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. 
Lambert, H., Cornish, A., Waley, D. 2024. The value of regulating stocking densities in aquaculture must not be dismissed: A reply to Saraiva et al. 2022. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.

We would like to rebut the argument made by Saraiva et al. (1) in their paper “Finding the “golden stocking density”: a balance between fish welfare and farmers' perspectives,” that stocking densities should not be...

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...

Diao, W., Jia, R., Hou, Y. et al. 2023. Effects of stocking density on the growth performance, physiological parameters, antioxidant status and lipid metabolism of Pelteobagrus fulvidraco in the integrated rice-fish farming system. Animals 13(11), 1721.

Pelteobagrus fulvidraco is a freshwater fish commonly raised in rice fields, yet the optimal stocking density for this species remains unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the appropriate stocking density of P. fulvidraco in...

Johnson, J. 2023. A new strategy for animal research: Attending to dissent. Animals 13(9), 1491.

Increasingly, ethical concepts ordinarily reserved for the human research setting have been applied to nonhuman animals in research. This comes at the same time as concerns mount over challenges in translating the results of biomedical...

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...

Zare, M., Heidari, E., Hosseini Choupani, S. M. et al. 2023. The recovery time between early mild stress and final acute stress affects survival rate, immunity, health, and physiology of oscar (Astronotus ocellatus). Animals 13(10), 1606.

This study investigated how the time interval between the last EMS (netting) and the acute confinement stress (AC stress) at the end of the experiment can influence growth, haematology, blood biochemistry, immunological response, antioxidant system...

Baßmann, B., Hahn, L., Rebl, A. et al. 2023. Effects of stocking density, size, and external stress on growth and welfare of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus Burchell, 1822) in a commercial RAS. Fishes 8(2), 74.

The effects of semi-intensive (100 kg m−3), intensive (200 kg m−3), and super-intensive (400 kg m−3) stocking densities on the growth and welfare of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) were investigated under commercial production conditions. Plasma...

Fernandez, E. J. 2022. Training as enrichment: A critical review. Animal Welfare 31(1), 1-12.

Husbandry training and environmental enrichment are both important advancements associated with current behavioural welfare practices. Additionally, the use of training procedures has been proposed as a form of enrichment, with the implication that training can...

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...

Griffioen, A. B., Janssen, W., Menke,T. et al. 2022. Does tagging transparent fish increase predation risk? A laboratory study with glass eel (Anguilla anguilla) and sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Journal of Fish Biology 100(1), 184-191.

Barriers in the estuaries of the rivers prevent the immigration of glass eels (Anguilla anguilla) arriving on the European coast every spring. This leads to an unnatural accumulation of migrating glass eels below the barriers...

Swarr, T. R., Myrick, C. A., Fitzpatrick, R. M. 2022. Tag retention in and effects of passive integrated transponder tagging on survival and swimming performance of a small-bodied darter. Journal of Fish Biology 100(3), 705-714.

Fisheries biologists have been hesitant to use passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in small-bodied fishes (40–200 mm TL) such as darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae) because of the fishes' size and potential effect on swimming performance. The authors used...

Runde, B. J., Buckel, J. A., Bacheler, N. M. et al. 2022. Evaluation of six methods for external attachment of electronic tags to fish: Assessment of tag retention, growth and fish welfare. Journal of Fish Biology 101(3), 419-430.

External attachment of electronic tags has been increasingly used in fish studies. Many researchers have used ad hoc attachment methods and provided little or no validation for the assumption that tagging itself does not bias...

Saraiva, J. L., Rachinas-Lopes, P., Arechavala-Lopez, P. 2022. Finding the “golden stocking density”: A balance between fish welfare and farmers’ perspectives. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 930221.

The effects of stocking density on fish welfare are complex and involve many interacting parameters. This complex relationship between fish welfare, stocking density and influencing factors make it challenging to define a specific optimal (“golden”)...

Rose, P. (Ed.) 2022. The Behavioural Biology of Zoo Animals (1st Ed.). CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA. 367 p.

"Zoo animals" as a population are a diverse array of species from all around the globe. When managed in captivity, it is important that key aspects of natural ecology are factored into animal care, as...

Bekkozhayeva, D., Cisar, P. 2022. Image-based automatic individual identification of fish without obvious patterns on the body (scale pattern). Applied Sciences 12(11), 5401.

The precision fish farming concept has been widely investigated in research and is highly desirable in aquaculture as it creates opportunities for precisely controlling and monitoring fish cultivation processes and increasing fish welfare. The automatic...

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...

Shyan-Norwalt, M. 2021. Applications of behavioral training to laboratory animals. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(1) (January/February), 13-15.

How many of us have had this experience? We go to a conference, we read an article, we watch a video. We understand operant conditioning. We grasp the concepts behind clicker training, target training, and...

Buehler, A. 2021. The basics: Getting started with animal training in LAS. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(1) (January/February), 17-19.

Professional animal trainer now Animal Health Technician explains various animal training terms and concepts.

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...

Melfi, V. A., Dorey, N. R., Ward, S. (Eds.) 2020. Zoo Animal Learning and Training. John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 384 pp.

Comprehensively explains animal learning theories and current best practices in animal training within zoos. This accessible, up-to-date book on animal training in a zoo/aquaria context provides a unified approach to zoo animal learning, bringing together...

Figueiredo, F., Aragão, C., Pinto, W. et al. 2020. Optimizing rearing and welfare in Senegalese sole (Solea senegalesensis) broodstock: Effect of ambient light intensity and handling time on stress response. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 222, 104880.

Broodstock rearing conditions and handling procedures should be optimized in aquaculture species in order to benefit fish welfare and guarantee optimal conditions for spawning. In teleosts, basal cortisol levels display daily rhythms, oscillating along the...

Hanzen, C., Lucas, M. C., OʼBrien, G. et al. 2020. Surgical implantation of radio tags in three eel species (Anguilla spp.) in South Africa. Journal of Fish Biology 96(3), 847-852.

Studies have reported poor survival of surgically tagged freshwater fishes in warm African waters. This study aimed to assess the applicability of using radio telemetry (and surgical implantation of tags) for Anguilla spp. Nineteen yellow...

Skov, C., Hansen, J. H., Baktoft, H. et al. 2020. A field evaluation of long‐term effects of PIT tagging. Journal of Fish Biology 96(4), 1055-1059.

Passive integrated transponder (PIT)‐tagging is commonly used in behavioural studies of fish, although long‐term evaluations of effects from tagging under natural conditions are scarce. We PIT‐tagged common bream Abramis brama, European perch Perca fluviatilis, pike...

Young, T., Whiteside, T., Locklear, J. 2020. What is your tattoo ink telling you? Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(2) (March/April), 62-65.

Tattooing traumatizes the skin, which can result in microbial infections with the severity ranging from minor to life-threating septicemia. Additionally, the metals in colored tattoo ink are known to cause dermal inflammation in some people...