Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every three months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Links to the full text for publications that appear in open access journals or are published on the AWI website are provided under the abstract.

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 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. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Zeltner, A., Cristofferson, C. 2022. Taking blood from a Göttingen minipig while placed in a sling. Animal Technology and Welfare 21(1), 58-61.
Traditionally Göttingen minipigs are restrained in dorsal recumbency to have access to the blood vessels in the neck. Minipigs, like any other animal do not particularly like to be restrained and being turned on their...
Boardman, R. M., Pinder, A. C., Piper,A. T. et al. 2022. Non-lethal sampling for the stable isotope analysis of the critically endangered European eel Anguilla anguilla: How fin and mucus compare to dorsal muscle. Journal of Fish Biology 100(3), 847-851.
Ecological studies on the critically endangered European eel Anguilla anguilla often incorporate stable isotope analysis that typically uses dorsal muscle sampled from euthanised eels. To minimise the lethal sampling of imperilled populations, fin tissue and/or...
Lou, M. E., Kleinhenz, M. D., Schroeder, R. et al. 2022. Evaluating the utility of a CO2 surgical laser for piglet tail docking to reduce behavioral and physiological indicators of pain and to improve wound healing: A pilot study. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 254, 105720.
In the U.S. millions of commercially raised piglets are routinely tail docked. Human and veterinary medical patients experienced reduced inflammation, healing time and post-procedural pain using a CO2 surgical laser compared to standard surgical instruments...
O'Malley, C. I., Hubley, R., Tambadou, H. et al. 2022. Refining restraint techniques for research pigs through habituation. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1016414.
Pigs are common research models and are strong animals that can be difficult to restrain. Improper restraint can put pigs and research personnel at risk for injury and induce stress, which can affect research outcomes...
Skade, L., Kristensen, C. S., Nielsen, M. B. F. et al. 2021. Effect of two methods and two anaesthetics for local anaesthesia of piglets during castration. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 63, 1.
Since January 2019, surgical castration of male piglets must be performed using local anaesthesia, if farmers deliver pigs to the primary exporting slaughterhouses according to the “Danish quality scheme”; a voluntary initiative taken by the...
Steagall, P. V., Bustamante, H., Johnson, C. B. et al. 2021. Pain management in farm animals: Focus on cattle, sheep and pigs. Animals 11(6), 1483.
Pain causes behavioral, autonomic, and neuroendocrine changes and is a common cause of animal welfare compromise in farm animals. Current societal and ethical concerns demand better agricultural practices and improved welfare for food animals. These...
Holdsworth, S. E., Kells, N. J., Chidgey, K. L. et al. 2021. Characterisation of the behavioural effects of a thoracic squeeze in healthy newborn piglets. Animals 11(8), 2465.
Firmly squeezing the chests of newborn foals and calves that are showing abnormal behaviours after birth causes them to enter a less-responsive state, characterised by lying down with eyes closed and no limb movements. Once...
Sheil, M., De Benedictis, G. M., Scollo, A. et al. 2021. Efficacy of intra-operative topical wound anaesthesia to mitigate piglet castration pain—A large, multi-centred field trial. Animals 11(10), 2763.
Piglet castration results in acute pain and stress to the animal. There is a critical need for effective on-farm methods of pain mitigation. Local anaesthesia using Tri-Solfen® (Animal Ethics Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Australia), a topical...
Prior, H., Blunt, H., Crossman, L. et al. 2021. Refining procedures within regulatory toxicology studies: Improving animal welfare and data. Animals 11(11), 3057.
During the development of potential new medicines or agrochemicals, an assessment of the safety profile to humans and environmental species is conducted using a range of different in silico and in vitro techniques in conjunction...
Schodl, K., Wiesauer, L., Winckler, C. et al. 2021. Reduced stocking density and provision of straw in a rack improve pig welfare on commercial fattening farms. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 656211.
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of reduced stocking density in combination with provision of additional enrichment material on pig welfare on-farm. On three growing-finishing farms in Austria, in total 974...
Guerri, G., Cerasoli, I., Straticò, P. et al. 2021. The clinical effect of xylazine premedication in water buffalo calves (Bubalus bubalis) undergoing castration under general anaesthesia. Animals 11(12), 3433.
Castration is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in livestock. All methods of castration are associated with a significant degree of pain, affecting the patients’ welfare. Limited information on species-specific protocols in buffaloes...
Waiblinger, S., Hajek, F., Lambacher, B. et al. 2020. Effects of the method of restraint for shearing on behaviour and heart rate variability in alpacas. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 223, 104918.
Alpacas are increasingly kept in Europe for different purposes including fibre production. Yearly shearing is necessary to harvest fibre and for welfare reasons. Different methods of restraint are used during shearing, which may affect the...
Kress, K., Weiler, U., Schmucker, S. et al. 2020. Influence of housing conditions on reliability of immunocastration and consequences for growth performance of male pigs. Animals 10(1), 27.
Immunocastration is a sustainable alternative to piglet castration but faces limited market acceptance. The phenomenon of non-responders has not to date been examined in detail, but adverse and stressful housing conditions (e.g., mixing of groups)...
Ludwig, J. L. 2020. Is that a rat in your pocket? A novel pocket method for rat restraint. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(1) (January/February), 48-49.
At the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (UIUC), we routinely teach novice research personnel how to appropriately handle, restrain, and perform basic experimental techniques on rats. Barriers to teaching include fear of animal bites...
Byrd, C. J., Radcliffe, J. S., Craig, B. A. et al. 2020. Measuring piglet castration pain using linear and non-linear measures of heart rate variability. Animal Welfare 29(3), 257-269.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether linear and non-linear measures of heart rate variability (HRV) could be used as indicators of piglet castration pain. Thirty piglets were allocated to 1 of 4...
Park, R. M., Cramer, M. C., Wagner, B. K. et al. 2020. A comparison of behavioural methodologies utilised to quantify deviations in piglet behaviour associated with castration. Animal Welfare 29(3), 285-292.
Surgical castration is a painful procedure that is routinely performed without pain relief on commercial pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) farms. Previous research has focused on quantifying piglet pain response through behaviours. However, to date, behavioural...
Ballantine, A., Rodgers, D., Watts, C. et al. 2020. The cotton rat – a new challenge. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 92-95.
This poster describes how the Animal Technologists at Envigo adapted their current practices and procedures for a new species at their laboratory: the cotton rat. The paper describes cotton rat biology and behaviour; housing; environmental...
Lawrence, M. J., Raby, G. D., Teffer, A. K. et al. 2020. Best practices for non-lethal blood sampling of fish via the caudal vasculature. Journal of Fish Biology 97(1), 4–15.
Blood sampling through the caudal vasculature is a widely used technique in fish biology for investigating organismal health and physiology. In live fishes, it can provide a quick, easy and relatively non‐invasive method for obtaining...
Saller, A. M., Werner, J., Reiser, J. et al. 2020. Local anesthesia in piglets undergoing castration—A comparative study to investigate the analgesic effects of four local anesthetics on the basis of acute physiological responses and limb movements. PLoS ONE 15(7): e0236742.
Surgical castration of male piglets without analgesia is a painful procedure. This prospective, randomized and double-blinded study aimed to evaluate the analgesic effects of four different local anesthetics for piglet castration during the first week...
Reinhardt, V. (ed.) 2020. It’s Okay to Cry - Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum [LAREF], Volume V. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.
This is the 5th volume of selected discussions that took place on the electronic Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum between February 2016 and December 2019. The forum was created in October 2002; it allows...
Thoré, E. S. J., Brendonck, L., Pinceel, T. 2020. Conspecific density and environmental complexity impact behaviour of turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri). Fish Biology 97(5), 1448–1461.
Fish models are essential for research in many biological and medical disciplines. With a typical lifespan of only 6 months, the turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) was recently established as a time- and cost-efficient model to...
Morrison, R., Hemsworth, P. 2020. Tail docking of piglets 1: Stress response of piglets to tail docking. Animals 10(9), 1701.
This experiment compared the stress responses of piglets to tail docking. Two hundred and eighty-eight piglets were allocated to the following treatments at 2 d post-farrowing: (1) sham handling treatment; (2) surgical castration; (3) tail...
Morrison, R., Hemsworth, P. 2020. Tail docking of piglets 2: Effects of meloxicam on the stress response to tail docking. Animals 10(9), 1699.
This experiment compared the stress responses of piglets to tail docking. Two hundred and eighty-eight piglets were allocated to the following treatments at 2 d post-farrowing: (1) sham handling treatment; (2) surgical castration; (3) tail...
Sheil, M., Polkinghorne, A. 2020. Optimal methods of documenting analgesic efficacy in neonatal piglets undergoing castration. Animals 10(9), 1450.
Analgesic products for piglet castration are critically needed. This requires extensive animal experimentation such as to meet regulatory-required proof of efficacy. At present, there are no validated methods of assessing pain in neonatal piglets. This...
Ober, R. A., Geist, G. E. 2020. Assessment of a noninvasive chronic glucose monitoring system in euglycemic and diabetic swine (Sus scrofa). JAALAS 59(4), 430-437.
Models of type-I diabetes are well-characterized and commonly used in the preclinical evaluation of drugs and medical devices. The diabetic minipig is an excellent example of a translational model. However, chronic glucose monitoring in this...

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