Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every three months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Links to the full text for publications that appear in open access journals or are published on the AWI website are provided under the abstract.

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 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. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Butcher, G., Davidson, A., Sloanc, A. et al. 2021. An apparatus for automatically training and collecting individualized behavioral data with socially housed rodents. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 365, 109387.
Background: Conventional methods for individually housing, training, and testing rodents in behavioral assays can impose constraints that may limit some kinds of experimental external validity, preempt environmental enrichment, impose heavy experimenter time burdens that limit...
Stryjek, R., Modlinska, K. 2022. Pre-exposure via wire-mesh partition reduces intraspecific aggression in male, wild-type Norway rats. Animal Welfare 31(2), 175-186.
There are instances when animals are introduced and expected to live alongside unfamiliar conspecifics within zoos, laboratories and wildlife sanctuaries. These pairings of unfamiliar animals may result in stress, trauma, or even death, in addition...
Kitchenham, L., Nazal, B., Adcock, A. et al. 2022. Why does lifelong conventional housing reduce the sociability of female mice? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 246, 105532.
Compared to peers raised in well-resourced, 'enriched' environments (‘EE’), female laboratory mice from conventional barren cages are more aggressive to their cage-mates, and less sociable with familiar non-cage-mates (especially if these too are from conventional...
Kranz, V. A., Horback, K. M., Parsons, T. D. et al. 2022. Sow behavior during introduction to a large dynamic group is influenced by familiarity and method. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 250, 105624.
Sows in an extensive setting maintain small, stable matrilineal social groups comprised of familiar, and often genetically related, conspecifics. Providing conditions in an intensive farm setting which allow similar social groups could reduce aggression by...
Miller, A. L., Clarkson, J. M., Quigley, C. et al. 2022. Evaluating pain and analgesia effectiveness following routine castration in rabbits using behavior and facial expressions. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 782486.
Prevention of pain in rabbits is a priority for both welfare and validity of scientific data. We aimed to determine if the rabbit grimace scale (RbtGS) could be used as a viable, rapid assessment tool...
Parois, S. P., Van Der Zande, L. E., Knol, E. F. et al. 2022. Effects of a multi-suckling system combined with enriched housing post-weaning on response and cognitive resilience to isolation. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 868149.
Improving welfare is still a critical issue in pig husbandry. Upgrades of the housing environment seem to be a promising solution to optimise resilience as a whole, and therefore improve animal welfare. The objective of...
Denommé, M. R., Mason, G. J. 2022. Social buffering as a tool for improving rodent welfare. JAALAS 61(1), 5-14.
The presence of a conspecific can be calming to some species of animal during stress, a phenomenon known as social buffering. For rodents, social buffering can reduce the perception of and reaction to aversive experiences...
Paterson, E. A., Turner, P. V. 2022. Challenges with assessing and treating pain in research primates: A focused survey and literature review. Animals 12(17), 2304.
Research primates may undergo surgical procedures making effective pain management essential to ensure good animal welfare and unbiased scientific data. Adequate pain mitigation is dependent on whether veterinarians, technicians, researchers, and caregivers can recognize and...
Windsor, P. A. 2022. Role of topical anaesthesia in pain management of farm animals, a changing paradigm. Animals 12(18), 2459.
Field evidence indicates that livestock producers are motivated by access to products that readily deliver pain management during husbandry interventions and, more recently, viral epidermal infectious diseases, including FMD. There has been impressive adoption in...
Aldhshan, M. S., Mizuno, T. M. 2022. Effect of environmental enrichment on aggression and the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor transcript variants in group-housed male mice. Behavioural Brain Research 433, 113986.
Social and environmental factors influence behavior via modulation of brain physiological functions. Environmental enrichment (EE) is an animal housing technique that provides complex sensory, motor, and social stimulation, leading to modifications in the innate aggressiveness...
Chan, G., Si, C., Nichols, M. R. et al. 2022. Assessment of the safety and efficacy of pre-emptive use of extended-release buprenorphine for mouse laparotomy. JAALAS 61(4), 381-387.
Buprenorphine is commonly used to control postoperative pain in rodents. Short-acting formulations of buprenorphine (bup-HCl) require frequent handling and restraint of animals for appropriate dosing, which can be stressful and confound research outcomes. Ethiqa XR...
Zevnik, B., Jerchow, B., Buch, T. 2022. 3R measures in facilities for the production of genetically modified rodents. Lab Animal 51(6), 162-177.
Sociocultural changes in the human–animal relationship have led to increasing demands for animal welfare in biomedical research. The 3R concept is the basis for bringing this demand into practice: Replace animal experiments with alternatives where...
Scariot, P. P., Gobatto, C. A., Polisel, E. E. et al. 2022. Early-life mice housed in standard stocking density reduce the spontaneous physical activity and increase visceral fat deposition before reaching adulthood. Laboratory Animals 56(4), 344-355.
Laboratory rodents spend the entire day housed in standard cages that provide a restricted area for movements and might, therefore, limit physical activity. However, it has not been tested in immature rodents of ages ranging...
Hohlbaum, K., Merle, R., Frahm, S. et al. 2022. Effects of separated pair housing of female C57BL/6JRj mice on well-being. Scientific Reports 12(1), 8819.
In laboratory animal facilities, it is a common code of practice to house female mice in groups. However, some experimental conditions require to house them individually, even though social isolation may impair their well-being. Therefore...
Tivey, E. K. L., Martin, J. E., Brown, S. M. et al. 2022. Sex differences in 50 kHz call subtypes emitted during tickling-induced playful behaviour in rats. Scientific Reports 12(1), 15323.
‘Tickling’ induces positive affective states in laboratory rats as evidenced by the production of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalisations (USVs), although this has mostly been investigated in males. Juvenile rats emit distinctive 50-kHz USV subtypes. Frequency-modulated (FM)...
Stickney, J. D., Morgan, M. M. 2021. Social housing promotes recovery of wheel running depressed by inflammatory pain and morphine withdrawal in male rats. Behavioural Brain Research 396, 112912.
The increased use of opioids to treat pain has led to a dramatic increase in opioid abuse. Our previous data indicate that pain may facilitate the development of opioid abuse by increasing the magnitude and...
Yamanashi, Y., Nemoto, K., Alejandro, J. 2021. Social relationships among captive male pygmy slow lorises (Nycticebus pygmaeus): Is forming male same-sex pairs a feasible management strategy? American Journal of Primatology 83, e23233.
Little is known about the social behavior of pygmy slow lorises, in particular, the social relationships of same‐sex individuals have rarely been investigated. The Slow Loris Conservation Center was built at the Japan Monkey Center...
de França Malheiros, M. A. S., Castelo-Branco, R., de Medeiros, P. H. S. et al 2021. Conspecific presence improves episodic-like memory in rats. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 14, 572150.
A number of studies have provided evidence that animals, including rats, remember past episodes. However, few experiments have addressed episodic-like memory from a social perspective. In the present study, we evaluated Wistar rats in the...
Norscia, I., Collarini, E.,Cordoni, G. 2021. Anxiety behavior in pigs (Sus scrofa) decreases through affiliation and may anticipate threat. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 630164.
Anxiety is a physio-psychological state anticipating an imminent threat. In social mammals it is behaviorally expressed via displacement activities and buffered via affiliation. Anxiety research on domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) has mostly focused on abnormal/stereotypic...
Kendall, L. V., Singh, B., Bailey, A. L. et al. 2021. Pharmacokinetics and efficacy of a long-lasting, highly concentrated buprenorphine solution in mice. JAALAS 60(1), 64-71.
Buprenorphine is a commonly used opioid for mitigating pain in laboratory mice after surgical procedures; however, the dosing interval necessary for standard buprenorphine may require treatment every 4 to 6 h to maintain an adequate...
Blaney, A., Jampachaisri, K., Huss, M. K. et al. 2021. Sustained release buprenorphine effectively attenuates postoperative hypersensitivity in an incisional pain model in neonatal rats (Rattus norvegicus). PLoS ONE 16(2), e0246213.
Despite the need for safe and effective postoperative analgesia in neonates, research regarding pain management in neonatal rodents is relatively limited. Here, we investigate whether sustained release buprenorphine (Bup SR) effectively attenuates thermal hypersensitivity in...
Katz, E. M., Huss, M. K., Jampachaisri, K. et al. 2021. Buprenorphine, but not lidocaine, effectively attenuates post-operative thermal hypersensitivity in an incisional model in neonatal rats (Rattus norvegicus). Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 47(1), 1-11.
There is limited information on safe and effective neonatal rodent analgesia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and duration of analgesia provided by buprenorphine (Bup) and lidocaine (Lid) in an incisional...
Olson, M. J., Creamer, M., Horback, K. M. 2021. Identification of specific call types produced by pre-weaning gilts in response to isolation. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 234, 105203.
Monitoring the vocalizations produced by livestock in commercial facilities can be used to remotely assess the arousal, and perhaps welfare, of the animals. Domestic swine is an ideal candidate for this type of assessment as...
Camerlink, I., Proßegger, C., Kubala, D. et al. 2021. Keeping littermates together instead of social mixing benefits pig social behaviour and growth post-weaning. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 235, 105230.
The importance of social stability and its influence on the expression of the social behaviour repertoire in domestic animals remains poorly understood, especially for affiliative behaviours and other putative socio-positive behaviours such as social play...
Prior, H., Holbrook, M. 2021. Strategies to encourage the adoption of social housing during cardiovascular telemetry recordings in non-rodents. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 108, 106959.
The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) is working with industry to promote social housing during cardiovascular telemetry recordings within non-rodent safety pharmacology and toxicology studies. Following surveys...

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