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. 
Association of Primate Veterinarians. 2019. Association of Primate Veterinarians’ guidelines for nonhuman primate restraint. JAALAS 58(3), 282-284.

The Association of Primate Veterinarians (APV) recognizes that several forms of restraint, including physical and chemical, are necessary for the safe handling of nonhuman primates (NHPs). The following guidelines aim to provide information to researchers...

McMillan, F. D. (ed). 2019. Mental Health and Well-being in Animals (2nd ed). CABI, Wallingford, UK.

This second edition is fully revised, expanded, and comprehensively updated with the most current knowledge about the full array of mental health issues seen in animals. Written by key opinion leaders, internationally-recognized experts and specialists...

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...

Lambert, C. J., Freshner, B. C., Chung, A. et al. 2018. An automated system for rapid cellular extraction from live zebrafish embryos and larvae: Development and application to genotyping. PLOS ONE 13(3), e0193180.

Zebrafish are a valuable model organism in biomedical research. Their rapid development, ability to model human diseases, utility for testing genetic variants identified from next-generation sequencing, amenity to CRISPR mutagenesis, and potential for therapeutic compound...

Leeds, A., Lukas, K. E. 2018. Experimentally evaluating the function of self-directed behaviour in two adult mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx). Animal Welfare 27(1), 81-86.

Given the difficulties of conducting regular endocrine and veterinary assessments of animals, behavioural observations are often the most commonly used tool to assess the welfare of animals in human care. Behavioural measures, inexpensive and convenient...

Costa, R., Sousa, C., Llorente, M. 2018. Assessment of environmental enrichment for different primate species under low budget: A case study. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 21(2), 185-199.

The 2011 European Union Zoo Inquiry presented evidence that most zoos fail to achieve adequate levels of nonhuman animal welfare. Appropriate environmental enrichment (EE) can play a role in the promotion of welfare. However, financial...

Khudamrongsawat, J., Nakchamnan, K., Laithong, P. et al. 2018. Abnormal repetitive behaviours of confiscated slow loris (Nycticebus spp.) in Thailand. Folia Primatologica 89(3-4), 216-223.

The illegal wildlife trade, especially of live animals, is a major threat to slow lorises. Large numbers of confiscated slow lorises are sent to rescue facilities. We aimed to describe the occurrence and types of...

Lutz, C. K. 2018. A cross-species comparison of abnormal behavior in three species of singly-housed old world monkeys. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 199, 52-58.

Abnormal behavior occurs in a number of captive nonhuman primate species and is often used as an indicator of welfare. However, reported levels of abnormal behavior often vary across species, making general welfare judgments difficult...

Breacker, C., Barber, I., Norton, W. H. J. et al. 2017. A low-cost method of skin swabbing for the collection of DNA samples from small laboratory fish. Zebrafish 14(1), 35-41.

Fin clipping of live fish under anesthesia is widely used to collect samples for DNA extraction. An alternative, potentially less invasive, approach involves obtaining samples by swabbing the skin of nonanesthetized fish. However, this method...

Otano-Rivera, V., Boakye, A., Grobe, N. et al. 2017. A highly efficient strategy to determine genotypes of genetically-engineered mice using genomic DNA purified from hair roots. Laboratory Animals 51(2), 138-146.

Genotyping of genetically-engineered mice is necessary for the effective design of breeding strategies and identification of mutant mice. This process relies on the identification of DNA markers introduced into genomic sequences of mice, a task...

Okada, M., Miller, T. C., Roediger, J. et al. 2017. An efficient, simple, and noninvasive procedure for genotyping aquatic and nonaquatic laboratory animals. JAALAS 56(5), 570-573.

Various animal models are indispensible in biomedical research. Increasing awareness and regulations have prompted the adaptation of more humane approaches in the use of laboratory animals. With the development of easier and faster methodologies to...

Martin, A. L. 2017. Theprimatologist as a behavioral engineer. American Journal of Primatology 79, e22500.

The field of primate behavior management has had only limited success in preventing and treating abnormal behaviors, such as stereotypy and self‐injury, in captive non‐human primates (NHP). In contrast, applied behavior analysts have had great...

Lawton, S. 2017. Do Buccal swabs from Zebrafish give enough of a sample of DNA to be used as a viable non-invasive method of genotyping? Animal Technology and Welfare 16(3), 155-164.

The zebrafish has become a valuable research model within the laboratory. Currently the proven method of genotyping involves taking a tail fin clip from the fish to gain the sample. This involves surgically removing a...

Breacker, C., Tilley, C. 2017. DNA sampling by skin swabbing for Zebrafish (Danio rerio) and sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Animal Technology and Welfare 16(3), 211-213.

Fin clipping of live fish under anaesthesia is widely used to collect tissues samples for DNA extraction. However, this technique raises a number of ethical concerns, since the use of anaesthetic and/or physical fin damage...

McMillan, J. L., Bloomsmith, M. A., Prescott, M. J. 2017. An international survey of approaches to chair restraint of nonhuman primates. Comparative Medicine 67(5), 442–451.

Specifically designed restraint chairs are the preferred method of restraint for research studies that require NHP to sit in place for sustained periods of time. In light of increasing emphasis on refinement of restraint to...

Lidster, K., Readman, G. D., Prescott, M. J. et al. 2017. International survey on the use and welfare of zebrafish Danio rerio in research. Journal of Fish Biology 90(5), 1891-1905.

A survey was conducted regarding zebrafish Danio rerio use for scientific research with a focus on: anaesthesia and euthanasia; housing and husbandry; breeding and production; refinement opportunities. A total of 98 survey responses were received...

Novak, J., Stojanovski, K., Melotti, L. et al. 2016. Effects of stereotypic behaviour and chronic mild stress on judgement bias in laboratory mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 174, 162-172.

Cognitive processes are influenced by underlying affective states, and tests of cognitive bias have recently been developed to assess the valence of affective states in animals. These tests are based on the fact that individuals...

Novak, J., Bailoo, J. D., Melotti, L. et al. 2016. Effect of cage-induced stereotypies on measures of affective state and recurrent perseveration in CD-1 and C57BL/6 mice. PLOS ONE 11(5), e0153203.

Stereotypies are abnormal repetitive behaviour patterns that are highly prevalent in laboratory mice and are thought to reflect impaired welfare. Thus, they are associated with impaired behavioural inhibition and may also reflect negative affective states...

Joshi, S., Pillay, N. 2016. Personality predicts the responses to environmental enrichment at the group but not within-groups in stereotypic African striped mice, Rhabdomys dilectus. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 182, 44-52.

Environmental enrichment is used to enhance the well-being of captive animals and to prevent or reduce stereotypic and other abnormal behaviours. However, environmental enrichment does not always succeed in its intended purpose. We investigated whether...

Winnicker, C., Gaskill, B., Garner, J. P. et al. 2016. A Guide to the Behavior & Enrichment of Laboratory Rodents. Charles River Laboratories.

Covering species-typical behavior as well as abnormal/malfunctional behavior and stereotypes observed in mice, rats, hamsters and gerbils, this is an excellent resource for those looking to implement or enhance an existing behavioral husbandry and enrichment...

Harper, L., Choleris, E., Ervin, K. et al. 2015. Stereotypic mice are aggressed by their cage-mates and tend to be poor demonstrators in social learning tasks. Animal Welfare. 24(4), 463-473.

Stereotypic behaviours (SBs) are linked with behavioural inflexibility and resemble symptoms of autism, suggesting that stereotypic animals could have autistic-like social impairments. SBs are also common in caged mice. We therefore hypothesised relationships between stereotypic...

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...

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...

Tupper, T., Manning, H., Turner, D. et al. 2014. An innovative restraint device for the placement of intravenous tail vein catheters in anesthetized mice. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 584. (Abstract #P136).

Consistently accurate intravenous tail vein administration of radiopharmaceuticals in anesthetized mice is a critical component of successful PET/CT imaging in the preclinical setting. Injectable anesthetics are often not suitable for PET imaging and commercially available...

Crast, J., Bloomsmith, M. A., Perlman, J. E. et al. 2014. Abnormal behaviour in captive sooty mangabeys. Animal Welfare 23(2), 167-177.

The influence of several factors on abnormal behaviour was investigated in 46 singly housed sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) (eight nursery-reared, 38 mother-reared), including self-injurious, self-directed, stereotypic locomotion, and faeces/urine-related behaviours (SIB, SDB, SL, FUR, respectively)...