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. 
Gouveia, K., Hurst, J. L. 2019. Improving the practicality of using non-aversive handling methods to reduce background stress and anxiety in laboratory mice. Scientific Reports 9, 20305.

Handling can stimulate stress and anxiety in laboratory animals that negatively impacts welfare and introduces a confounding factor in many areas of research. Picking up mice by the tail is a major source of handling...

Colby, L. A., Nowland, M. H., Kennedy, L. H. 2019. Clinical Laboratory Animal Medicine: An Introduction (5th ed). Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, IA.

The revised fifth edition of Clinical Laboratory Animal Medicine: An Introduction is an accessible guide to basic information for conducting animal research safely and responsibly. It includes a review of the unique anatomic and physiologic...

Doerning, C. M., Thurston, S. E., Villano, J. S. et al. 2019. Assessment of mouse handling techniques during cage changing. JAALAS 58(6), 767–773.

Mouse handling during cage changing and health evaluation has traditionally been performed by using forceps. This method was adopted as a biosecurity measure but can adversely affect employee ergonomics and rodent behavior. In this study...

Makowska, I. J., Weary, D. M. 2019. A good life for laboratory rodents? ILAR Journal 60(3), 373-388.

Most would agree that animals in research should be spared “unnecessary” harm, pain, or distress, and there is also growing interest in providing animals with some form of environmental enrichment. But is this the standard...

Clarkson, J. M., Dwyer, D. M., Flecknell, P. A. et al. 2019. Handling method alters the hedonic value of reward in laboratory mice. Scientific Reports 8, 2448.

Mice are the most widely used model species for drug discovery and scientific research. Consequently, it is important to refine laboratory procedures and practices to ensure high standards of welfare and scientific data quality. Recent...

Swan, A. 2018. Refining mouse handling - do we or don't we? An animal technologist's perspective. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(2), 130-131.

Recent research in the industry identified that picking up mice in a tunnel or cupping them in the hand significantly reduces their stress levels. As Animal Tecgnologists, we could see advantages and disadvantages with this...

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...

Neff, E. P. 2018. Home sweet home cage. Lab Animal 47(10), 261–264.

This feature describes creative ways in which technology can be used to study animals within their home cages, eliminating the need to handle, restrain, and separate them from cage mates. One example includes voluntary brain...

Larsen, R. A., Peveler, J. L., Klutzke, J. B. et al. 2017. Effects of daily restraint with and without injections on skeletal properties in C57BL/6NHsd mice. Lab Animal 46(7), 299-301.

Studies typically involve groups of animals that are injected with placebo compounds. As there are studies that demonstrate that restraint and injection can affect behavior and corticosteroid levels in rodents, the basis of such placebo...

Waters, J. 2017. Time for change? Practicalities of implementing non-aversive methods for handling mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(1), 47-56.

Recent studies have shown that the method choice for handling laboratory mice is important to animal welfare. In 2015, 60% of all animals used in Home Office procedures were laboratory mice. Given the large number...

Tucker, R. D. 2017. Woodchuck College. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(2) (June), 33-36.

Marmota monax is a valuable laboratory animal species used in studies of Hepatitis B virus (HBV), food intake, obesity, hibernation, and circannual cycles. This article describes the woodchuck’s (also known as groundhog) natural behavior and...

Schneider, B. M., Erhard, M. H., Scheipl, F. et al. 2016. Comparison of 2 gentling programs for laboratory rats: Effects on the behavior toward humans. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 12, 73-81.

Gentling can reduce the fear reactions of young laboratory rats toward people long term. We were able to show this outcome in a previous study that involved a successful but elaborate gentling program. In the...

Bode, A. E., Barber, H. 2014. Use of vinyl nonadhesive tape as an alternative for positioning rodents in small animal imaging. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 597-598. (Abstract #P185).

Specific positioning for different imaging modalities is essential in our small animal imaging core. While we have different animal holders designed to position the animal inside the MRI, additional securing of the animal to the...

Young, M., Lawson, G. W., Duarte-Vogel, S. et al. 2014. Minimizing symptoms and stress in seizure-prone mice by using acupressure during routine handling. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 555 (Abstract #P29).

Many laboratory mice used in research experience spontaneous seizures during cage changing and routine handling. The triggers are usually the abrupt sound and sudden motion of the cage. These seizures can range from mild to...

Hrapkiewicz, K., Colby, L. A., Denison, P. 2013. Clinical Laboratory Animal Medicine: An Introduction (4th Ed). Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, IA.

Clinical Laboratory Animal Medicine: An Introduction, Fourth Edition offers a user-friendly guide to the unique anatomy and physiology, care, common diseases, and treatment of small mammals and nonhuman primates. Carefully designed for ease of use...

Cruden, J., Bester, J., Baines, N. et al. 2013. Will a more consistent handling method lead to a calmer rabbit? Animal Technology and Welfare 11, 127-130.

The authors describe various methods of handling and restraining rabbits, and propose that while many methods are appropriate, rabbits respond better if only one method is used consistently.

Cloutier, S., Baker, C., Wahl, K. et al. 2013. Playful handling as social enrichment for individually- and group-housed laboratory rats. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 143(2-4), 85-95.

Social housing is recommended for laboratory rats because they are highly social mammals but research constraints or medical issues often demand individual housing and, when social housing is practiced, it typically involves housing with only...

Swennes, A. G., Alworth, L. C., Harvey, S. B. et al. 2011. Human handling promotes compliant behavior in adult laboratory rabbits. JAALAS 50(2), 41-45.

Routine laboratory procedures can be stressful for laboratory animals. We wanted to determine whether human handling of adult rabbits could induce a degree of habituation, reducing stress and facilitating research-related manipulation. To this end, adult...

Rasmussen, S., Miller, M., Filipski, S. B. et al. 2011. Cage change influences serum corticosterone and anxiety-like behaviors in the mouse. JAALAS 50(4), 479-483.

Environmental variables and husbandry practices can influence physiology and alter behavior in mice. Our study evaluated the effects of cage change on serum corticosterone levels and anxiety-like behaviors in C57BL/6 male mice. We examined the...

Raff, H., Bruder, E. D., Cullinan, W. E. et al. 2011. Effect of animal facility construction on basal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and renin-aldosterone activity in the rat. Endocrinology 152(4), 1218-1221.

Although loud noise and intense vibration are known to alter the behavior and phenotype of laboratory animals, little is known about the effects of nearby construction. We studied the effect of a nearby construction project...

Hawkins, P., Burn, C., Hurst, J. et al. 2011. Report of the 2010 RSPCA/UFAW rodent welfare group meeting - The effect of husbandry on welfare and promoting good practice. Animal Technology and Welfare 10(2), 105-114.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group holds a one-day meeting every autumn so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on rodent welfare issues and share experiences of the implementation of the 3Rs...

Stewart, K. 2010. Effects of increased interaction between research rodents and their handlers. Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) Quarterly 59(1) Winter, 28-29.

We conclude that handling experimental animals more often than only at the time their cage is changes is beneficial.

Hurst, J. L., West, R. S. 2010. Taming anxiety in laboratory mice. Nature Methods 7(10), 825-826.

Handling experience (which includes routine maintenance) can have positive or negative effects on stress responses that influence experiments, depending on the animals' experience during handling. The most common method used to capture and handle laboratory...

Howard, B., Nevalainen, T., Perretta, G. (ed). 2010. The COST Manual of Laboratory Animal Care and Use: Refinement, Reduction, and Research (1st Ed). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

COST Action B-24 established four working groups to research and discuss issues relevant to laboratory animal science. These included the housing of animals, environmental needs, refinement of procedures, genetically modified animals, and cost-benefit analysis. Based...

Cloutier, S., Wahl, K., Newberry, R. C. 2010. Playful handling mitigates the stressfulness of injections in laboratory rats. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 721 (Abstract #P126).

Rats can be playfully handled (tickled) in a manner that mimics playful social contact with conspecifics. We hypothesized that the timing of tickling in relation to an intraperitoneal injection would affect the efficacy of tickling...