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. 
Mason, M. A., Semple, S., Marshall, H. H. et al. 2024. Goats discriminate emotional valence in the human voice. Animal Behaviour 209, 227–240.

Reading another animal’s emotional state can enable receivers to anticipate their behavioural motivations, which is important in guiding interactions with that individual. For species living closely alongside humans, the emotional cues that we express can...

Jorge, S., Félix, L., Costas, B. et al. 2023. Housing conditions affect adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavior but not their physiological status. Animals 13(6), 1120.

Zebrafish is a valuable model for neuroscience research, but the housing conditions to which it is exposed daily may be impairing its welfare status. The use of environmental enrichment and the refinement of methodology for...

Marks, C. A., Allen, L., Lindeberg, H. 2023. Non-lethal dose-response models replace lethal bioassays for predicting the hazard of para-animopropiophenone to Australian wildlife. Animals 13(3), 472.

Para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) is a potent methaemoglobin (MetHb) forming agent used for the lethal control of exotic carnivores and mustelids. To assess the sensitivity of Australian wildlife to PAPP we developed an in vivo assay that...

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...

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...

Williams, E., Hunton, V., Hosey, G. et al. 2023. The impact of visitors on non-primate species in zoos: A quantitative review. Animals 13(7), 1178.

Visitors are a prominent feature in the lives of zoo animals, and their presence can cause a range of impacts on zoo animals (typically classed as positive, negative or neutral impacts), commonly referred to as...

Bertin, A., Mulot, B., Nowak, R. et al. 2023. Captive blue-and-yellow macaws (Ara ararauna) show facial indicators of positive affect when reunited with their caregiver. Behavioural Processes 206, 104833.

In mammals, human-animal bonding is recognized as a source of positive affect for companion or farm animals. Because this remains unexplored in birds, we investigated captive parrots’ perspective of the human-animal relationship. We used a...

Kastelic, M., Gregurić Gračner, G., Tomažič, I. et al. 2023. Comparison of cortisol concentrations in different matrices in Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) at the zoo. Animals 13(15), 2491.

The usefulness of blood collection using venipuncture versus kissing bugs or medicinal leeches and the collection of saliva, faeces, hair, urine, and tears for measuring “immunoreactive” C (iC) concentration in Alpine ibexes was verified using...

Macdonald, D. W. 2023. Mitigating human impacts on wild animal welfare. Animals 13(18), 2906.

Human activities negatively impact the welfare of wild vertebrates in many different contexts globally, and countless individual animals are affected. Growing concern for wild animal welfare, especially in relation to conservation, is evident. While research...

Mandour, A. S., Farag, A., Helal, M. A. Y. et al. 2023. Non-invasive assessment of the intraventricular pressure using novel color M-mode echocardiography in animal studies: Current status and future perspectives in veterinary medicine. Animals 13(15), 2452.

The assessment of diastolic function has received great interest in order to comprehend its crucial role in the pathophysiology of heart failure and for the early identification of cardiac events. Silent changes in the intraventricular...

Turcu, M.-C., Paștiu, A. I., Bel, L.-V. et al. 2023. Minimally invasive sampling methods for molecular sexing of wild and companion birds. Animals 13(21), 3417.

Birds are highly social and must be paired in order to increase their welfare. Most bird species are monomorphic; therefore, molecular sexing helps provide appropriate welfare for birds. Moreover, early sex determination can be of...

Beeby, N., Baden, A. L., Higham, J. P. 2023. Urinary C-peptide and total triiodothyronine as energetic biomarkers for studies of lemurs. American Journal of Primatology 85(12), e23563.

Measuring energy balance and energy metabolism can provide crucial information for understanding the ecological and behavioral drivers of an animal’s energetic and physiological condition. Both urinary C-peptide (uCP) of insulin and urinary total triiodothyronine (uTT3)...

Hube, D., van Meegen, C., Herbrandt, S. et al. 2023. Hair corticosterone concentration as a potential stress marker in pet rabbits. Veterinary Record 193(9), e3464.

Background As a prey species, rabbits tend to hide their illnesses and injuries. Consequently, pet rabbit owners often do not notice that their pet may be suffering. Methods Data on the housing and health of...

Miller, S. L., Leri, F., Pushinsky, A. et al. 2023. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) distinguish between two human caretakers and their associated roles within a captive environment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 267, 106053.

Zebrafish have become a popular biomedical model in recent decades, and are now maintained in laboratories worldwide. However, living within a captive environment can introduce novel environmental stressors and experiencing stress chronically can negatively affect...

Mitin, H., Idrus, Z., Meng, G. Y. et al. 2023. Effects of positive human contact on fear and physiological stress responses in Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) subjected to crating and transport. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 269, 106108.

A growing body of research shows that farm animals frequently seek and enjoy human interaction. However, there is a lack of information on how positive human contact affects ducks’ stress and fear responses. An experiment...

Taylor, P. S., Hemsworth, P. H., Rault, J.-L. 2022. Environmental complexity: Additional human visual contact reduced meat chickens’ fear of humans and physical items altered pecking behavior. Animals 12(3), 310.

Increased environmental complexity can improve animal welfare, depending on the resources provided and use by the animal. We provided chickens either with physical items that posed no biosecurity risk and were inexpensive (balls, chains, perches...

Acharya, R. Y., Hemsworth, P. H., Coleman, G. J. et al. 2022. The animal-human interface in farm animal production: Animal fear, stress, reproduction and welfare. Animals 12(4), 487.

A negative human-animal relationship (HAR) from the perspective of the animal is a limiting factor affecting farm animal welfare, as well as farm animal productivity. Research in farm animals has elucidated sequential relationships between stockperson...

Celozzi, S., Battini, M., Prato-Previde, E. et al. 2022. Humans and goats: Improving knowledge for a better relationship. Animals 12(6), 774.

There is consensus that the quality of the human–animal relationship (HAR) is relevant to guarantee appropriate levels of animal welfare. Given the impact that HAR may have on both goats and human beings, the aim...

Midttun, H., Øverli, Ø., Tudorache, C. et al. 2022. Non-invasive sampling of water-borne hormones demonstrates individual consistency of the cortisol response to stress in laboratory zebrafish (Danio rerio). Scientific Reports 12(1) 6278.

Glucocorticoid (GC) stress hormones are well-known for their impact on phenotypic traits ranging from immune function to behaviour and cognition. For that reason, consistent aspects of an individual’s physiological stress response (i.e. GC responsiveness) can...

Jardat, P., Calandreau, L., Ferreira, V. et al. 2022. Pet-directed speech improves horses' attention toward humans. Scientific Reports 12(1), 4297.

In a recent experiment, we showed that horses are sensitive to pet-directed speech (PDS), a kind of speech used to talk to companion animals that is characterized by high pitch and wide pitch variations. When...

Torcivia, C., McDonnell, S. 2022. Efficacy of lidocaine topical solution in reducing discomfort reaction of horses to intramuscular vaccination. Animals 12(13), 1659.

Vaccinations via intramuscular injection are a key component of preventative health care in horses. Development of problematic behavioral aversion to injections is quite common. Our clinical impression has been that topical anesthetic applied to injection...

Leconstant, C., Spitz, E. 2022. Integrative Model of Human-Animal Interactions: A One Health–One Welfare systemic approach to studying HAI. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 656833.

The Integrative Model of Human-Animal Interactions (IMHAI) described herewith provides a conceptual framework for the study of interspecies interactions and aims to model the primary emotional processes involved in human-animal interactions. This model was developed...

Tonachella, N., Martini, A., Martinoli, M. et al. 2022. An affordable and easy-to-use tool for automatic fish length and weight estimation in mariculture. Scientific Reports 12(1), 15642.

Common aquaculture practices involve measuring fish biometrics at different growth stages, which is crucial for feeding regime management and for improving farmed fish welfare. Fish measurements are usually carried out manually on individual fish. However...

Böswald, L. F., Matzek, D., Mohr, H. et al. 2022. Morphometrics of Xenopus laevis kept as laboratory animals. Animals 12(21), 2986.

Morphometric data that provide information on body conditions can be used to monitor the health and well-being of animals. In laboratory animals, they can help to evaluate the stress due to experiments or treatments, following...

Edes, A. N., Zimmerman, D., Jourdan, B. et al. 2022. Value ranges and clinical comparisons of serum DHEA-S, IL-6, and TNF-α in western lowland gorillas. Animals 12(19), 2705.

Physiological data can provide valuable information about the health and welfare of animals. Unfortunately, few validated assays and a lack of information on species-typical levels of circulating biomarkers for wildlife make the measurement, interpretation, and...