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. 
Elane, G. L., Portela, D. A., Hobbs, K. J. et al. 2023. Sedated cesarean sections are associated with increased kid survival compared to general anesthesia in goats: Retrospective cohort of 45 cases (2011–2021). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 261(3), 391–396.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether anesthesia type (sedation or general anesthesia) affects kid survival to discharge in caprine cesarean sections (C-sections). ANIMALS Retrospective cohort of 99 caprine C-sections (2011–2021). PROCEDURES All surgeries were performed via left...

Gardhouse, S., Beaufrere, H., Hawkins, M. G. et al. 2023. Evaluation of oral transmucosal administration of pentobarbital for euthanasia of conscious wild birds. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 26(1), 4–14.

This prospective study evaluated oral transmucosal pentobarbital sodium at three doses in 110 wild-caught wild birds requiring euthanasia. Birds received transmucosal pentobarbital at five (430 mg/kg), six (516 mg/kg), and seven times (602 mg/kg) the...

Hube, D., van Meegen, C., Herbrandt, S. et al. 2023. Hair corticosterone concentration as a potential stress marker in pet rabbits. Veterinary Record 193(9), e3464.

Background As a prey species, rabbits tend to hide their illnesses and injuries. Consequently, pet rabbit owners often do not notice that their pet may be suffering. Methods Data on the housing and health of...

Martin-Flores, M., Nugen, S. A., Boesch, J. M. et al. 2023. Low-dose epidural anesthesia decreases the use of intraoperative systemic analgesics in goats undergoing lower urinary tract surgery. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 261(8), 1147–1151.

OBJECTIVE To test whether the use of low-dose epidural anesthesia (EA) in goats undergoing lower urinary tract surgery reduces the requirements of perioperative analgesics, contributes to intraoperative hypotension, and improves postoperative comfort during the first...

Rosati, A. G., Sabbi, K. H., Bryer, M. A. H. et al. 2023. Observational approaches to chimpanzee behavior in an African sanctuary: Implications for research, welfare, and capacity-building. American Journal of Primatology 85(9), e23534.

Research in African ape sanctuaries has emerged as an important context for our understanding of comparative cognition and behavior. While much of this work has focused on experimental studies of cognition, these animals semi-free-range in...

Webb, J. K., Keller, K. A., Chinnadurai, S. K. et al. 2023. Use of alfaxalone in bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps): Optimizing pharmacodynamics and evaluating cardiogenic effects via echocardiography. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 261(1), 126–131.

OBJECTIVE Bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps), a popular zoological companion species, frequently require sedation for procedures. A novel formulation of alfaxalone with preservatives was FDA approved for 28-day use after the vial is breached. Research has...

Li, P.-H., Li, W.-B., Li, B.-W. 2022. Positional behavior and substrate use in wild Tibetan macaques. Animals 12(6), 767.

Body size and individual development significantly affect positional behavior and substrate use. However, only a few studies have been conducted on immature wild macaques. We studied wild Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) inhabiting Mt. Huangshan, China...

Buckmaster, C. L., Levesque, D., LaFollette, M. et al. 2022. Five hot topics in refinement of nonhuman primate neuroscience research. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 24-26.

Members of the North American 3Rs Collaborative (NA3RsC) refinement initiative have chosen to summarize developments in five hot topics of interest: 1. Tips for welfare-friendly transport, chairing, and restraint; 2. Guidance on refining food and...

Tomeczko, S. 2022. Interpreting macaque facial expressions and body behavior in preparation for social housing. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 62-63.

This article will help those who are new to working with non-human primates. Interpreting macaque facial expressions and body behavior is important for beginning the process of pair housing two animals.

Chappell, J., Thorpe, S. K. S. 2022.The role of great ape behavioral ecology in One Health: Implications for captive welfare and re‐habilitation success. American Journal of Primatology 84(4-5), e23328.

Behavior is the interface through which animals interact with their environments, and therefore has potentially cascading impacts on the health of individuals, populations, their habitats, and the humans that share them. Evolution has shaped the...

Rose, P., Roper, A., Banks, S. et al. 2022. Evaluation of the time-activity budgets of captive ducks (Anatidae) compared to wild counterparts. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 251, 105626.

Ducks are commonly housed in captive environments where their abilities for flight are constrained, either temporarily or permanently. The use of flight restraint in modern animal management is contentious and ethically questioned yet any associated...

Escribano, D., Doldán-Martelli, V., Cronin, K. A. et al. 2022. Chimpanzees organize their social relationships like humans. Scientific Reports 12(1), 16641.

Human relationships are structured in a set of layers, ordered from higher (intimate relationships) to lower (acquaintances) emotional and cognitive intensity. This structure arises from the limits of our cognitive capacity and the different amounts...

Edes, A. N., Zimmerman, D., Jourdan, B. et al. 2022. Value ranges and clinical comparisons of serum DHEA-S, IL-6, and TNF-α in western lowland gorillas. Animals 12(19), 2705.

Physiological data can provide valuable information about the health and welfare of animals. Unfortunately, few validated assays and a lack of information on species-typical levels of circulating biomarkers for wildlife make the measurement, interpretation, and...

Li, W., Yan, C., Descovich, K. et al. 2022. The effects of preslaughter electrical stunning on serum cortisol and meat quality parameters of a slow-growing Chinese chicken breed. Animals 12(20), 2866.

Electrical stunning is widely utilized prior to a neck cut to induce unconsciousness in order to improve animal welfare and slaughter efficiency in the broiler production industry. However, slaughter without stunning is still very commonly...

Munday, C., Rose, P. 2022. Envirionmental and social influences on the behaviour of free-living mandarin ducks in richmond park. Animals 12(19), 2554.

Many species of birds are housed in zoos globally and are some of the most popular of animals kept under human care. Careful observations of how species live and behave in their natural habitats can...

Albanese, V., Berardi, R., Llorente, M. et al. 2022. Mechanisms of expression of object play: A comparative study of stone handling in two captive groups of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis fascicularis). Behavioural Processes 203, 104774.

Stone handling (SH) is a form of solitary object play that is socially learned and culturally maintained. We studied two captive groups (Modena, N = 20; Padova, N = 20) of common long-tailed macaques housed...

Hepps Keeney, C., Harrison, T. M. 2022. Euthanasia complications in non-domestic species. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3(4), 616–623.

There are very few studies describing euthanasia complications in non-domestic species. The goal of this study was to survey veterinarians to determine what complications may commonly occur during the euthanasia of non-domestic species. An online...

Kishida, T., Motokawa, Y., Yokoi, R. et al. 2022. Less invasive, simultaneous, and continuous measurements of locomotor activity and body temperature using the nano tag® small accelerometer device in cynomolgus monkeys. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 118, 107224.

Locomotor activity and body temperature evaluations of cynomolgus monkeys are useful to understand the effects of drugs on the central nervous system. Here, we describe a simple, inexpensive, and less invasive evaluation method using the...

Mumm, L. E., Mans, C. 2022. Evaluation of dexmedetomidine-midazolam sedation in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 260(10), 1194–1199.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the sedative effects of IM administration of a high or low dose of dexmedetomidine in combination with midazolam in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). ANIMALS 20 healthy adult budgerigars. PROCEDURES In a prospective, randomized...

Takeshita, R. S. C. 2022. Validation of an enzyme immunoassay for measurement of fecal dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in gibbons and siamangs. Zoo Biology 41(6), 544–553.

Monitoring wildlife stress levels is essential to ensure their quality of life in captivity or in the wild. One promising method to assess the stress response is the comeasurement of glucocorticoids (GC) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate...

Wotton, S., Grist, A., O’Callaghan, M. et al. 2021. Head-only stunning of turkeys Part 2: Subjective and objective assessment of the application of AC and DC waveforms. Animals 11(2), 286.

Electrical stunning is likely to remain an important stunning method for turkeys at slaughter. The purpose of this study is to understand the application of various waveforms of alternating current (AC) and pulsed direct currents...

Labuguen, R., Matsumoto, J., Negrete, S. B. et al. 2021. MacaquePose: A novel “in the wild” macaque monkey pose dataset for markerless motion capture. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 14, 581154.

Video-based markerless motion capture permits quantification of an animal's pose and motion, with a high spatiotemporal resolution in a naturalistic context, and is a powerful tool for analyzing the relationship between the animal's behaviors and...

Barretta, L. A., Maloney, S. K., Blachea, D. 2021. Pekin ducks are motivated to access their nest site and exhibit a stress-induced hyperthermia when unable to do so. Animal 15(1), 100067.

The origins of floor-laying in ducks could be low motivation for a nest, or stress related to difficulties with accessing a nest (e.g. competition). Using a behavioural demand test, we investigated if increasing the work...

Coleman, K., Shapiro, S. J. (Eds.). 2021. Behavioral Biology of Laboratory Animals (1st ed). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

This 30-chapter volume informs students and professionals about the behavioral biology of animals commonly housed in laboratory and other captive settings. Each species evolved under specific environmental conditions, resulting in unique behavioral patterns, many of...

Prior, H., Holbrook, M. 2021. Strategies to encourage the adoption of social housing during cardiovascular telemetry recordings in non-rodents. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 108, 106959.

The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) is working with industry to promote social housing during cardiovascular telemetry recordings within non-rodent safety pharmacology and toxicology studies. Following surveys...