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. 
Golledge, H., Richardson, C. (Eds.) 2024. The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals (9th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 1040 p.

The latest edition of the seminal reference on the care and management of laboratory and research animals. The newly revised ninth edition of The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other...

Sánchez-Salcedo, J. A., Yáñez-Pizaña, A. 2024. Effects of free farrowing system on the productive performance and welfare of sows and piglets. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 27(1), 1–11.

Regardless of international animal welfare regulations, most sows in production currently spend most of their lives and the peripartum period in caged housing systems. Although this type of management is intended to reduce neonatal mortality...

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...

Bellini, L., Schrank, M., Veladiano, I. A. et al. 2023. Retrospective comparison of the effects of laryngeal mask and endotracheal tube on some cardio-respiratory variables in pet rabbits undergoing anaesthesia for elective gonadectomy. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 65(1), 10.

Endotracheal intubation in rabbits is challenging and supraglottic airway devices, such as laryngeal masks (LMA), represent an alternative as they are easy to insert, and do not stimulate the larynx requiring therefore a lighter plane...

Dumniem, N., Boonprakob, R., Parsons, T. D. et al. 2023. Pen versus crate: A comparative study on the effects of different farrowing systems on farrowing performance, colostrum yield and piglet preweaning mortality in sows under tropical conditions. Animals 13(2), 233.

The present study was performed to determine the farrowing performance of sows, newborn piglet characteristics, colostrum yield, milk yield and piglet preweaning mortality in a free-farrowing pen compared to a conventional farrowing crate system in...

Kaiser, S., Korte, A., Wistuba, J. et al. 2023. Effects of castration and sterilization on baseline and response levels of cortisol—A case study in male guinea pigs. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1093157.

An uncontrolled reproduction of animals in human hands should be avoided. To meet this goal, animals are widely castrated, i.e., the gonads are completely removed. Since the gonads are the most important source of sex...

Palermo Mendes, J., Ribeiro Caldara, F., de Castro Burbarelli, M. F. et al. 2023. Performance and welfare of sows exposed to auditory environmental enrichment in mixed or collective housing systems. Animals 13(7), 1226.

The research aimed to assess the effects of auditory environmental enrichment on sows in mixed housing (caged until 35 days after insemination and then collective pens) or collective housing (caged until 72 h after insemination...

Pennington, E., Springer, C., Albright, J. et al. 2023. Evaluation of different methods of environmental enrichment to control anxiety in dogs undergoing hemilaminectomy after acute intervertebral disc extrusion: A randomized double-blinded study. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10, 1124982.

The goal of this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was to evaluate the effect of environmental enrichment (EE) on post-operative pain and anxiety in dogs following hemilaminectomy for acute intervertebral disc extrusion (IVDE).MethodsTwenty healthy client-owned dogs...

Silva, W. C. da Silva, J. A. R. da Camargo-Júnior, R. N. C. et al. 2023. Animal welfare and effects of per-female stress on male and cattle reproduction—A review. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10, 1083469.

Thermal stress causes severe effects on the wellbeing and reproduction of cattle, including changes in oogenesis and spermatogenesis, generating great concerns, which last for decades. In cattle, the occurrence of thermal stress is associated with...

Monteiro, M. S., Muro, B. B. D., Carnevale, R. F. et al. 2023. The beneficial effects of providing prepartum sows with nesting materials on farrowing traits, piglet performance and maternal behavior: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 259, 105795.

Sows are highly motivated to engage in nest-building behavior prior to farrowing. Studies have shown that providing nesting material to farrowing sows reduces the occurrence of redirected nest-building behaviors, improves farrowing traits and maternal behavior...

Franchi, G. A., Larsen, M. L. V., Kristoffersen, I. H. et al. 2023. Play behaviour positively relates to weight gain, feeding behaviour and drinking behaviour in weaner pigs (Sus scrofa). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 259, 105836.

Engagement in play behaviour has been associated with the presence of positive affective states and, thus, proposed to be an indicator of positive animal welfare. However, the interpretation of play in animals remains challenging due...

Buijs, S., Weller, J., Budan, A. 2023. When the measurement affects the object – Impact of a multi-part head/neck mounted wearable device on dairy cow behaviour, health and productivity. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 263, 105937.

Wearable technology is increasingly used in both dairy research and commercial dairy farming. Assessment of how such wearables affect cows is of major importance to rule out reductions in welfare and productivity that would hamper...

Andersen, I. L., Ocepek, M., Thingnes, S. L. et al. 2023. Welfare and performance of finishing pigs on commercial farms: Associations with group size, floor space per pig and feed type. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 265, 105979.

Based on data from a field survey of 85 Norwegian farms, we aimed to investigate associations of group size, floor space per pig and type of feed with selected welfare- and performance indicators in finishing...

Contreras-Jodar, A., Escribano, D., Cerón, J. J. et al. 2023. Reducing stocking densities and using cooling systems for more adapted pigs to high temperatures when reared in intensive conditions. Animals 13(15), 2424.

This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of reducing stocking density and using cooling systems to mitigate the negative effects of high temperatures in growing pigs (females and castrated males) reared in intensive conditions...

Paranjape, V. V., Garcia-Pereira, F. L., Menciotti, G. et al. 2023. Evaluation of electrical cardiometry for measuring cardiac output and derived hemodynamic variables in comparison with lithium dilution in anesthetized dogs. Animals 13(14), 2362.

Numerous cardiac output (CO) technologies were developed to replace the ‘gold standard’ pulmonary artery thermodilution due to its invasiveness and the risks associated with it. Minimally invasive lithium dilution (LiD) shows excellent agreement with thermodilution...

Trębacz, P., Frymus, J., Barteczko, A. et al. 2023. Accuracy of instrument portal placement using a custom-made 3D-printed aiming device versus free hand technique in canine elbow arthroscopy. Animals 13(23), 3592.

While the insertion of the arthroscope into the elbow joint is relatively easy based on anatomical landmarks, obtaining a correctly located instrument portal is often difficult. Therefore, the goal of the study was to create...

Alizadeh, E. A., Graf, K., Schiwon, J. et al. 2023. Thirty years of telemetry-based data acquisition for cardiovascular drug safety evaluation: Applications and optimization. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 122, 107279.

Conducting safety evaluations of new drugs using conscious animals has been a specialty of our working group for thirty years. In this article, we review the various technical challenges and solutions dealt with over the...

Brereton, J. E., Brereton, S. 2023. The effect of basking light provision on sun beetle enclosure use. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(2), 283–288.

The effect of basking light provision on sun beetle enclosure use.

Elane, G. L., Portela, D. A., Hobbs, K. J. et al. 2023. Sedated cesarean sections are associated with increased kid survival compared to general anesthesia in goats: Retrospective cohort of 45 cases (2011–2021). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 261(3), 391–396.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether anesthesia type (sedation or general anesthesia) affects kid survival to discharge in caprine cesarean sections (C-sections). ANIMALS Retrospective cohort of 99 caprine C-sections (2011–2021). PROCEDURES All surgeries were performed via left...

Jones, S. M., Burns, C. C., Reed, R. A. et al. 2023. The effect of adding a heated humidified breathing circuit on body temperature in healthy anesthetized dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 261(8), 1181–1185.

OBJECTIVE To compare the effect of a circulating warm water blanket (WWB) in combination with a heated humidified breathing circuit (HHBC) heated to 45 °C on rectal temperature (RT) in dogs undergoing general anesthesia for...

Martin-Flores, M., Nugen, S. A., Boesch, J. M. et al. 2023. Low-dose epidural anesthesia decreases the use of intraoperative systemic analgesics in goats undergoing lower urinary tract surgery. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 261(8), 1147–1151.

OBJECTIVE To test whether the use of low-dose epidural anesthesia (EA) in goats undergoing lower urinary tract surgery reduces the requirements of perioperative analgesics, contributes to intraoperative hypotension, and improves postoperative comfort during the first...

Pierdon, M. K., Berdahl, S. E. 2023. Effect of topical spray containing lidocaine on piglet behaviour post castration. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(2), 195–204.

Previous studies examining the impact of topical lidocaine spray on postcastration pain behavior in piglets used scan sampling for the collection of behavior data. This methodology led to inconclusive results on the efficacy of topical...

Nicolis, I. N., Beale, C. N., Bidot, W. A. et al. 2022. Performance and consistency of circulating warm water blankets for rodents. JAALAS 61(1), 96-100.

General anesthesia as used for rodent research can have adverse effects on physiologic mechanisms. Thermoregulation is often greatly inhibited, with resultant deleterious effects on cardiac and respiratory function. These potential effects can be mitigated by...

Merlot, E., Meunier-Salaün, M.-C., Peuteman, B. et al. 2022. Improving maternal welfare during gestation has positive outcomes on neonatal survival and modulates offspring immune response in pigs. Physiology & Behavior 249, 113751.

Improving the housing of pregnant sows by giving them more space and access to deep straw had positive effects on their welfare, influenced their maternal behavior and improved the survival of their offspring. The present...

Knaebe, B., Weiss, C. C., Zimmermann, J. et al. 2022. The promise of behavioral tracking systems for advancing primate animal welfare. Animals 12(13), 1648.

Recent years have witnessed major advances in the ability of computerized systems to track the positions of animals as they move through large and unconstrained environments. These systems have so far been a great boon...