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. 
Reinhardt, V., Cowley, D., Eisele, S. et al. 1991. Avoiding undue cortisol responses to venipuncture in adult male rhesus macaques. Animal Technology 42, 83-86.

Six adult rhesus males were: a) habituated to actively cooperate during venipuncture away from the homecage in a treatment squeeze cage, and b) trained to actively cooperate during venipuncture in the homecage.The magnitude of cortisol...

Reinhardt, V. 1991. Training adult male rhesus monkeys to actively cooperate during in-homecage venipuncture. Animal Technology 42, 11-17.

A training technique is described for ensuring the active cooperation of 10 pair-housed and 5 single-housed adult male rhesus monkeys during in-homecage venipuncture. Mean cumulative training time investment per male was 40 minutes. Once trained...

Reinhardt, V. 1991. Impact of venipuncture on physiological research conducted in conscious macaques. Journal of Experimental Animal Science 34(5-6), 212-217.

A survey of 397 publications dealing with macaques was conducted. Stress-sensitive physiological data collected during venipuncture were evaluated in 58 reports. Despite of the fact that venipuncture often is a stressful event for research animals...

Reinhardt, V., Cowley, D., Scheffler, J. et al. 1990. Cortisol response of female rhesus monkeys to venipuncture in homecage versus venipuncture in restraint apparatus. Journal of Medical Primatology 19, 601-606.

All subjects were well habituated to blood collection, and it was not necessary to immobilize them; they readily presented a leg for venipuncture. In single monkeys venipunctured in the restraint apparatus, cortisol concentrations were on...

Heath, M. 1989. The training of cynomolgus monkeys and how the human/animal relationship improves with environmental and mental enrichment. Animal Technology 40(1), 11-22.

This paper will attempt to show the marked improvement in behaviour of a small group of female cynomolgus monkeys, after a period of routine training and human interaction. A relatively short, but predictable, course of...

Fajzi, K., Reinhardt, V., Smith, M. D. 1989. A review of environmental enrichment strategies for singly-caged nonhuman primates. Lab Animal 18(2), 23-35.

Comprehensive literature review dealing with the following topics: a) Group housing versus single housing; b) Enrichment strategies using inanimate objects; c) Socialization with conspecifics; d) Role of animal care staff.

O'Neill, P. L. 1987. Enriching the lives of primates in captivity. Humane Innovations and Alternatives in Animal Experimentation 1, 1-5.

A summary of basic environmental enrichement for group-housed rhesus macaques. The essence of the social primate is lost under the stresses of the nonsocial condition.

Nerem, R. M., Levensque, M. J., Cornhill, J. F. 1980. Social environment as a factor of diet induced atherosclerosis. Science 208, 1475-1476.

Rabbits were fed a high-cholesterol diet to induce atherosclerosis. Animals who received special attention from a person (frequent handling, petting, playing, gentle vocalization) showed a markedly lower incidence of atheroslerosis than subjects who received no...