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. 
Golledge, H., Richardson, C. (Eds.) 2024. The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals (9th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 1040 p.

The latest edition of the seminal reference on the care and management of laboratory and research animals. The newly revised ninth edition of The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other...

Song, Y., Xie, S. 2024. Effects of substrate roughening on the swimming performance of Schizothorax wangchiachii (Fang, 1936) in the Heishui River: Implications for vertical slot fishway design. Journal of Fish Biology 104(2), 473–483.

Re-establishing the natural connectivity of rivers using fishways may mitigate the unfavourable effects of dam construction on riverine biodiversity and freshwater fish populations. Knowledge of the swimming performance of target species in specific regions is...

Robinson, L. M., Weiss, A. (Eds.) 2023. Nonhuman Primate Welfare: From History, Science, and Ethics to Practice. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. 671 p.

This volume reviews the broad topic of welfare in nonhuman primates under human care. Chapters detail the history of primates in captivity, ethical and legal issues surrounding the use of nonhuman primates as entertainment or...

Bartlett, A., Grinsted, L., Freeman, M. S. 2023. Behaviour, furnishing and vertical space use of captive callimico (Callimico goeldii): Implications for welfare. Animals 13(13), 2147.

Provision of optimal captive care should be supported by species-specific evidence. Callimico (Callimico goeldii) is a small South American callitrichid primate. This study sought to address gaps in species-specific knowledge and captive management research by...

Brando, S., Vitale, A., Bacon, M. 2023. Promoting good nonhuman primate welfare outside regular working hours. Animals 13(8), 1423.

Promoting good primate welfare outside of daylight hours is an important task. The responsibility to provide a complex environment and environmental enrichment is an essential element of primate wellbeing programs that should be approached from...

Mauthe von Degerfeld, M., Serpieri, M., Bonaffini, G. et al. 2023. Intranasal atomization of ketamine, medetomidine and butorphanol in pet rabbits using a mucosal atomization device. Animals 13(13), 2076.

A non-invasive method of drug delivery, intranasal atomization, has shown positive results in human medicine and in some animal species. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of intranasal atomization, compared to...

Jones, M, Alexander, M. E., Lightbody, S. et al. 2023. Influence of social enrichment on transport stress in fish: A behavioural approach. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 262, 105920.

Ornamental fishes are among the most commonly owned companion animals in the world, however, the transportation process during acquisition can result in fishes being exposed to biotic and abiotic conditions which compromise welfare. While many...

Pons, M. V., Adrien, M. L., Mattiauda, D. A. et al. 2023. Welfare of dairy cows in mixed feeding systems under two different conditions of confinement: Behavioral, biochemical and physiological indicators. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 265, 105995.

High production pasture-based dairy systems have difficulty meeting cows' nutritional and environmental needs, especially during extreme environmental conditions during summer in temperate zones. The mixed systems combine pasture access with supplementation periods to achieve the...

Lau, A. R., Pinto, B. R., Witczak, L. R. et al. 2023. Room size and offspring presence impact pair-bonded primate affiliation. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 265, 105994.

Primates live in a variety of social groupings and vary in the expression of species-typical behaviors depending upon social conditions. Coppery titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus) are pair-bonding, territorial primates often used to study neurobiology and...

Smith, S. A. 2023. Fish welfare in public aquariums and zoological collections. Animals 13(16), 2548.

A wide variety of fish species have been displayed in public aquariums and zoological collections for over 150 years. Though the issue of pain perception in fish is still being debated, there is no disagreement...

Gendron, M. E., Buston, P. M. 2023. Review of housing and husbandry of anemonefishes for use in research. Journal of Fish Biology 103(5), 924–938.

Anemonefishes of the genus Amphiprion are emerging as a model organism for marine science, so there is potentially a lot for the research community to gain by optimizing and standardizing housing and husbandry protocols. Here...

Kottmann, J. S., Berge, G. M., Kousoulaki, K. et al. 2023. Welfare and performance of ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta) reared at two different temperatures after a preparatory feeding trial with enhanced dietary eicosapentaenoic acid. Journal of Fish Biology 103(5), 906–923.

Concerns have long been raised about the welfare of ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta) used for the biological control of sea lice in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) aquaculture. This study assessed the effect of increased dietary...

Souza de Oliveira, L. B., da Silva Vasconcellos, A. 2022. May unpredictable events affect monkey welfare under human care? Behavioural Processes 200, 104665.

This study aimed at evaluating the effects of unpredictability on behavioral and clinical aspects of Geoffroy's woolly monkey (Lagothrix cana cana) - a frugivorous Amazonian primate species - under human care. We studied seven individuals...

Lichak, M. R., Barber, J. R., Kwon, Y. M. et al. 2022. Care and use of Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) for research. Comparative Medicine 72(3), 169-180.

Betta splendens, also called Siamese fighting fish or 'betta,' are a popular species in the fishkeeping hobby. Native to South- east Asia, betta have been selectively bred for their fighting ability for hundreds of years...

Vanderzwalmen, M., Sánchez Lacalle, D., Tamilselvan, P. et al. 2022. The effect of substrate on water quality in ornamental fish tanks. Animals 12(19), 2679.

Almost all home aquaria contain substrate, either as intentional enrichment or for aesthetic purposes. For fishes, benefits of structural enrichment have been well considered, particularly in research and aquaculture settings. However, our understanding of the...

Brando, S., Coe, J. 2022. Confronting back-of-house traditions: Primates as a case study. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3(3), 366–397.

This review commentary focuses on traditional management practices and facility design with suggested improvements in non-public primate management areas, often called “back-of-house”, (henceforth BOH) in zoos, sanctuaries, and research facilities. Progress has been made toward...

Ramos, J., Balasch, J. C., Tort, L. 2021. About welfare and stress in the early stages of fish. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 634434.

In conclusion, the investigations carried out up to now demonstrate that during the early stages fish show high sensitivity to many types of stressors involving an array of responses to overcome alterations that could affect...

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...

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...

Rácz, A., Adorján, G., Fodor, E. et al. 2021. Housing, husbandry and welfare of a “classic” fish model, the paradise fish (Macropodus opercularis). Animals 11(3), 786.

Thanks to its small size, external fertilization and fecundity, over the past four decades, zebrafish (Danio rerio) has become the dominant fish model species in biological and biomedical research. Multiple lines of evidence, however, suggest...

Saiz, N., Gómez-Boronat, M., De Pedro, N. et al. 2021. The lack of light-dark and feeding-fasting cycles alters temporal events in the goldfish (Carassius auratus) stress axis. Animals 11(3), 669.

Vertebrates possess circadian clocks, driven by transcriptional–translational loops of clock genes, to orchestrate anticipatory physiological adaptations to cyclic environmental changes. This work aims to investigate how the absence of a light-dark cycle and a feeding...

Hart, A., Reynolds, Z., Troxell-Smith, S. 2021. Using individual-specific conditioning to reduce stereotypic behaviours: A study on smooth dogfish Mustelus canis in captivity. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research, 9(3), 193-199.

Despite how frequently stereotypic behaviours are discussed in the field of animal behaviour and welfare, research on stereotypies in captive elasmobranchs is far less represented in the literature compared to studies on mammalian species. This...

Schmidt, T., Ferrara, F., Pobloth, A.-M. et al. 2021. Large farm animals used for research purposes: A survey on purchase, housing and hygiene management. Animals 11(8), 2158.

Background: Farm animals (FAs) are frequently used in biomedical research. Recommendations for the purchase, housing and health monitoring of these animals (sheep, goats, cattle and pigs) are still missing, and many institutes have developed their...

Waasdorp, S., Tuffnell, J. A., Bruins-van Sonsbeek, L. et al. 2021. Chopped and dispersed food enhances foraging and reduces stress-related behaviours in captive white-naped mangabeys (Cercocebus lunulatus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 241, 105392.

The white-naped mangabey is an endangered and rare zoo species, yet little is known concerning their welfare in captivity. The assessment of welfare should incorporate a net balance of negative and positive welfare behavioural indicators...

Chatpongcharoen, P., Campera, M., Laithong, P. et al. 2021. Naturalising diet to reduce stereotypic behaviours in slow lorises rescued from wildlife trade. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 242, 105413.

Providing a natural diet is a key component to improving animal welfare and potentially reducing stereotypic behaviours in captivity. Wild slow lorises (Nycticebus spp.) are threatened by illegal wildlife trade, and in Thailand, confiscations from...