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. 
McMahon, S. A., Wigham, E. 2020. ‘All Ears’: A questionnaire of 1516 owner perceptions of the mental abilities of pet rabbits, subsequent resource provision, and the effect on welfare. Animals 10(10), 1730.

Pet rabbit welfare is a hidden crisis: Inappropriately housed, fed, and not routinely provided healthcare—rabbits can often suffer painful conditions and shortened lifespans. This study provides novel understanding of owners’ perceptions of rabbits’ mental capabilities...

Mellor, E. L., Cuthill, I. C., Schwitzer, C. et al. 2020. Large lemurs: Ecological, demographic and environmental risk factors for weight gain in captivity. Animals 10(8), 1443.

Excessive body mass, i.e., being overweight or obese, is a health concern associated with issues such as reduced fertility and lifespan. Some lemur species are prone to extreme weight gain in captivity, yet others are...

Ordóñez-Grande, B., Guerreiro, P. M., Sanahuja, I. et al. 2020. Evaluation of an acute osmotic stress in European sea bass via skin mucus biomarkers. Animals 10(9), 1546.

European sea bass is a marine teleost which can inhabit a broad range of environmental salinities. So far, no research has studied the physiological response of this fish to salinity challenges using modifications in skin...

Pedrazzani, A. S., Quintiliano, M. H., Bolfe, F. et al. 2020. Tilapia on-farm welfare assessment protocol for semi-intensive production systems. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 606388.

The aim of this study was to develop and test a tilapia on-farm welfare assessment protocol, based on Brazilian semi-intensive production systems. The study included two mains steps: the elaboration of tilapia welfare protocol and...

Rault, J.-L., Waiblinger, S., Boivin, X. et al. 2020. The power of a positive human–animal relationship for animal welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 590867.

Domestic animals often seek and enjoy interacting with humans. Positive human–animal relationships can elicit positive emotions and other positive welfare outcomes. Nevertheless, our understanding of the underlying processes that govern the positive perception of humans...

Harper, S. B., Bayne, K., Anderson, K. E. 2020. High-containment agriculture animal research: An AAALAC International perspective. ILAR Journal 61(1), 10-17.

Institutions that conduct high-containment agricultural research involving domestic livestock represent a specialized category of programs that are accredited by AAALAC International. The accreditation process includes a comprehensive assessment of the overall program of animal care...

Rojas, D., Broom, D. M., Orihuela, A. et al. 2020. Effects of human-animal relationship on animal productivity and welfare. Journal of Animal Behaviour and Biometeorology 8(3), 196-205.

This is a literature review of the effects of humans' relationships with farm animals on animal productivity and welfare, including the following topics: definition of the concept and description of different tests that have been...

Abayarathna, T., Webb, J. K. 2020. Effects of incubation temperatures on learning abilities of hatchling velvet geckos. Animal Cognition 23(4), 613–620.

Stressful environments in utero can have a profound influence on cognitive functions and learning ability. In lizards, thermal environments experienced by embryos can shape a range of traits, including sex, body size, and locomotor performance...

Boesch, C. 2020. Mothers, environment, and ontogeny affect cognition. Animal Behavior and Cognition 7(3), 474–489.

The book “Folk Physics for Apes” remains a fascinating book about the way one captive peer-group of chimpanzees understand the world in which they grew. However, the very special living conditions these seven individuals faced...

Brereton, J. E. 2020. Challenges and directions in zoo and aquarium food presentation research: A review. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 1(1), 13–23.

From its foundations in agricultural science, zoo animal nutrition has developed into a biologically informed, evidence-based discipline. However, some facets of nutrition still make use of a more traditional approach, such as the field of...

Nawroth, C., Gygax, L. 2020. The legislative, ethical, and conceptual importance of replicability in farm animal welfare science. agriRxiv 2020, 20203211980.

In this commentary, we discuss three replicability issues that are specifically relevant to research regarding farm animal welfare: (1) Legislative action, and its potential economic consequences, should derive from robust and replicable research to benefit...

Spain, M., Fuller, G., Allard, S. 2020. Effects of habitat modifications on behavioral indicators of welfare for Madagascar giant hognose snakes (Leioheterodon madagascariensis). Animal Behavior and Cognition 7(1), 70–81.

Although historically understudied, the empirical evaluation of captive reptile welfare is becoming more common, and zoos continue making modifications to their reptile facilities with the goal of improving welfare. In this study, we evaluated the...

Colson, V., Mure, A., Valotaire, C. et al. 2019. A novel emotional and cognitive approach to welfare phenotyping in rainbow trout exposed to poor water quality. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 210, 103-112.

Recent scientific evidence for fish sentience has stressed the need for novel sentience-based detection tools of fish welfare impairment in commercial farms. In order to mimic a well-characterised stress situation, rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were...

Arechavala-Lopez, P., Saraiva, J. L. 2019. Welfare of Cultured and Experimental Fishes. Basel, Switzerland: MDPI, 132 pages.

This open access book is a printed edition of the Special Issue on Welfare of Cultured and Experimental Fishes that was published in the journal Fishes. The PDF is free for download.

Silva, P. F., de Leaniz, C. G., Luchiari, A. C. 2019. Fear contagion in zebrafish: A behaviour affected by familiarity. Animal Behaviour 153, 95-103.

Emotional contagion has recently been described in fish but whether it is affected by familiarity is not known. We tested whether the sight of a distressed conspecific elicited fear in zebrafish, Danio rerio, and whether...

Learmonth, M. J. 2019. Dilemmas for natural living concepts of zoo animal welfare. Animals 9(6), 318.

This ethical discourse specifically deals with dilemmas encountered within zoological institutions, namely for the concept of natural living, and a new term—wilding. It is agreed by some that zoos are not ethically wrong in principle...

López-Álvarez, J., Sanjorge, Y., Soloaga, S. et al. 2019. Looking for visitor's effect in sanctuaries: Implications of guided visitor groups on the behavior of the chimpanzees at Fundació Mona. Animals 9(6), 347.

The question of 'if and how captive primates are affected by visitors' has gained increasing attention over the last decades. Although the majority reported undesirable effects on behavior and wellbeing, many studies reported contradicting results...

Sherwen, S. L., Hemsworth, P. H. The visitor effect on zoo animals: Implications and opportunities for zoo animal welfare. Animals 9(6), 366.

Achieving and maintaining high standards of animal welfare is critical to the success of a modern zoo. Research has shown that an animal's welfare is highly dependent on how various individual animal factors (e.g., species...

Jakob-Hoff, R., Kingan, M., Fenemore, C. et al. 2019. Potential impact of construction noise on selected zoo animals. Animals 9(8), 504.

In anticipation of a major construction project in an urban New Zealand zoo, a study was initiated to assess the response to construction noise of selected animal species (elephant, giraffe, emu and alligator) previously observed...

Ormandy, E. H., Weary, D. M., Cvek, K. et al. 2019. Animal research, accountability, openness and public engagement: Report from an international expert forum. Animals 9(9), 622.

In November 2013, a group of international experts in animal research policy (n = 11) gathered in Vancouver, Canada, to discuss openness and accountability in animal research. The primary objective was to bring together participants...

Watters, J. V., Krebs, B. L. 2019. Assessing and enhancing the welfare of animals with equivocal and reliable cues. Animals 9(9), 680.

The actions of human caretakers strongly influence animals living under human care. Here, we consider how intentional and unintentional signals provided by caretakers can inform our assessment of animals' well-being as well as help to...

Hubrecht, R. C., Carter, E. 2019. The 3Rs and humane experimental technique: Implementing change. Animals 9(10), 754.

In 1959, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) Scholars Russell & Burch published the Principles of Humane Experimental Technique in which they laid out the principles of the Three Rs. However, the Three Rs...

Lambert, H., Carder, G., D'Cruze, N. 2019. Given the cold shoulder: A review of the scientific literature for evidence of reptile sentience. Animals 9(10), 821.

We searched a selection of the scientific literature to document evidence for, and explorations into reptile sentience. The intention of this review was to highlight; (1) to what extent reptile capability for emotions have been...

Semin, G. R., Scandurra, A., Baragli, P. et al. 2019. Inter- and intra-species communication of emotion: Chemosignals as the neglected medium. Animals 9(11), 887.

Human body odors contain chemosignals that make species-specific communication possible. Interspecies communication studies were conducted on dogs and horses subjected to human chemosignals produced in happiness and fear emotional states. Dogs showed behaviors consistent with...

Sutherland, M. A., Lowe, G. L., Cox, N. R. et al. 2019. Effects of flooring surface and a supplemental heat source on location preference, behaviour and growth rates of dairy goat kids. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 217, 36-42.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different flooring surfaces and a supplemental heat source (heat lamps) on location preference, behaviour and growth rate of dairy goat kids. Eighty female Saanen...