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...

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...

Eeza, M. N. H., Singer, R., Ding, Y. et al. 2023. Probing microstructural changes in muscles of leptin-deficient zebrafish by non-invasive ex-vivo magnetic resonance microimaging. PLOS ONE 18(4), e0284215.

Leptin is a hormone that plays a key role in controlling food intake and energy homeostasis. Skeletal muscle is an important target for leptin and recent studies have shown that leptin deficiency may lead to...

Peruga, M., Kawala, B., Sarul, M. et al. 2023. Are currently selected laboratory animals useful in the research of how female hormones influence orthodontic biomechanics? Animals 13(4), 629.

Animal testing was and remains the only method of introducing a certain treatment and medical procedure on humans. On the other hand, animals have their rights resulting from applicable legal acts, including Directive 2010/63/EU and...

Sen Sarma, O., Frymus, N., Axling, F. et al. 2023. Optimizing zebrafish rearing−Effects of fish density and environmental enrichment. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17, 1204021.

Despite its popularity in research, there is very little scientifically validated knowledge about the best practices on zebrafish (Danio rerio) husbandry, which has led to several facilities having their own husbandry protocols. This study was...

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...

Deng, J., Zhang, H., Wang, Q. et al. 2023. An optimized environmental DNA method to improve detectability of the endangered Sichuan taimen (Hucho bleekeri). Fishes 8(7), 339.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques have emerged as a cost-effective and non-invasive strategy for monitoring the distribution of endangered aquatic species. Despite their numerous advantages, operational uncertainty at each step of the process represents a significant...

Gauy, A. C. dos S., Bolognesi, M. C., Gonçalves-de-Freitas, E. 2023. Body tactile stimulation reduces the effects of high stocking density on the welfare of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Fishes 8(6), 320.

High stocking density is used in aquaculture to optimize farming. However, such strategies can stress territorial fish by increasing aggression, thus harming the fish welfare and productive performance. Here, we tested the effect of long-term...

Wang, C., Yang, C., Zeng, Y. et al. 2023. GnRH-immunocastration: An alternative method for male animal surgical castration. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.
English, H., Harvey, L., Wilson, R. et al. 2023. Multi-sensor biologgers and innovative training allow data collection with high conservation and welfare value in zoos. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(1), 220–231.

Zoos are valuable resources for research, allowing scientists to observe rare and elusive species. Animal-attached loggers (biologgers) offer profound insight into animal behaviour. Their use in zoos has great yet largely untapped potential to collect...

Merten Cruz, M., Sauvage, T., Chariton, A. et al. 2023. The challenge of implementing environmental DNA metabarcoding to detect elasmobranchs in a resource-limited marine protected area. Journal of Fish Biology 103(1), 172–178.

Elasmobranchs are threatened and eDNA metabarcoding is a powerful tool that can help efforts to better understand and conserve them. Nevertheless, the inter-calibration between optimal methodological practices and its implementation in resource-limited situations is still...

Nyqvist, D., Schiavon, A., Candiotto, A. et al. 2023. PIT-tagging Italian spined loach (Cobitis bilineata): Methodology, survival and behavioural effects. Journal of Fish Biology 102(3), 575–580.

The Italian spined loach (Cobitis bilineata) is an elongated, small-sized (

Molinaro, H. G., Anderson, G. S., Gruny, L. et al. 2022. Use of blood lactate in assessment of manual capture techniques of zoo-housed crocodilians. Animals 12(3), 397.

Species-specific welfare indicators are important in promoting positive welfare for zoo animals. Reptiles are a notoriously understudied group in regards to behavior, welfare needs, and husbandry requirements. Using opportunistically obtained samples, we evaluated how blood...

Deacon, F., Daffue, W., Nel, P. 2022. Effective field immobilisation and capture of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis). Animals 12(10), 1290.

One of the highest occurrences of mortalities among giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) takes place during immobilisations, captures and translocations. Common mistakes, human error, unforeseen risks, the awkward anatomy and the sheer size of the animal are...

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...

Jang, J. Y., Liang, T., Kim, M.-K. et al. 2022. A rapid and noninvasive method that extracts polymerase chain reaction-ready genomic DNA from adult zebrafish. Zebrafish 19(4), 160-164.

Genotyping usually entails analysis of the products of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) carried out with genomic DNA (gDNA) as template, and is employed for validation of mutant or transgenic organisms. For genotyping of adult zebrafish...

Trondrud, L. M., Ugland, C., Ropstad, E. et al. 2022. Stress responses to repeated captures in a wild ungulate. Scientific Reports 12(1), 16289.

While capture-mark-recapture studies provide essential individual-level data in ecology, repeated captures and handling may impact animal welfare and cause scientific bias. Evaluating the consequences of invasive methodologies should be an integral part of any study...

Mayes, B. T., Tait, L. A., Cowley, F. C. et al. 2022. Stocking density, restricted trough space, and implications for sheep behaviour and biological functioning. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 965635.

Stocking density and trough space allowance can potentially impact sheep welfare during live export voyages. The aim of this study was to assess the welfare implications for sheep housed at five allometric stocking densities, with...

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”)...

Nurmi, H., Laaksonen, S., Häätylä, T. et al. 2022. The impact of clamp castration on the behaviour and body temperature of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) – Effects of local anesthesia and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 255, 105719.

Yearly, 2500–4000 reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) bulls are castrated in Finland, mostly without pain alleviation. No previous research exists concerning pain-related behaviours during castration in reindeer. Our aims were to investigate the effects of Burdizzo...

Anderson, M. G., Campbell, A. M., Kuhn, D. D. et al. 2022. Impact of environmental complexity and stocking density on affective states of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Animal Cognition 25(5), 1331–1343.

Environmental condition, such as environmental complexity or stocking density, can directly or indirectly influence animal emotion and ultimately, affective state. Affective states of animals can be assessed through judgement bias tests, evaluating responses to ambiguous...

Casey, K. M., Gore, F., Vilches-Moure, J. G. et al. 2021. Management of morbidity and mortality in a New Zealand white rabbit model of steroidinduced osteonecrosis of the femoral head. Comparative Medicine 71(1), 86-98.

Steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (SONFH) is a condition documented in humans and animals exposed to chronic steroid administration. The rabbit has become a preferred animal model for investigating the pathogenesis and treatment of...

Harris, C., White, P. J., Hall, E. et al. 2021. Evaluation of electroencephalography, behaviour and eye temperature in response to surgical castration in sheep. Animals 11(3), 637.

Castration has been demonstrated to cause pain in sheep. However, it is routinely performed for management purposes. Electroencephalography (EEG) has been used successfully to measure pain in lambs in response to castration and other husbandry...

Bista, D., Lama, S. T., Weerman, J. et al. 2021. Improved trapping and handling of an arboreal, montane mammal: Red panda Ailurus fulgens. Animals 11(4), 921.

It is sometimes essential to have an animal in the hand to study some of their ecological and biological characteristics. However, capturing a solitary, cryptic, elusive arboreal species such as the red panda in the...

Steagall, P. V., Bustamante, H., Johnson, C. B. et al. 2021. Pain management in farm animals: Focus on cattle, sheep and pigs. Animals 11(6), 1483.

Pain causes behavioral, autonomic, and neuroendocrine changes and is a common cause of animal welfare compromise in farm animals. Current societal and ethical concerns demand better agricultural practices and improved welfare for food animals. These...