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. 
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...

Vermeer, H., Dirx-Kuijken, N., Bracke, M. 2017. Exploration feeding and higher space allocation improve welfare of growing-finishing pigs. Animals 7(5), 36.

Lack of environmental enrichment and high stocking densities in growing-finishing pigs can lead to adverse social behaviors directed to pen mates, resulting in skin lesions, lameness, and tail biting. The objective of the study was...

Mortell, D., Moores, S. 2017. Increasing survival rates in the Zebrafish (Zebra danio) at the University of Manchester. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(3), 214-215.

The average survival rate for our Zebrafish (ZF) embryos was 65%. When it was time to create our next generation of Wild Type (WT) (used for embryo production), we decided to run a trial focussing...

Ebinghaus, A., Ivemeyer, S., Lauks, V. et al. 2017. How to measure dairy cows’ responsiveness towards humans in breeding and welfare assessment? A comparison of selected behavioural measures and existing breeding traits. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 196, 22-29.

For dairy cattle breeding as well as animal welfare science reliability and validity issues regarding measures of cows’ responsiveness towards humans are relevant. The objective of this study was to investigate reliability and validity aspects...

Serrapica, M., Boivin, X., Coulon, M. et al. 2017. Positive perception of human stroking by lambs: Qualitative behaviour assessment confirms previous interpretation of quantitative data. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 187, 31-37.

Qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA) was used to validate previous published interpretation whether human stroking has beneficial effects on lambs prematurely separated from their mothers. For a period of 8 weeks a familiar human (FH) subjected...

Gabriel, S. M., Riley, K. M., Spinks, W. A. et al. 2017. Husbandry, care and enrichment of diabetic Sinclair swine in the laboratory environment. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(3) (September), 53-57.

Health monitoring, enrichment, training procedures and techniques, as well as instructions for the care of vascular access ports, are outlined in this paper. The procedures described herein helped maintain a successful, long-term research population of...

Koch, C. S., Ballantyne, K. C., Tynes, V. V. et al. 2017. Training Rhea americana chicks to walk voluntarily across a scale; effect on the handler's time and the chicks' weight gain compared with traditional techniques: A pilot study. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 18, 69-75.

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if Rhea americana chicks could be trained to walk voluntarily across a scale to be weighed. If the chicks were trainable, the following questions would be...

Nawroth, C., Ebersbach, M., von Borell, E. 2016. Are domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domestica) able to use complex human-given cues to find a hidden reward? Animal Welfare 25(2), 185-190.

Understanding human-animal interactions in livestock production systems is crucial for improving animal welfare. It is therefore of general interest to investigate how livestock animals obtain information from humans. By using an object-choice paradigm, we investigated...

Fiedler, K. J., Parsons, R. L., Sadler, L. J. et al. 2016. Effects of stocking rate on measures of efficacy and welfare during argon gas euthanasia of weaned pigs. Animal Welfare 25(1), 83-89.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of chamber stocking rate on facets of animal welfare and efficacy during euthanasia of weaned pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) with argon gas. Two hundred and...

Karrberg, L., Andersson, L., Kastenmayer, R. J. et al. 2016. Refinement of habituation procedures in diet-induced obese mice. Laboratory Animals 50(5), 397-399.

Orogastric gavage, while a common method for delivering experimental substances in mice, has been shown to induce stress. To minimize the associated stress with this procedure, sham gavage prior to the start of experiment is...

Crast, J., Bloomsmith, M. A., Jonesteller, T. 2015. Effects of changing housing conditions on mangabey behavior (Cercocebus atys): Spatial density, housing quality, and novelty effects. American Journal of Primatology 77(9), 1001-1014.

The separate influences of spatial density and housing quality on the behavior of captive animals are difficult to measure because the two factors are often intrinsically linked. Here, we recorded affiliative and agonistic behavior in...

Lurzel, S., Munsch, C., Windschnurer. I. et al. 2015. The influence of gentle interactions on avoidance distance towards humans, weight gain and physiological parameters in group-housed dairy calves. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 172, 9-16.

The quality of the relationship between cattle and their caretakers is important for animal welfare and productivity. Nevertheless, the influence of gentle interactions on group-housed dairy calves has not been thoroughly studied so far. We...

Brajon, S., Laforest, J. P., Bergeron, R. et al. 2015 Persistency of a piglet's reactivity to the handler following a previous positive or negative experience. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 162, 9-19.

A central question in the stockman-animal relationship is how animals perceive humans depending on previous interactions with them. This study aimed at measuring the influence of a previous experience with humans on subsequent reactivity to...

de Oliveira, D., da Costa, J. R. P., Zupan, M. et al. 2015. Early human handling in non-weaned piglets: Effects on behaviour and body weight. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 164, 56-63.

Early handling of animals including tactile stimulation (TS) has been shown to have beneficial effects on the physical and psychological development of species where considerable maternal interaction, e.g. in the form of licking, already occurs...

Pearson, B. L., Reeder, D. M., Judge, P. G. 2015. Crowding increases salivary cortisol but not self-directed behavior in captive baboons. American Journal of Primatology 77, 462-67.

Reduced space can lead to crowding in social animals. Crowding increases the risk of agonistic interactions that, in turn, may require additional physiological defensive coping mechanisms affecting health. To determine the stress induced from increased...

Cornale, P., Macchi, E., Miretti, S. et al. 2015. Effects of stocking density and environmental enrichment on behavior and fecal corticosteroid levels of pigs under commercial farm conditions. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 10(6), 569-576.

In intensive pig farming of Western and Southern Europe, welfare concerns are still often related to barren environments and crowded conditions. Pig producers need to balance the requirements to improve welfare conditions at farm with...

Bayne, K. A., Beaver, B. V., Mench, J. A. et al. 2015. Laboratory animal behavior. In: Laboratory Animal Medicine, 3rd edition. Fox, J. G., Anderson, L., Otto, G., et al. (eds). Elsevier, Inc., Amsterdam, NL. pp. 1617-1651.

The study of laboratory animal behavior has increased steadily over the last decade, with expanding emphasis on a variety of commonly used species. In the United States, this trend was initially focused on species for...

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...

Roller, J. E., Meyers, M. 2014. Positive reinforcement training in a research setting: An introduction to sling training the Ossabaw pig. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 539. (Abstract #PS51).

Over the past year, the large animal care staff at our institution was introduced to an unfamiliar breed of pig, the Ossabaw Island pig. Not only were they tasked with adapting to this unique research...

Nicholson, G., Sheldon, E. L., Hamilton, J. et al. 2014. Sand pools as a novel enrichment for rabbits. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 571. (Abstract #P83).

For anyone who has housed rabbits in an artificial plastic environment, what to provide as a nonfood enrichment can be an issue. Nonfood enrichment, or environmental enrichment, can be any toy, engaging sights or sounds...

Croney, C. 2014. Let's stay together: Implications of social housing for laboratory pig welfare and management. Enrichment Record 19, 14-19.

Appropriately accommodating the pig's normal social behavior is an essential step in protecting its well-being in managed environments. Doing so is particularly important in laboratory settings in which distress due to social isolation and other...

Scollo, A., Edwards, S. A., Gottardo, F. et al. 2014. Does stocking density modify affective state in pigs as assessed by cognitive bias, behavioural and physiological parameters? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 153, 26-35.

Recent studies suggest that emotional state can affect cognitive abilities of humans and non-human animals, determining biases in information processing. Negative mental states, such as anxiety or depression, induce pessimistic judgments of ambiguous stimuli. These...

Reinhardt, V. (ed.) 2013. Compassion Makes a Difference - Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum [LAREF], Volume III. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

This is the third volume of discussions that took place on the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum (LAREF). This forum is dedicated to the exchange of personal experiences of refining the conditions under which...

Devine, L. 2013. Desensitization in the African Green model. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 642 (Abstract #P52).

A cooperative environment is paramount when working with nonhuman primates (NHP). Desensitization to specific stimulus helps to allow technicians to more safely perform procedures without the use of anesthetics, and with minimal restraint, greatly reducing...

Tallet, C., Brilloueet, A., Meunier-Salauuen, M. et al. 2013. Effects of neonatal castration on social behaviour, human-animal relationship and feeding activity in finishing pigs reared in a conventional or an enriched environment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 145(3-4), 70-83.

Raising entire males is already common in a few European countries. It has the advantage of avoiding the pain of castration. Entire males have also a better food conversion. However, they would be more aggressive...