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. 
Harrup, A. J., Rooney, N. 2020. Current welfare state of pet guinea pigs in the UK. Veterinary Record 186(9), 282.

Little research has been carried out into how guinea pigs are cared for in the UK, and information regarding potential welfare issues is sparse. This study was designed to examine the five welfare needs, collecting...

Jirkof, P., Bratcher, N., Medina, L. et al. 2020. The effect of group size, age and handling frequency on inter-male aggression in CD 1 mice. Scientific Reports 10(1), 2253.

Aggression in male mice often leads to injury and death, making social housing difficult. We tested whether (1) small group size, (2) early age of allocation to a group decreases aggression and 3) manipulation increases...

Niklaus, S., Albertini, S., Schnitzer, T. et al. 2020. Challenging a myth and misconception: Red-light vision in rats. Animals 10(3), 422.

Due to the lack of L-cones in the rodent retina, it is generally assumed that red light is invisible to rodents. Thus, red lights and red filter foils are widely used in rodent husbandry and...

Araújo Tavares, G., Cavalcanti do Amaral Almeida, L., Araújo de Souza, J. et al. 2020. Early weaning disrupts feeding patterns in female juvenile rats through 5HT-system modulations. Behavioural Processes 170, 103981.

Convergent evidence in literature shows that rapid disruption of maternal care and breastfeeding due to an early weaning protocol changes the development of several neurobehavioral patterns in rodents, including the circadian pattern of feeding. The...

Schiffmann, C., Hård, T., Hjelm, M. et al. 2020. Soft and persistent—The influence of sand-flooring and calves on the resting behavior of a zoo-kept African elephant (Loxodonta africana) group. Zoo Biology 39(1), 56-62.

Caring for all aspects of zoo elephants’ well-being is considered a major challenge. Providing an appropriate flooring substrate to facilitate lying rest presents a meaningful part of a holistic management concept. Investigating the impact of...

Wendler, P., Ertl, N., Flügger, M. et al. 2020. Influencing factors on the foot health of captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in European zoos. Zoo Biology 39(2), 109-120.

Pathological lesions of feet occur frequently in captive elephant populations. To improve foot health, it is important to identify risk factors associated with such pathologies. Several previous studies have analyzed potentially influencing factors but were...

Brown, J. L., Bansiddhi, P., Khonmee, J. et al. 2020. Commonalities in management and husbandry factors important for health and welfare of captive elephants in North America and Thailand. Animals 10(4), 737.

This review paper is a synthesis of results from multiple studies that we have conducted over the past several years using similar methodologies to identify factors related to welfare of captive populations of elephants in...

Składanowska-Baryza, J., Ludwiczak, A., Pruszyńska-Oszmałek, E. et al. 2020. Effect of two different stunning methods on the quality traits of rabbit meat. Animals 10(4), 700.

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of two different stunning methods on the level of blood stress indicators (cortisol, insulin, glucose) and rabbit meat quality. The experiment was conducted on crossbreds...

House, G. M., Sobotik, E. B., Nelson, J. R. et al. 2020. Effects of ultraviolet light supplementation on Pekin duck production, behavior, and welfare. Animals 10(5), 833.

Ducks, like other domestic poultry species, can visualize the ultraviolet (UV) portion of the light spectrum; however, the importance of UV light radiation in artificially lit duck growout facilities remains unknown. The objective of this...

Raspa, F., Tarantola, M., Bergero, D. et al. 2020. Stocking density affects welfare indicators in horses reared for meat production. Animals 10(6), 1103.

Horses kept for meat production are reared in intensive breeding farms. We employed a checklist adapted from the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) assessment protocol. Our evaluation aims to assess whether welfare indicators are influenced by...

Frost, K., Shah, M., Leung , V. S. Y. et al. 2020. Aversion to desflurane and isoflurane in Sprague-Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus). Animals 10(6), 950.

Carbon dioxide and isoflurane are widely used for killing rats, yet may not truly achieve “euthanasia”, because they elicit aversion. The inhalant anesthetic desflurane is faster acting than isoflurane, representing a potential refinement. Using an...

Filby, E. 2020. What 3Rs idea have you developed? Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 49-51.

The author describes how she used an automated system to reduce how frequently mouse cage bedding is changed without compromising cleanliness. This idea came from the desire to reduce animal stress to a minimum.

Oralman, T. 2020. Confronting crunching: A refinement for the care of mice with the desire to crunch. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 89-91.

‘Crunching’ is the term often used to describe the abnormal behaviour of mice that habitually crunch their pelleted diet, causing substrate levels to rise as the crumbs settle on the cage floor ultimately burying the...

Ballantine, A., Rodgers, D., Watts, C. et al. 2020. The cotton rat – a new challenge. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 92-95.

This poster describes how the Animal Technologists at Envigo adapted their current practices and procedures for a new species at their laboratory: the cotton rat. The paper describes cotton rat biology and behaviour; housing; environmental...

Wang, R., Liu, R., Li, L. et al. 2020. Fasting is not required for measuring plasma lipid levels in rabbits. Laboratory Animals 54(3), 272–280.

Plasma lipid and glucose levels are important parameters for evaluating the onset and development of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. In clinical and experimental studies of humans or mice, fasting is often required before testing plasma...

Kersemans, V., Wallington, S., Allen, P. D. et al. 2020. Manganese-free chow, a refined non-invasive solution to reduce gastrointestinal signal for T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the mouse abdomen. Laboratory Animals 54(4), 353–364.

Commercial mouse chow is designed to provide a complete, nutrient-rich diet, and it can contain upwards of 100 mg/kg manganese, an essential mineral. Manganese acts as a relaxation time-shortening contrast agent for both T1 and T2...

Améndola, L., Weary, D. M. 2020. Understanding rat emotional responses to CO2. Translational Psychiatry 10, 253.

The aim of this review is to summarize evidence regarding rat emotional experiences during carbon dioxide (CO2) exposure. The studies reviewed show that CO2 exposure is aversive to rats, and that rats respond to CO2...

Kneeland, M. R., Spagnuolo, V. A., Evers, D. C. et al. 2020. A novel method for captive rearing and translocation of juvenile common loons. Zoo Biology 39(4), 263–270.

Common loons (Gavia immer) are diving waterbirds that are particularly challenging to keep in captivity due to their specific behavioral and physiologic needs, special housing requirements, and susceptibility to stress‐related disease. We report a novel...

Turner, P. V., Hickman, D. L., van Luijk, J. et al. 2020. Welfare impact of carbon dioxide euthanasia on laboratory mice and rats: A systematic review. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 411.

Background: There has been increased concern about the suitability of CO2 as a method for euthanasia of laboratory mice and rats, including the potential discomfort, pain or distress that animals may experience prior to loss...

Beck, M. R., Gregorini, P. 2020. How dietary diversity enhances hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in grazing ruminants. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 191.

Ruminants evolved in diverse landscapes of which they utilized, by choice, a diverse arrangement of plants (grasses, forbs, and trees) for food. These plants provide them with both primary (carbohydrates, protein, etc.) and secondary (phenolics...

Feige-Diller, J., Krakenberg, V., Bierbaum, L. et al. 2020. The effects of different feeding routines on welfare in laboratory mice. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 6, 479.

The accepted norm in most laboratories around the globe is feeding laboratory mice an ad libitum diet, although several health impairments are well-established. In contrast, reducing the animals' body weight by feeding them less food...

Stevens, C., Finnegan, E., Clarkson, J. et al. 2020. Report of the 2019 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 101-111.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 26 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues, and share experiences of...

Henderson, S. 2020. Development of a sifting cage change method for rats to improve welfare. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 145-148.

This poster describes the development of a sifting cage change method for rats to improve welfare. I came up with the idea after seeing how skittish and stressed the rats in my unit were and...

Shomer, N. H., Allen-Worthington, K. H., Hickman, D. L. et al. 2020. Review of rodent euthanasia methods. JAALAS 59(3), 242–253.

The optimal choice of euthanasia method for laboratory rodents depends on a number of factors, including the scientific goals of the study, the need to minimize animal pain and/or distress, applicable guidelines and laws, the...

Laferriere, C. A., Pang, D. S. 2020. Review of intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobarbital as a method of euthanasia in laboratory rodents. JAALAS 59(3), 254–263.

Euthanasia is one of the most commonly performed procedures in biomedical research, involving tens of millions of animals in North America and Europe every year. The use of sodium pentobarbital, injected intraperitoneally, for killing rodents...