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. 
Wallgren, T., Gunnarsson, S. 2021. Effect of straw provision in racks on tail lesions, straw availability, and pen hygiene in finishing pigs. Animals 11(2), 379.

Unfulfilled exploratory behavior in pigs has been linked to tail biting, which causes reduced performance and welfare. Provision of straw can reduce tail biting, but large straw rations can cause poor hygiene in pens. This...

Pol, F., Huneau-Salaün, A., Gallien, S. et al. 2021. Compressed brown algae as a potential environmental enrichment material in growing pigs. Animals 11(2), 315.

In barren housing conditions, enrichment materials are given to pigs to improve their welfare. Here, we assessed the suitability of an algae-based cylinder as an enrichment material on the behavioral, physiological, health and productivity welfare...

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...

Ramos, J., Balasch, J. C., Tort, L. 2021. About welfare and stress in the early stages of fish. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 634434.

In conclusion, the investigations carried out up to now demonstrate that during the early stages fish show high sensitivity to many types of stressors involving an array of responses to overcome alterations that could affect...

Norscia, I., Collarini, E.,Cordoni, G. 2021. Anxiety behavior in pigs (Sus scrofa) decreases through affiliation and may anticipate threat. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 630164.

Anxiety is a physio-psychological state anticipating an imminent threat. In social mammals it is behaviorally expressed via displacement activities and buffered via affiliation. Anxiety research on domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) has mostly focused on abnormal/stereotypic...

Wiechers, D.-H., Brunner, S., Herbrandt, S. et al. 2021. Analysis of hair cortisol as an indicator of chronic stress in pigs in two different farrowing systems. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 605078.

Confinement to farrowing crates is known to prevent sows from performing natural behavior, impairing animal welfare and possibly causing chronic stress. Hair cortisol analyses are increasingly used to detect chronic stress in animals. In the...

Bushby, E. V., Dye, L., Collins, L. M. 2021. Is magnesium supplementation an effective nutritional method to reduce stress in domestic pigs? A systematic review. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 596205.

In commercial pig production, stressful events are common and can have detrimental impacts on the pig's health and welfare, as well as on the performance of the farm. Supplementary magnesium may reduce stress, and subsequent...

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...

Combs, S. R., Lambert, K. 2021. Cooperative pig training that literally saves your back. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(1) (January/February), 42-45.

This article describes the successful training of a pig to wear a jacket.

Perez, J., Collins, R., Lambert, K. 2021. Using positive reinforcement training to build compliance in Sinclair mini pigs. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(1) (January/February), 50-53.

Pigs are an ideal model for treating osteochondral defects, though their sedentary nature could impair their healing when being used for one of these projects. Following joint injury, some level of lameness is anticipated. Developing...

Owen, J. P., Kelsh, R. N. 2021. A suitable anaesthetic protocol for metamorphic zebrafish. PLOS ONE 16(3), e0246504.

Zebrafish are frequently used as a means to investigate development. These studies increasingly require repeated anaesthesia of zebrafish during juvenile (i.e. metamorphic) stages. The effects of anaesthesia during this time remain poorly studied. The aim...

Ly, L. H., & Weary, D. M. 2021. Facial expression in humans as a measure of empathy towards farm animals in pain. PLOS ONE 16(3), e0247808.

People often express concern for the welfare of farm animals, but research on this topic has relied upon self-report. Facial expressions provide a quantifiable measure of emotional response that may be less susceptible to social...

Nonnis, S., Angiulli, E., Maffioli, E. et al. 2021. Acute environmental temperature variation affects brain protein expression, anxiety and explorative behaviour in adult zebrafish. Scientific Reports 11(1), 2521.

This study investigated the effect of 4-d acute thermal treatments at 18 °C, 26 °C (control) and 34 °C on the nervous system of adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) using a multidisciplinary approach based on behavioural...

Marchetto, L., Barcellos, L. J. G., Koakoski, G. et al. 2021. Auditory environmental enrichment prevents anxiety-like behavior, but not cortisol responses, evoked by 24-h social isolation in zebrafish. Behavioural Brain Research 404, 113169.

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is widely used as a promising translational model organism for studying various brain disorders. Zebrafish are also commonly used in behavioral and drug screening assays utilizing individually tested (socially isolated) fish...

Swan, K.-M., Telkänranta, H., Munsterhjelm, C. et al. 2021. Access to chewable materials during lactation affects sow behaviour and interaction with piglets. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 234, 105174.

We investigated how providing chewable materials to piglets during the early weeks of life affect sow behaviour, sow and piglet interaction and sow health in pens with farrowing crates. We divided 59 pregnant sows into...

Aparecida Martins, R., Ribeiro Caldara, F., Crone, C. et al. 2021. Strategic use of straw as environmental enrichment for prepartum sows in farrowing crates. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 234, 105194.

Sows are highly motivated to build a nest prior to farrowing, but, given the barren environment of farrowing crates, this behaviour is limited and improperly expressed. We aimed to assess the effects of a straw...

Morrone, B., Bernardino, T., Tatemoto, P. et al. 2021. Indication that the presence of older conspecifics reduces agonistic behaviour in piglets at weaning. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 234, 105201.

Piglets weaned under commercial systems are greatly stressed by maternal separation, abrupt changes in the diet and mixing of litters. Intensive agonistic interactions exacerbate this challenge for piglets. We investigated effects of older conspecific presence...

Olson, M. J., Creamer, M., Horback, K. M. 2021. Identification of specific call types produced by pre-weaning gilts in response to isolation. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 234, 105203.

Monitoring the vocalizations produced by livestock in commercial facilities can be used to remotely assess the arousal, and perhaps welfare, of the animals. Domestic swine is an ideal candidate for this type of assessment as...

Camerlink, I., Proßegger, C., Kubala, D. et al. 2021. Keeping littermates together instead of social mixing benefits pig social behaviour and growth post-weaning. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 235, 105230.

The importance of social stability and its influence on the expression of the social behaviour repertoire in domestic animals remains poorly understood, especially for affiliative behaviours and other putative socio-positive behaviours such as social play...

Berlinghieri, F., Panizzon, P., Penry-Williams, I. L. et al. 2021. Laterality and fish welfare - A review. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 236, 105239.

Humans interact with fishes in many contexts including aquaculture, scientific study and companion animals. In all of these contexts, fish welfare can be compromised through anthropogenic means. Concern for fish welfare has grown considerably in...

Kauselmann, K., Krause, E. T., Glitz, B. et al. 2021. Effect of plant-based enrichment materials on exploration in rearing and fattening pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 236, 105261.

When pigs cannot perform innate species-specific behaviours (e.g. rooting or chewing), behavioural disorders, like tail biting, can occur. However, it seems that various enrichment materials enhance the pigs to perform exploration behaviour and therefore can...

Coleman, K., Shapiro, S. J. (Eds.). 2021. Behavioral Biology of Laboratory Animals (1st ed). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

This 30-chapter volume informs students and professionals about the behavioral biology of animals commonly housed in laboratory and other captive settings. Each species evolved under specific environmental conditions, resulting in unique behavioral patterns, many of...

Prior, H., Holbrook, M. 2021. Strategies to encourage the adoption of social housing during cardiovascular telemetry recordings in non-rodents. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 108, 106959.

The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) is working with industry to promote social housing during cardiovascular telemetry recordings within non-rodent safety pharmacology and toxicology studies. Following surveys...

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...

Stevens, C. H., Reed, B. T., Hawkins, P. 2021. Enrichment for laboratory zebrafish—A review of the evidence and the challenges. Animals 11(3), 698.

Good practice for the housing and care of laboratory zebrafish Danio rerio is an increasingly discussed topic, with focus on appropriate water quality parameters, stocking densities, feeding regimes, anaesthesia and analgesia practices, methods of humane...