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. 
Cohen, S., Kwok, M., Huang, J. 2020. Humane euthanasia of guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) with a penetrating spring-loaded captive bolt. Animals 10(8), 1356.

Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) have been used in research since the 19th century to collect data due to their physiological similarities to humans. Today, animals perform a vital role in experiments and concerns for laboratory...

Contreras-Aguilar, M. D., Vallejo-Mateo, P. J., Želvytė, R. et al. 2020. Changes in saliva analytes associated with lameness in cows: A pilot study. Animals 10(11), 2078.

The possible changes in a panel of 21 salivary analytes on a population of cows with lameness before and after treating lameness by hoof trimming were analyzed. Then, the analytes that showed significant changes were...

Cortese, M., Brščić, M., Ughelini, N. et al. 2020. Effectiveness of stocking density reduction on mitigating lameness in a Charolais finishing beef cattle farm. Animals 10(7), 1147.

This study aimed at assessing whether a reduction in stocking density (SKD) would mitigate lameness and positively affect the performance and health of Charolais bulls in an Italian commercial farm. Bulls were distributed in groups...

Sadiq, M. B., Ramanoon, S. Z., Mansor, R. et al. 2020. Claw trimming as a lameness management practice and the association with welfare and production in dairy cows. Animals 10(9), 1515.

Lameness resulting from claw lesions remains a pressing welfare issue in dairy cows. Claw trimming (CT) is a common practice for prevention and management of clinically lame cows. This review summarizes the results of studies...

Oehm, A. W., Jensen, K. C., Tautenhahn, A. et al. 2020. Factors associated with lameness in tie stall housed dairy cows in south Germany. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 601640.

Lameness remains a major concern for animal welfare and productivity in modern dairy production. Even though a trend toward loose housing systems exists and the public expects livestock to be kept under conditions where freedom...

Bill, J., Rauterberg, S. L., Stracke, J. et al. 2019. Prevalence and severity of tail lesions as a possible welfare indicator for rabbit does. Animal Welfare 28(4), 511-518.

The impact of behavioural disorders on animal welfare in modern animal husbandry has been much debated. While other abnormal behaviours have been explored at length, there are a paucity of studies on tail-biting in rabbits...

Axiak Flammer, S., Eskes, C., Kohler, I. et al. 2019. Alternatives to carbon dioxide—Taking responsibility for humanely ending the life of animals. Animals 9(8), 482.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is commonly used to kill rodents. However, a large body of research has now established that CO2 is aversive to them. A multidisciplinary symposium organized by the Swiss Federal Food Safety and...

Finkemeier, M.-A., Oesterwind, S., Nürnberg, G. et al. 2019. Assessment of personality types in Nigerian dwarf goats (Capra hircus) and cross-context correlations to behavioural and physiological responses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 217, 28-35.

The assessment of personality in farm animals and its relation to other behavioural and physiological traits is of growing scientific and practical interest. Therefore, the aims of the present study were first to assess the...

Stevens, C., Hawkins, P., Lovell-Badge, R. et al. 2019. Report of the 2018 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 18(2), 81-91.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent (and now Rabbit) Working Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 25 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and...

Anders, N., Roth, B., Grimsbø, E. et al. 2019. Assessing the effectiveness of an electrical stunning and chilling protocol for the slaughter of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus). PLOS ONE 14(9), e0222122.

Inducing unconsciousness in fish using electrical stunning prior to slaughter may improve fish welfare and fillet quality if such practises can be disseminated into wild capture fisheries. The objectives of this study were to: 1)...

Rifkin, R. E., Grzeskowiak, R. M., Mulon, P-Y. et al. 2019. Use of a pressure-sensing walkway system for biometric assessment of gait characteristics in goats. PLOS ONE 14(10), e0223771.

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess gait characteristics and weight-bearing forces during ambulation in goats free of lameness using a pressure-sensing walkway as a biometric tool for stride, gait, and force analysis...

Green, A., Clark, C., Favaro, L. et al. 2019. Vocal individuality of Holstein-Friesian cattle is maintained across putatively positive and negative farming contexts. Scientific Reports 9, 18468.

Cattle mother-offspring contact calls encode individual-identity information; however, it is unknown whether cattle are able to maintain individuality when vocalising to familiar conspecifics over other positively and negatively valenced farming contexts. Accordingly, we recorded 333...

Gilliam, J. N., Woods, J., Hill, J. et al. 2018. Evaluation of the CASH Dispatch Kit combined with alternative shot placement landmarks as a single-step euthanasia method for cattle of various ages. Animal Welfare 27(3), 225-233.

Humane euthanasia of cattle under field conditions presents special challenges for veterinarians and producers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the CASH Dispatch Kit captive-bolt system combined with improved shot...

Golledge, H., Carter, E. 2018. Welfare of fish farmed in the EU during transport and at slaughter. Animal Welfare 27(3), 287-288.

This Report, commissioned by the European Commission, summarises the current state of transport and slaughter practices in the aquaculture industry within eleven case-study countries in the European Economic Area (EAA). Comparisons are also made with...

Shearer, J. 2018. Euthanasia of cattle: Practical considerations and application. Animals 8(4), 57.

Acceptable methods for the euthanasia of cattle include overdose of an anesthetic, gunshot and captive bolt. The use of anesthetics for euthanasia is costly and complicates carcass disposal. These issues can be avoided by use...

Grist, A., Lines, J., Knowles, T. et al. 2018. Use of a non-penetrating captive bolt for euthanasia of neonate goats. Animals 8(4), 58.

A non-penetrating captive bolt device, powered by a 1 grain 0.22″ cartridge delivering a calculated kinetic energy of 47 Joules was tested as a euthanasia method on 200 neonate goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) of mean...

Balko, J. A., Oda, A., Posner, L. P. 2018. Use of tricaine methanesulfonate or propofol for immersion euthanasia of goldfish (Carassius auratus). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 252(12), 1555-1561.

OBJECTIVE To substantiate current AVMA guidelines for immersion euthanasia of goldfish (Carassius auratus) with tricaine methanesulfonate (TMS), determine whether immersion in propofol at 5 times its immersion anesthesia concentration for 30 minutes is sufficient for...

Ekman, L., Nyman, A.-K., Landin, H. et al. 2018. Hock lesions in dairy cows in freestall herds: A cross-sectional study of prevalence and risk factors. Acta Vererinaria Scandinavica 60(1), 47.

Hock lesions (HL) in dairy cows are a common animal welfare problem in modern dairy production with freestall housing systems, but there are no large-scale studies addressing its epidemiology in Sweden. The aims of this...

Freret-Meurer, N. V., Alves, M. A. S. 2018. Personality in the longsnout seahorse, Hippocampus reidi Ginsburg, 1933: Are males shyer than females? Behavioural Processes 157, 106-110.

Individual responses, particularly based on personality, can have important consequences for individual fitness, based upon success in exploring new habitats, feeding on novel foods, and aggressiveness in competitive interactions. We conducted laboratory experiments to analyze...

Foris, B., Zebunke, M., Langbein, J. et al. 2018. Evaluating the temporal and situational consistency of personality traits in adult dairy cattle. PLOS ONE 13(10), e0204619.

Recent research suggests that personality, defined as consistent individual behavioral variation, in farm animals could be an important factor when considering their health, welfare, and productivity. However, behavioral tests are often performed individually and they...

Vázquez Diosdado, J. A., Barker, Z. E., Hodges, H. R. et al. 2018. Space-use patterns highlight behavioural differences linked to lameness, parity, and days in milk in barn-housed dairy cows. PLOS ONE 13(12), e0208424.

Lameness is a key health and welfare issue affecting commercial herds of dairy cattle, with potentially significant economic impacts due to the expense of treatment and lost milk production. Existing lameness detection methods can be...

Buisman, L. L., Alsaaod, M., Bucher, E. et al. 2018. Objective assessment of lameness in cattle after foot surgery. PLOS ONE 13(12), e0209783.

Assessment of lameness in cattle after foot surgery is important to monitor the recovery period, to improve the long-term success and the cows’ welfare. This longitudinal multicenter retrospective study was carried out to evaluate the...

Ekesbo, I., Gunnarsson, S. 2018. Farm Animal Behaviour: Characteristics for Assessment and Welfare (2nd ed). CABI, Wallingford, UK.

Completely updated and revised, and with a new author team, this second edition of Farm Animal Behaviour continues to provide essential information on normal and stereotypic behaviors in a wide variety of farm animals to...

Sutherland, M. A., Watson, T. J., Millman, S. T. 2017. Technical contribution: evaluation of the efficacy of a non-penetrating captive bolt to euthanase dairy goat kids up to 30 days of age. Animal Welfare 26(3), 277-280.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a non-penetrating captive bolt (NPCB) to euthanase previously disbudded Saanen dairy goat kids (Capra hircus) up to 30 days of age and 9 kg...

Schiffer, K. J., Retz, S. K., Algers, B. 2017. Assessment of stun quality after gunshot used on cattle: a pilot study on effects of diverse ammunition on physical signs displayed after the shot, brain tissue damage and brain haemorrhages. Animal Welfare 26(1), 95-109.

Moving the slaughter process from the abattoir to the animals' familiar environment has the potential to reduce pre-mortal stressors to a minimum and contribute considerably to improved animal welfare at slaughter. On-farm stunning and killing...