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. 
Sørensen, D., Cloutier, S., Gaskill, B. (Eds.). 2021. Animal-centric Care and Management - Enhancing Refinement in Biomedical Research. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

The concept of the 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction and Replacement) has been used as a framework for improving the welfare of laboratory animals for the last half century. By establishing an animal-centric view on housing and...

Stevens, C., Hawkins, P., Smulders, T. V. et al. 2021. Report of the 2020 RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(1), 21-33.

The RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 27 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and share...

Manell, E., Hedenqvist, P., Jensen-Waern, M. 2021. Training pigs for oral glucose tolerance test—Six years’ experience of a refined model. Animals 11(6), 1677.

Animal models of human diseases are important in biomedical research. When using animals for scientific purposes, the 3Rs (replace, reduce, refine) should be considered. Refinement of animal models is essential to ensure best use of...

van der Geest, J. N., Spoor, M., Frens, M. A. 2021. Environmental enrichment improves vestibular oculomotor learning in mice. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 15, 676416.

We assessed the behavioral effects of environmental enrichment on contrast sensitivity, reflexive eye movements and on oculomotor learning in mice that were housed in an enriched environment for a period of 3 weeks. Research has...

Moody, C. M., Paterson, E. A. Leroux-Petersen, D. et al. 2021. Using paper nest pucks to prevent barbering in C57BL/6 mice. JAALAS 60(2), 133-138.

Little research has been conducted to examine the influence of various methods of providing nest materials—such as dispersing them, providing them as single units, or clustering them—on the behavior and welfare of group-housed mice. In...

Labitt, R. N., Oxford, E. M., Davis, A. K. et al. 2021. A validated smartphone-based electrocardiogram reveals severe bradyarrhythmias during immobilizing restraint in mice of both sexes and four strains. JAALAS 60(2), 201-212.

Mouse handling and restraint affect behavior, physiology, and animal welfare, yet little information is available on how various mouse restraint methods affect cardiovascular parameters. We validated the use of a smartphone-based ECG sys- tem in...

Edwards, J., Olson, B., Marks, D.L. 2021. Constructing and programming a cost-effective murine running wheel with digital revolution counter. Lab Animal 50, 202-204.

Voluntary wheel running is a valuable metabolic intervention and well-established measure of physical activity in preclinical rodent models. Herein, we describe detailed assembly instructions and provide necessary resources for researchers to build their own running...

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Acacia gum sealed paper straws. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(3) (May/June), 37.

This DIY snack is great for NHP and can be customized in a variety of ways.

Wilson-Welder, J. H., Frank, A. T. 2021. Use of food enrichment for medication delivery in large groups of sheep. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(3) (May/June), 40-43.

In a 2018 AALAS webinar on Sheep and Goat Analgesia, Dr. Susie Vogel, a small ruminant expert, introduced the concept of getting sheep and goats to willingly take medication by putting it in a tasty...

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Dehydrated watermelon training chips. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(4) (July/August), 48.

This simple DIY training treat is great for NHP, swine, rabbits, rodents, and dogs. Note that dehydrated watermelon may resemble muscle tissue!

Bodenham, R. 2021. Introducing the swing ball! RATEL (Journal of the Association of British and Irish Wild Animal Keepers) 48(1), 4-7.

A short observational study was carried out on Chester Zoo’s male jaguar and its pack of 14 bush dogs to see if any behavioural changes were found with each species when they were engaging with...

Carter, M., Sherwen, S., Webber, S. 2021. An evaluation of interactive projections as digital enrichment for orangutans. Zoo Biology 40(2), 107-114.

Digital technologies are increasingly being incorporated into the provision of enrichment for captive primates, ranging from the ad-hoc use of iPads to specifically designed hardware installed in the design of new exhibits. In this article...

Satokar, V., Vickers, M., Bridge-Comer, P. et al. 2021. Emulsified gels: A refined vehicle for accurate and rapid oral administration of lipid based preparations to rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(2), 95-103.

Oro-gastric gavage is used to accurately administer nutritional substances or drugs to animals. However, it induces stress and has a substantial risk of mishap. Incorporation into edible gels is difficult for lipid-based preparations. We report...

Windsor, Z. 2021. Refinements in head plate mouse nesting: Using composite nests to enhance welfare. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(2), 135-141.

When given the opportunity, mice will choose to build nests using multiple different materials. Studies indicate that providing mice with choices which mimic the natural environment allows laboratory mice to build the best quality nests...

Peploe, J., MacAulay, C. 2021. Laboratory primate enrichment ideas. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(2), 177-183.

There are several items we often use in animal facilities that when finished with are thrown away. However, many of these items come in packaging that can be recycled as enrichment for our animals, particularly...

Burn, C. C., Popat, R. 2021. A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(3), 203-210.

Mouse shelters can provide mice with security, help them thermoregulate, offer darkness to prevent damage to their eyes and enable climbing and gnawing opportunities. For laboratory mice, there is a vast array of commercially available...

Obermueller, B., Castellani, C., Till, H. et al. 2021. An examination of nest-building behaviour using five different nesting materials in C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice. Animal Welfare 30(4), 467-477.

The aim of our study was to assess the nest-building behaviour of two mouse (Mus musculus) strains using different nesting materials and examine possible sex- and housing-specific effects. Adult mice of two strains (C57BL/6J; n...

Holdsworth, S. E., Kells, N. J., Chidgey, K. L. et al. 2021. Characterisation of the behavioural effects of a thoracic squeeze in healthy newborn piglets. Animals 11(8), 2465.

Firmly squeezing the chests of newborn foals and calves that are showing abnormal behaviours after birth causes them to enter a less-responsive state, characterised by lying down with eyes closed and no limb movements. Once...

Desforges, E. 2021. Challenges and solutions surrounding environmental enrichment for dogs and cats in a scientific environment. Animals 11(10), 2980.

Dogs and cats housed in research-, kennel- and cattery-type settings are reliant on caregivers to optimise their day-to-day experiences and welfare. The goal is to provide enriching environments for physical, social and environmental control; behavioural...

Mondin, C., Trestini, S., Trocino, A. et al. 2021. The economics of rabbit farming: A pilot study on the impact of different housing systems. Animals 11(11), 3040.

This research evaluates the economic sustainability of rabbit farms using different housing systems—bicellular (BI), conventional dual-purpose (DP) and enriched cages designed according to the World Rabbit Science Association guidelines (WRSA)—through a field-based study involving six...

Kalies, A., Baumgartner, J., Beyerbach, M. et al. 2021. Interactive rooting towers and behavioural observations as strategies to reduce tail biting on conventional pig fattening farms. Animals 11(11), 3025.

Eight pens (25 pigs/pen; n = 200) provided with an interactive straw-filled rooting tower (experimental group) and five pens (25 pigs/pen; n = 125) with a stationary (fixed) tower without straw (control group) were compared...

Minie, V. A., Petric, R., Ramos-Maciel, S. et al. 2021. Enriched laboratory housing increases sensitivity to social stress in female California mice (Peromyscus californicus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 241, 105381.

Domesticated mice and rats have shown to be powerful model systems for biomedical research, but there are cases in which the biology of species is a poor match for the hypotheses under study. The California...

Fynn, M., Crow, G., Connor, L. 2021. Pre-farrow enrichment with burlap sheet: potential benefit for sow performance. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 101(4), 781-787.

Burlap has been proposed as an enrichment option for the conventional farrowing crate environment. Our objectives were to determine if burlap sheets hung in farrowing crates were used by sows and piglets and had any...

Buckinx, A., Van Schuerbeek, A., Bossuyt, J. et al. 2021. Exploring refinement strategies for single housing of male C57BL/6JRj mice: Effect of cage divider on stress-related behavior and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis activity. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 15, 743959.

Introduction: Single housing of laboratory mice is a common practice to meet experimental needs, or to avoid intermale aggression. However, single housing is considered to negatively affect animal welfare and may compromise the scientific validity...

Campbell, D. L. M., Lee, C. 2021. A perspective on strategic enrichment for brain development: Is this the key to animal happiness? Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 720422.

Livestock animals are sentient beings with cognitive and emotional capacities and their brain development, similar to humans and other animal species, is affected by their surrounding environmental conditions. Current intensive production systems, through the restrictions...