonen, E., Eskola, S., Rekilä, T. et al. 1995. Effects of gnawing material, group size and cage level in rack on Wistar rats. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 22(4), 291-299.

Han:Wist rats were housed after weaning in groups of one, two, three or four in stainless steel cages with aspen chip bedding, with or without wooden gnawing blocks. The use of the blocks was assessed...

Hughes, H. C., Campbell, S., Kenney, C. 1989. The effects of cage size and pair housing on exercise in beagle dogs. Laboratory Animal Science 39, 302-305.

Dogs in the single cage size spent slightly less time moving, but they moved at a greater speed than when housed in double sized cages [probably because of the extreme confinement condition leading to frustration...

Panksepp, J., Herman, B. H., Vilberg, T. et al. 1980. Endogenous opioids and social behavior. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 4(4), 473-487.

Evidence for the hypothesis that brain-opioids mediate social affect and social attachments is summarized. Opiates and opioids are very effective in reducing social separation-induced distress vocalizations (DVs), in puppies, young guinea pigs and chicks, while...

Price, E. O., Thos, J. 1980. Behavioral responses of short-term isolation in sheep and goats. Applied Animal Ethology (Applied Animal Behaviour Science) 6(4), 331-339.

Behavioral stress responses to social deprivation are described.