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. 
Luna, D., Vásquez, R. A., Yáñez, J. M. et al. 2018. The relationship between working horse welfare state and their owners’ empathy level and perception of equine pain. Animal Welfare 27(2), 115-123.

An understanding of the factors influencing the human-animal relationship is relevant in the development of welfare interventions for working equids. However, the link between the psychological attributes of animal owners, such as empathy level and...

Peric, T., Comin, A., Corazzin, M., et al. 2018. Hair cortisol concentrations in New Zealand white rabbits subjected to surgery. Animal Welfare 27(1), 13-20.

The aim of this study was to assess hair cortisol concentrations in New Zealand white rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) that were subjected to relocation and surgery to evaluate HPA-axis activity; in addition, we used this marker...

Harikrishnan, V. S., Hansen, A. K., Abelson, K. S. P. et al. 2018. A comparison of various methods of blood sampling in mice and rats: Effects on animal welfare. Laboratory Animals 52(3), 253-264.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of blood sampling on animal welfare in a total of 60 NTac:SD rats and 72 C57BL/6NTac mice of both sexes. Blood was sampled either by sublingual vein...

Frohlich, J. R., Alarcón, C. N., Toarmino, C. R. et al. 2018. Comparison of serial blood collection by facial vein and retrobulbar methods in C57BL/6 mice. JAALAS 57(4), 382-391.

Many biomedical research protocols for mouse models involve serial blood collection and analysis. Two common techniques for serial blood collection in this species are the retrobulbar (RB, also called retroorbital) and facial vein (FV) methods...

Hoffman, J. F., Fan, A. X., Neuendorf, E. H. et al. 2018. Hydrophobic sand versus metabolic cages: A comparison of urine collection methods for rats (Rattus norvegicus). JAALAS 57(1), 51-57.

A common method for urine collection from rats requires the use of a metabolic cage, thus exposing animals to extended periods of isolation in an unfamiliar cage with a wire-mesh floor. A new method involving...

LaFollette, M. R., O’Haire, M. E., Cloutier, S. et al. 2018. A happier rat pack: The impacts of tickling pet store rats on human-animal interactions and rat welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 203, 92-102.

Rats find initial interactions with humans frightening, which can lead to negative affect, and poor welfare. A handling technique called “tickling”, which mimics rat rough-and-tumble play, can be used to reduce these negative effects. When...

Shahin, M. 2018. The effects of positive human contact by tactile stimulation on dairy cows with different personalities. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 204, 23-28.

The understanding of the ways in which cows with different personalities perceive human contact is essential for improving the quality of the human-animal relationship and therefore the welfare of dairy cows. The general objective of...

Norton, T., Piette, D., Exadaktylos, V. et al. 2018. Automated real-time stress monitoring of police horses using wearable technology. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 198, 67-74.

Mounted police horses and riders are repeatedly subjected to demanding and stressful situations. Intensive selection and training of police horses is required to ensure performance, safety and welfare of the horses and their riders. At...

Ijichi, C., Tunstall, S., Putt, E. et al. 2018. Dually Noted: The effects of a pressure headcollar on compliance, discomfort and stress in horses during handling. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 205, 68-73.

Horse handlers often encounter problem behaviour resulting from a lack of stimulus control. Handlers are often only 15% of the weight of horses, which evolved strong flight responses. Therefore, many riders and handlers resort to...

Ijichi, C., Griffin, K., Squibb, K. et al. 2018. Stranger danger? An investigation into the influence of human-horse bond on stress and behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 206, 59-63.

Human-animal bond is receiving increasing attention and is thought to confer benefits on well-being and performance in working animals. One important benefit of bonding is the “safe base” an attachment figure provides, which manifests in...

LaFollette, M. R., O’Haire, M. E., Cloutier, S. et al. 2018. Practical rat tickling: Determining an efficient and effective dosage of heterospecific play. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 208, 82-91.

Laboratory rats may experience stress during handling which can reduce their welfare. Rat tickling, a handling technique that mimics aspects of rat rough-and-tumble play, has been found to induce positive affect based on production of...

Destrez, A., Haslin, E., Boivin, X. 2018. What stockperson behavior during weighing reveals about the relationship between humans and suckling beef cattle: A preliminary study. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 209, 8-13.

The human-animal relationship is a key component of human and farm-animal welfare. Farm surveys, particularly for pig, dairy cattle and veal calf production, which include regular human contact, showed that animals may face aversive handling...

Neely, C., Lane, C., Torres, J. et al. 2018. The effect of gentle handling on depressive-like behavior in adult male mice: Considerations for human and rodent interactions in the laboratory. Behavioural Neurology 2018, 2976014.

Environmental factors play a significant role in well-being of laboratory animals. Regulations and guidelines recommend, if not require, that stressors such as bright lighting, smells, and noises are eliminated or reduced to maximize animal well-being...

Collymore, C., Kent, L., Ahn, S. K. et al. 2018. Humane endpoints for guinea pigs used for Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine research. Comparative Medicine 68(1), 41–47.

Guinea pigs are a commonly used model for tuberculosis vaccine research. Loss of body weight is the most frequently described humane endpoint for animals used in these studies. During a chronic study, we noted labored...

Wolfe, A. M., Rahman, M., McFadden, D. G. et al. 2018. Refinement and successful implementation of a scoring system for myxomatosis in a susceptible rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) model. Comparative Medicine 68(4), 280–285.

Myxoma virus is a member of Leporipoxviridae whose tropism is tightly restricted to lagomorphs. In susceptible Oryctolagus rabbits, the virus causes a highly lethal disease known as myxomatosis, which begins as a localized infection but...

Toth, L. A. 2018. Identifying and implementing endpoints for geriatric mice. Comparative Medicine 68(6), 439–451.

The types of changes in physical appearance and behavior that occur in elderly people similarly develop in elderly animals. Signs and symptoms that might cause concern in younger people or mice may be normal in...

Taylor, R. M., Miller, P. R., Ebrahimi, P. et al. 2018. Minimally-invasive, microneedle-array extraction of interstitial fluid for comprehensive biomedical applications: Transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, exosome research, and biomarker identification. Laboratory Animals 52(5), 526–530.

Interstitial fluid (ISF) has recently garnered interest as a biological fluid that could be used as an alternate to blood for biomedical applications, diagnosis, and therapy. ISF extraction techniques are promising because they are less...

Byrd, R., Boyd, S., Buckmaster, C. 2018. Rat thunder jacket— A zen experience. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 6(3) (September), 55-57.

Germ-free rats are fairly uncommon, relative to germ-free mice, and restraining these animals safely and effectively for compound administration and blood collection can be challenging. There are many commercially available varieties of restraint devices, but...

Hawkins, P., McBride, A., Paiba, G. et al. 2018. Report of the 2017 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(2), 75-83. [Meeting Report]

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent (and now Rabbit) Welfare Group held a one-day meeting on 14 November 2017 in Weybridge, UK. The first session addressed meeting animals' needs and aiming for a 'good life', with the needs...

Ebinghaus, A., Ivemeyer, S., Knierim, U. 2018. Human and farm influences on dairy cows´ responsiveness towards humans – a cross-sectional study. PLOS ONE 13(12), e0209817.

The human-animal relationship can have a major impact on cow welfare and stockpersons´ work safety and quality. This cross-sectional study investigated possible effects of stockperson and farm related factors on cows´ behaviour towards humans in...

Gut, W., Crump, L., Zinsstag, J. et al. 2018. The effect of human interaction on guinea pig behavior in animal-assisted therapy. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 25, 56-64.

Guinea pigs are included in various animal-assisted interventions (AAIs), but no research has been published to date on behavioral changes in guinea pigs interacting with humans. The goal of this study was to evaluate the...

Schmidek, A., Nogueira de Oliveira, B., Trindade, P. et al. 2018. Gently handled foals generalize responses to humans. Journal of Animal Behaviour and Biometeorology 6(1), 1-5.

Equines perform tasks along humans, and there are evidences and controversies that they are able to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar humans. This study assessed whether foals can discriminate between humans in terms of familiarity...

Rodrigues, M. V., de Castro, S. O., de Albuquerque, C. Z. 2017. The gingival vein as a minimally traumatic site for multiple blood sampling in guinea pigs and hamsters. PLOS ONE 12(5), e0177967.

Laboratory animals are still necessary in scientific investigation and vaccine testing, but while novel methodological approaches are not available for their replacement, the search for new, humane, easy, and painless methods is necessary to diminish...

Amen, E. M., Brecheisen, M., Sach-Peltason, L. et al. 2017. Refinement of a model of repeated cerebrospinal fluid collection in conscious rats. Laboratory Animals 51(1), 44-53.

The cannulation of the cisterna magna in rats for in vivo sampling of cerebrospinal fluid serves as a valuable model for studying the delivery of new drugs into the central nervous system or disease models...

Peric, T., Comin, A., Corazzin, M. et al. 2017. Relocation and hair cortisol concentrations in New Zealand White rabbits. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 20(1), 1-8.

To investigate how long relocation modified hair cortisol concentrations in New Zealand white rabbits, 19 rabbits were subjected to a change in their breeding facility at the beginning of the trial and then were kept...