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. 
Kim, J., Lee, J., Kang, K. et al. 2023. Effects of sling belt provision on behaviour, skin lesions, and salivary cortisol level in growing pigs after transport and regrouping. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 269, 106116.

The provision of enrichment material has been widely recommended to mitigate stress and minimise aggressive behaviour as well as enhance the welfare of pigs after transport and regrouping. In this study, we assessed the effects...

Miguelena Chamorro, B., Swaminathan, G., Mundt, E. et al. 2023. Towards more translatable research: Exploring alternatives to gavage as the oral administration route of vaccines in rodents for improved animal welfare and human relevance. Lab Animal 52(9), 195–197.

Oral vaccines are gaining attention for their ease of administration and ability to activate mucosal immune responses. However, preclinical studies using this route often require the use of gavage, which has limitations. In this comment...

Neville, V., Hunter, K., Benato, L. et al. 2023. Developing guidelines for pet rat housing through expert consultation. Veterinary Record 192(3), e1839.

Background Pet care guidelines play an important role in ensuring that owners are well informed about good husbandry practices, allowing them to provide the best care for their animals. However, the development of such guidelines...

Neville, V., Lind, J., Mendl, E. et al. 2023. A mapping review of refinements to laboratory rat housing and husbandry. Lab Animal 52(3), 63–74.

Refining the housing and husbandry of laboratory rats is an important goal, both for ethical reasons and to allow better quality research. We conducted a mapping review of 1,017 studies investigating potential refinements of housing...

Titto, C. G., Ricci, G. D. 2023. Behavioral and physiological changes in sows and piglets maintained in farrowing cages or open stalls during summer. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 63, 36–41.

Containment cages are one of the main causes of chronic stress and reduced welfare during swine production as well as in hot environments. The objective of this study was to evaluate behavioral changes and physiological...

Wei, H., Geng, L., Shang, X. et al. 2023. Background color preference of amphibian Rana dybowskii. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 268, 106079.

Background color may affect the welfare of the brown frog Rana dybowskii in captivity. To evaluate the perching platform color and feeding platform color preferences of brown frogs at day and night, a total of...

Neville, V., Mounty, J., Benato, L., Hunter, K. et al. 2022. Thinking outside the lab: Can studies of pet rats inform pet and laboratory rat welfare? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 246, 105507.

Surveys provide a low-cost means to obtain large amounts of data that are ideal for conducting exploratory research, and they are becoming an increasingly valuable tool in a veterinary context. We investigated whether surveys of...

Bigelow, L. J., Cohen, A. J., Pimm, R. et al. 2022. Ultrasonic vocalization analysis as a novel metric to assess cage enrichment in rats. JAALAS 61(2), 140-148.

Laboratory rodent housing conditions vary significantly across laboratories and facilities. Variation in housing can be associated with animal stress leading to study variability and the subsequent inability to replicate experimental findings. Optimization and standardization of...

Stammen, R. L., Cohen, J. K., Connor-Stroud, F. R. et al. 2022. Enhancing animal welfare by providing custom caging space for nonhuman primates. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 20-23.

The YNPRC recently renovated two NHP housing areas with a novel facility design and equipped with a customized caging system that offers additional outdoor access, socialization, and enrichment opportunities for NHPs assigned to infectious disease...

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...

Hirata, S. 2022. Sky after 30 years: A brief biography of three biomedical research chimpanzees in Japan. Primates 63(2), 105–108.

This article describes the strategies employed by Kumamoto Sanctuary in Japan to integrate 3 retired chimpanzees – who each spent 30 years singly housed in a biomedical facility – with the sanctuary’s other residents.

Alejandro, J., Huffman, M. A., Bercovitch, F. B. 2022. Costs and benefits of living in a vegetated, compared with non‐vegetated, enclosure in male Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Zoo Biology 41(2), 97-107.

Improving captive environments for primates has been an important tool to enhance animal welfare. One method has been to provide primates with naturalistic vegetated enclosures to promote species-specific behaviors, enhancing interactions with their social and...

Bartlett, J., Davies, J., Purawijaya, D. et al. 2022. Refinement of handling and dosing methods for rats and mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 21(2), 120-124.

Modified Handling for Mice: Handling mice by gripping the base of the tail has been shown to negatively impact animal welfare by increasing anxiety and aversion to handling. We aimed to refi ne the dosing...

Kinane, O., Butler, F., O’Driscoll, K. 2022. Freedom to move: Free lactation pens improve sow welfare. Animals 12(14), 1762.

Farrowing crates present a major animal welfare problem. This study investigated the effects of temporary confinement at farrowing on sow welfare and aimed to determine whether this type of system could improve sow welfare through...

Conrad, L., Aubé, L., Heuchan, E. et al. 2022. Effects of farrowing hut design on maternal and thermoregulatory behaviour in outdoor housed sows and piglets. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 251, 105616.

This study aimed to determine the effect of three different farrowing huts on the behaviour of outdoor housed sows and piglets during summer in Eastern Canada, with a focus on thermoregulatory and crushing behaviours. Forty-two...

Winther Christensen, J., Gargulak Andersen, A., Nymark Skovbo, K. et al. 2022. Shelter use by horses during summer in relation to weather conditions and horsefly (Tabanidae) prevalence. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 253, 105676.

National legislation requires shelter access for horses kept outside during winter, whereas there are no requirements for shelter access to provide shade and a refuge from biting insects during summer. This study investigated use of...

Kjellberg, L., Sassner, H., Yngvesson, J. 2022. Horses’ resting behaviour in shelters of varying size compared with single boxes. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 254, 105715.

Lying behaviour in horses is affected by factors such as bedding, housing and available lying area. For group-housed horses, social factors may influence access to available lying area and affect their ability to meet their...

Stäbler, R., Patzkéwitsch, D., Reese, S. et al. 2022. Behavior of domestic pigs under near-natural forest conditions with ad libitum supplementary feeding. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 48, 20-35.

Today's livestock agriculture faces major changes in domestic pig husbandry—besides animal health and productivity, aspects of animal welfare and animal-friendly husbandry systems for pigs increasingly gain attention. To get a basic and current overview of...

Chesler, K. C., Motz, C. T., Bales, K. L. et al. 2022. Voluntary oral dosing for precise experimental compound delivery in adult rats. Laboratory Animals 56(2), 147-156.

Preclinical drug studies routinely administer experimental compounds to animal models with the goal of minimizing potential adverse events from the procedure. In this study, we assessed the ability to train adult male Long Evans rats...

Parois, S. P., Van Der Zande, L. E., Knol, E. F. et al. 2022. A multi-suckling system combined with an enriched housing environment during the growing period promotes resilience to various challenges in pigs. Scientific Reports 12(1), 6804.

Little is known about the impact of social and environmental enrichment on improving livestock resilience, i.e. the ability to quickly recover from perturbations. We evaluated the effect of an alternative housing system (AHS) on resilience...

Archer, C., Garcia, A., Henderson, M. et al. 2022. Olfactory enrichment using a maternal pheromone improved post-weaning pig performance and behavior. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 965370.

The post-weaning environment in commercial pig nursery buildings is typically devoid of both the sow and her semiochemicals. Among other factors, the loss of maternal odors may contribute to post-weaning stress. In this work, we...

Baxter, E. M., Moustsen, V. A., Goumon, S. et al. 2022. Transitioning from crates to free farrowing: A roadmap to navigate key decisions. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 998192.

There are animal welfare concerns about the continued use of permanent crating systems for farrowing and lactating sows, which is the most prevalent maternity system in global pig production. Greater societal attention in recent years...

de Castro Lippi, I. C., Caldara, F. R., de Lima Almeida Paz, I. C. et al. 2022. Global and Brazilian scenario of guidelines and legislation on welfare in pig farming. Animals 12(19), 2615.

The evolution of scientific knowledge regarding animal sentience, together with the growing concerns of consumers regarding current production models, has brought with it the responsibility of reviewing many practices carried out in industrial swine farming...

Fink, L. B., Mukobi, A., Gruber, L. et al. 2022. Longitudinal analysis of variability in fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in three orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus and Pongo pygmaeus abelii) before, during, and after transition from a regular habitat environment to temporary housing in indoor holding facilities. Animals 12(23), 3303.

Considerable research has been conducted on the effects of inter-institutional transfers, but far less consideration has been given to intra-institutional transfers and extended housing in off-habitat holding. On 15 May 2018, The Oregon Zoo’s orangutans...

Mieske, P., Hobbiesiefken, U., Fischer-Tenhagen, C. et al. 2022. Bored at home?—A systematic review on the effect of environmental enrichment on the welfare of laboratory rats and mice. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 899219.

Boredom is an emotional state that occurs when an individual has nothing to do, is not interested in the surrounding, and feels dreary and in a monotony. While this condition is usually defined for humans...