Refinement Database

Humans in a negative emotional state are more likely to judge ambiguous stimuli as negative. In recent years, similar judgement biases have been found in some non-human animals that were exposed to long-term or short-term...

This book focuses primarily on human kindness and compassion rather than on human cruelty, callousness, indifference, and egocentric endeavors. It is common knowledge that many lay people and professional researchers treat animals in their charge...

Most regulations governing animal experimentation require that the harms expected to be incurred by animal subjects should be balanced against the likely benefits of the project. Too often, however, expected human benefits are based on...

Animal care for nonhuman primates (NHPs) in biomedical facilities has undergone major changes in the past few decades. Today, most primate facilities have dedicated and highly trained animal care technicians who go to great efforts...

The use of dogs in research has been under increasing public scrutiny and criticism over the past several years, and our institution has been no exception. Of particular concern is the use of Class B...

Environmental enrichment strategies are used to improve both the physiological and psychological welfare of captive animals, which can be achieved by increasing the expression of natural behaviour and decreasing abnormal behaviours. Examples of successful environmental...

A respected resource for decades, the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals has been updated by a committee of experts, taking into consideration input from the scientific and laboratory animal communities and...

Comprehensive enrichment programs for dogs, while not required by regulations, are becoming more common in research facilities. Many institutions are providing chewable enrichment devices and pair or group housing for their canine colonies. Human interaction...

The discussion was started by the following questions: "Is the squeeze-back mechanism more or less stressful than the pole and collar system for removing a macaque from his cage for an IM (intramuscular) injection?" and...

Caring for laboratory animals is a primary function for animal technicians and demands total commitment to ensuring all species receive the highest level of care and welfare during their time within a research facility. On...

This report is a summary of the Workshop which took place at Congress 2009 and the questionnaire submitted in preparation. The report covers the emotions raised by people working in the biomedical industry. At Congress...

At Huntingdon Life Sciences, we have developed a program to meet the exercise and socialization needs of our canines. Our program, entitled "Zen Pen" is a 30-minute weekly play session with at least two technicians...

Positive reinforcement training is one component of behavioural management employed to improve psychological well-being. There has been regulatory promotion to compensate for restricted social housing in part by providing human interaction to singly caged primates...

To do justice to the diverse approaches to enrichment and behavioral management around the world would entail a discussion beyond the limits of this publication. Therefore, guidelines and regulations in a representative sample of countries...

It is now more than 20 years since both Council of Europe Convention ETS123 and EU Directive 86/609/EEC were introduced, to promote the implementation of the Three Rs in animal experimentation and to provide guidance...

In response to a request of Congress, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) charged the National Academies to critically examine the general desirability and necessity of using random source dogs and cats in NIH-funded research...

These guidelines aim to provide information for investigators, animal care committees, facility managers and animal care staff that will assist in improving both the care given to farm animals and the manner in which experimental...

The regulation of the use of animals for experimental and other scientific purposes and the determination of minimum required standards of animal care and accommodation within Europe is generally informed by recommendations and conventions at...

The “visitor effect” problem, whether zoo visitors are stressful or enriching to zoo animals, is made difficult to analyze by numerous methodological challenges. The extremes in visitor attendance patterns during the holiday season at Disney’s...

Live, direct observations are often used to collect behavioral data. However, the presence of an observer may affect the behavior of unhabituated subjects. This study was conducted to determine the effect of an observer’s presence...

In Japan, the Architectural Institute of Japan (AIJ) provides guidelines for laboratory animal facilities and equipment. Guidelines are not legally binding but serve as the authority for proper facilities and equipment management. The first guideline...

The German law on animal protection might be more utilitarian than the American law. The legislators obviously tried to meet the needs of the animals. However, its poor definitions of main concepts such as pain...

On the basis of this paper's conclusions (White et al., 1989), the USDA decreased their cage size requirements and removed the increased space requirement for breeding guinea pigs. How well did the study determine the...

The question was asked: "Does the regular, affectionate interaction with adult animals help the subject overcome the fear of humans, and hence buffer the stress response to being handled during experimental procedures?" I think an...

Since the 1998 publication of The Psychological Well-Being of Nonhuman Primates by the National Research Council, and the 1991 implementation of the 1985 Animal Welfare Act Amendment, many formal and informal nonhuman primate enrichment programs...