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. 
Buchanan, K. 2022. DIY: Ants on a log. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 44.

This traditional snack has a variety of options for NHP enrichment. From fruit to cereals, get creative with the “ants” and remember to consider different fillings for the celery log.

Guerrero-Martin, S. M., Brill, S., Carlson, B. W. 2022. Development and implementation of a positive reinforcement training program for nonhuman primates in biomedical research. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(1) (January/February), 48-52.

Despite clear benefits of PRT for NHPs and biomedical research, investigators often view the investment in personnel expertise and time required to train animals as deterrents towards adopting PRT. We provide an example of how...

Lane, S., Williams, W., Mayo, M. 2022. The impact of environmental enrichment on red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys elegans). Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(3) (May/June), 18-20.

This study aimed to determine whether tank enrichment improved positive species-specific behaviors (those that benefit the animals' overall well-being), such as basking, and/or decreased negative behaviors (those that may indicate stress, agitation, or discomfort), such...

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...

Martin, C. F., Muramatsu, A., Matsuzawa, T. 2022. Apex and ApeTouch: Development of a portable touchscreen system and software for primates at zoos. Animals 12(13), 1660.

We report on the development and testing of a portable touchscreen apparatus and accompanying software program for primate enrichment, cognitive research, and husbandry applications. For zoos considering using technology to bolster scientific efforts or enhance...

Knaebe, B., Weiss, C. C., Zimmermann, J. et al. 2022. The promise of behavioral tracking systems for advancing primate animal welfare. Animals 12(13), 1648.

Recent years have witnessed major advances in the ability of computerized systems to track the positions of animals as they move through large and unconstrained environments. These systems have so far been a great boon...

Maaskant, A., Janssen, I., Wouters, I. M. et al. 2022. Assessment of indoor air quality for group-housed macaques (Macaca spp.). Animals 12(14), 1750.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is strongly associated with animal health and wellbeing. To identify possible problems of the indoor environment of macaques (Macaca spp.), we assessed the IAQ. The temperature (°C), relative humidity (%) and...

Paterson, E. A., Turner, P. V. 2022. Challenges with assessing and treating pain in research primates: A focused survey and literature review. Animals 12(17), 2304.

Research primates may undergo surgical procedures making effective pain management essential to ensure good animal welfare and unbiased scientific data. Adequate pain mitigation is dependent on whether veterinarians, technicians, researchers, and caregivers can recognize and...

Spitzer, H. B., Meagher, R. K., Proudfoot, K. L. 2022. The impact of providing hiding spaces to farmed animals: A scoping review. PLOS ONE 17(11), e0277665.

Many wild animals perform hiding behaviours for a variety of reasons, such as evading predators or other conspecifics. Unlike their wild counterparts, farmed animals often live in relatively barren environments without the opportunity to hide...

Gris, V. N., Broche, N., Jr, Kaneko, A. et al. 2022. Investigating subtle changes in facial expression to assess acute pain in Japanese macaques. Scientific Reports 12(1), 19675.

Changes in facial expression provide cues for assessing emotional states in mammals and may provide non-verbal signals of pain. This study uses geometric morphometrics (GMM) to explore the facial shape variation in female Japanese macaques...

Prescott, M. J., Leach, M. C., Truelove, M. A. 2022. Harmonisation of welfare indicators for macaques and marmosets used or bred for research. F1000Research 11, 272.

Background: Accurate assessment of the welfare of non-human primates (NHPs) used and bred for scientific purposes is essential for effective implementation of obligations to optimise their well-being, for validation of refinement techniques and novel welfare...

Chen, Y.-A., Chen, J.-Y., Chen, W.-Q. et al. 2022. Effects of castration age on the growth performance of Nubian crossbred male goats. Animals 12(24), 3516.

To determine the optimal timing for performing castration on goats, eighteen male Nubian crossbred goats were randomly assigned to two groups and castrated at 3 months and 6 months of age, respectively. Daily dry matter...

Fischer-Tenhagen, C., Meier, J., Pohl, A. 2022. “Do not look at me like that”: Is the facial expression score reliable and accurate to evaluate pain in large domestic animals? A systematic review. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1002681.

Facial expression scoring has proven to be useful for pain evaluation in humans. In the last decade, equivalent scales have been developed for various animal species, including large domestic animals. The research question of this...

Wood, L. 2022. Managing long-term wellness in captive sea turtles. Animal Welfare 31(4), 423–432.

Circumstances surrounding advances in stranding response and veterinary care have created a growing need for the long-term housing of captive sea turtles. However, the difficulty in recreating natural conditions in captive settings places a responsibility...

Edmunson, A. M., Duke Boynton, F. D., Rendahl, A. et al. 2021. Indicators of postoperative pain in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Comparative Medicine 71(1), 76-85.

Despite the use of Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) in research, little is known about the evaluation of pain in this species. This study investigated whether the frequency of certain behaviors, a grimace scale, the treat-take-test...

Hempstead, M. N., Shearer, J. K., Sutherland, M. A. et al. 2021. Cautery disbudding iron application time and brain injury in goat kids: A pilot study. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 568750.

Cautery disbudding is a painful procedure performed on goat kids to prevent horn growth that may result in brain injury. Thermal damage to the cerebral cortex of the brain and subsequent neurologic disease is a...

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Ice cream cone spiced foraging cups. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(1) (January/February), 36.

This DIY snack is great for NHPs and can be customized in a variety of ways.

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Ice produce blocks. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(2) (March/April), 41.

This great cool-down snack is ideal for group or singly housed swine or nonhuman primates (particularly in larger pen-style housing). This item can be customized for canines as well by modifying the liquid used and/or...

Sacchetti, S., Ceccarelli, F., Ferrucci, L. et al. 2021. Macaque monkeys learn and perform a non-match-to-goal task using an automated home cage training procedure. Scientific Reports 11(1), 2700.

In neurophysiology, nonhuman primates represent an important model for studying the brain. Typically, monkeys are moved from their home cage to an experimental room daily, where they sit in a primate chair and interact with...

Howarth, E. R. I., Kemp, C., Thatcher, H. R. et al. 2021. Developing and validating attention bias tools for assessing trait and state affect in animals: A worked example with Macaca mulatta. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 234, 105198.

Attention bias is a new approach to assessing animal affect that has shown promising results in several animal species. It describes a tendency to preferentially attend to emotional compared to neutral cues and is influenced...

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...

Zannella, A., Stanyon, R., Maglieri, V. et al. 2021. Not all yawns tell the same story: The case of Tonkean macaques. American Journal of Primatology 83(7), e23263.

Here we show for the first time that the plasticity in morphology and duration of yawning in Macaca tonkeana can be associated with different functional contexts. Macaca tonkeana is classified as a tolerant macaque species...

Sørensen, D., Cloutier, S., Gaskill, B. (Eds.). 2021. Animal-centric Care and Management - Enhancing Refinement in Biomedical Research. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

The concept of the 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction and Replacement) has been used as a framework for improving the welfare of laboratory animals for the last half century. By establishing an animal-centric view on housing and...

Whittaker, A. L., Golder-Dewar, B., Triggs, J. L. et al. 2021. Identification of animal-based welfare indicators in captive reptiles: A Delphi consultation survey. Animals 11(7), 2010.

There is an increasing focus on evidence-based welfare assessment by animal care staff in zoos, along with a strong interest in animal welfare by the zoo-visiting public, to the extent that this can influence their...

Arre, A. M., Horschler, D. J. 2021. Swimming and diving as social play in juvenile rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Behaviour 158(6), 529-546.

Although play is ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom, and in primates especially, the ultimate explanations and proximate mechanisms of play are not well understood. Previous research proposes that primate play may be important for the...