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. 
Kinally, A., Onions, L., Glenn, S. 2023. Validating the use of box training as a refinement to rabbit handling. Animal Technology and Welfare 22(1), 35–40.

In the wild, rabbits are prey animals and so the act of being picked up and handled can be extremely stressful for them. Yet, the most used method of handling laboratory rabbits is to grasp...

Warwick, C., Pilny, A., Steedman, C. et al. 2023. Mobile zoos and other itinerant animal handling events: Current status and recommendations for future policies. Animals 13(2), 214.

Mobile zoos are events in which non-domesticated (exotic) and domesticated species are transported to venues such as schools, hospitals, parties, and community centres, for the purposes of education, entertainment, or social and therapeutic assistance. We...

Brando, S., Norman, M. 2023. Handling and training of wild animals: Evidence and ethics-based approaches and best practices in the modern zoo. Animals 13(14), 2247.

There is an ethical responsibility to provide all animals living in human care with optimal and positive well-being. As animals living in zoos and aquariums frequently interact with their human caregivers as part of their...

Stevens, C., Hammonds, T., Hinchcliffe, J. et al. 2023. Report of the 2022 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group Meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 22(2), 91–100.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 29 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and share experiences of...

McIndoe, K. S., Saunders, R., Blackwell, E. J. et al. 2022. The effect of blindfolding and swaddling on the stress response to handling in domestic rabbits. Animal Welfare 31(1), 27-36.

Stress during handling can negatively impact the welfare of an animal. Gradual habituation or systematic desensitisation can reduce this but is not always possible. Blindfolding has been shown to decrease stress indicators, including heart rate...

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...

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...

Johansson, Ö, Kachel, S., Weckworth, B. 2022. Guidelines for telemetry studies on snow leopards. Animals 12(13), 1663.

Animal-borne tracking devices have generated a wealth of new knowledge, allowing us to better understand, manage and conserve species. Fitting such tracking devices requires that animals are captured and often chemically immobilized. Such procedures cause...

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...

Fares, R., Flénet, T., Vial, J. et al. 2022. Non invasive jacketed telemetry in socially-housed rats for a combined assessment of respiratory system, electrocardiogram and activity using the DECRO system. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 117, 107195.

Respiratory and cardiovascular systems are among the vital organ systems that should be studied in safety pharmacology core battery test. Non-invasive jacketed external telemetry technology that enables concomitant monitoring of both systems has been available...

Zausinger, P., Schneider, B. M., Bauer, A. et al. 2022. Short communication: Do the tameness of the dams and the sex of the offspring have an influence on the “gentling” effect in laboratory rats? Journal of Veterinary Behavior 52-53, 45-49.

“Gentling” (soft touching, “taming”) has long-term effects on the behavior of laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus). Our own studies showed that the use of a “gentling” program in the fourth and fifth week of life resulted...

Hwang, S.-K., Tyszkiewicz, C., Dragon, M. et al. 2022. Introduction of gloved hand to cage induces 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in male albino rats. PLOS ONE 17(11), e0278034.

Rodents emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) above the human hearing threshold of ~ 20 kHz to communicate emotional states and to coordinate their social interactive behavior. Twenty-two kHz USVs emitted by adult rats have been reported...

Houstin, A., Zitterbart, D. P., Winterl, A. et al. 2022. Biologging of emperor penguins—Attachment techniques and associated deployment performance. PLOS ONE 17(8), e0265849.

An increasing number of marine animals are equipped with biologgers, to study their physiology, behaviour and ecology, often for conservation purposes. To minimise the impacts of biologgers on the animals’ welfare, the Refinement principle from...

Kulyar, M. F.-A., Ashfaq, K., Aqib, A. I. et al. 2022. Enhanced healing activity of manuka honey and nitrofurazone composite in full-thickness burn wounds in the rabbit model. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 875629.

Burns cause many significant changes in metabolism and inflammatory reactions, leading to poor regeneration in animals and humans. A list of medicines to treat burns is available in the market. But due to the high...

Mitin, H., Zulkifli, I., Che Jamri, M. H. et al. 2022. Alleviation of catching and crating stress by dietary supplementation of Bacillus subtilis in Pekin ducks. Animals 12(24), 3479.

Catching and crating may elicit stress and fear reactions in poultry because the procedures involve human contact and exposure to a novel environment. This study determined the effects of dietary probiotic supplementation on physiological stress...

Suba-Bokodi, É., Nagy, I., Molnár, M. 2022. Changes in the stress tolerance of dwarf rabbits in animal-assisted interventions. Applied Sciences 12(14), 6979.

Background: Rabbits are common companion animals in many European countries. Rabbit-assisted interventions in primary schools are suitable for decreasing the anxiety levels of children, which may increase the education efficiency of teachers. Methods: In our...

Stracke, J., Volkmann, N., May, F. et al. 2021. Walking on tiptoes: Digital pads deserve increased attention when scoring footpad dermatitis as an animal welfare indicator in turkeys. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 613516.

Animal welfare is one of the most challenging issues in modern farm animal husbandry. Animal welfare indicators can be used to monitor welfare on farms or at slaughterhouses, with footpad dermatitis (FPD) being one of...

Petek, M.,Çavuşoğlu, E. 2021. Welfare assessment of two free-range laying hen flocks in Turkey. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 24(1), 56-63.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of keel bone deviations and feather damage of laying hens in two different free-range housing systems under commercial conditions. Both of the free-range systems had an indoor barn...

Tahamtani, F. M., Herskin, M. S., Foldager, L. et al. 2021. Assessment of mobility and pain in broiler chickens with identifiable gait defects. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 234, 105183.

Gait defects, assessed as gait score (GS), is a common welfare problem in broiler chicken production. The aim of this study was to examine whether birds with GS2 experience pain and poor locomotor ability compared...

Leeds, A., Boyer, D., Ross, S. R. et al. 2021. Patterns of wounding in mixed-sex social groups of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 236, 105226.

Long-term, multi-institutional assessments have become a reliable tool for evaluating patterns of wounding in zoo-living primates, with results informing on best practices for species-specific care protocols and population management strategies. For western lowland gorillas (Gorilla...

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...

Stevens, C., Hawkins, P., Smulders, T. V. et al. 2021. Report of the 2020 RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(1), 21-33.

The RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 27 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and share...

Bombail, V., Brown, S. M., Hammond, T. J. et al. 2021. Crying with laughter: Adapting the tickling protocol to address individual differences among rats in their response to playful handling. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 677872.

In this Opinion paper, we consider whether current methods of tickling overemphasize the use of pinning (Figure 1) to which there may be a wider response variation than commonly acknowledged. We do not dispute that...

Krueger, L. D., Chang, S. E., Motoc, M. et al. 2021. Effects of pair housing on patency of jugular catheters in rats (Rattus norvegicus). JAALAS 60(3), 357-364.

Chronic vascular access devices are widely used in a variety of species for repeated blood sampling or substance administration. Jugular catheters are commonly used for studying addiction-related behaviors in rats. Rats with catheters have historically...

Song, M. K., Lee, J. H., Kim, Y.-J. 2021. Effect of chronic handling and social isolation on emotion and cognition in adolescent rats. Physiology & Behavior 237, 113440.

Adolescence is a critical period of establishing social relations through social interactions that affect the emotional development associated with stress responses, anxiety, depression, and cognitive development. We investigated the behavioral and neurobiological changes induced by...