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. 
Golledge, H., Richardson, C. (Eds.) 2024. The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other Research Animals (9th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 1040 p.

The latest edition of the seminal reference on the care and management of laboratory and research animals. The newly revised ninth edition of The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory and Other...

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...

Brando, S., Vitale, A., Bacon, M. 2023. Promoting good nonhuman primate welfare outside regular working hours. Animals 13(8), 1423.

Promoting good primate welfare outside of daylight hours is an important task. The responsibility to provide a complex environment and environmental enrichment is an essential element of primate wellbeing programs that should be approached from...

Morgado, J. N., Lamonaca, E., Santeramo, F. G. et al. 2023. Effects of management strategies on animal welfare and productivity under heat stress: A synthesis. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10, 1145610.

Climate change includes different dramatic events, and among them, heat stress exposition is the strongest phenomenon affecting the livestock sector. The effects of heat stress events on animal welfare are complex and the economic impacts...

Graves, A. E., Dias, J. E., Michaels, C. J. 2023. Effects of background color on stress-linked behavior in the critically endangered Lake Oku clawed frog (Xenopus longipes). Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 4(1), 99–107.

Ex situ amphibian populations are a key component of global amphibian conservation strategy, and optimal husbandry is vital to ex situ conservation success. Animal behavior can be used to inform captive welfare and improve husbandry...

Olczak, K., Penar, W., Nowicki, J. et al. 2023. The role of sound in livestock farming—Selected aspects. Animals 13(14), 2307.

To ensure the optimal living conditions of farm animals, it is essential to understand how their senses work and the way in which they perceive their environment. Most animals have a different hearing range compared...

Molnar, D. L., Vernasco Price, E. J. 2023. Use of a toy soak to maximize staff efficiency in cage wash operations. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 11(2) (March/April), 40-41.

The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals emphasizes that the primary aim of environmental enrichment is to enhance animal well-being. At our facility, at the end of a two-week cycle in a...

Knight, M. I., Linden, N. P., Butler, K. L. et al. 2023. The effect of shade on sheep grazing pasture during summer conditions. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 64–65, 16–24.

Providing shade in situ in paddocks may lead to better animal welfare and/or improved sheep production outcomes. However, there are no replicated experiments detailing the effect of the provision of shade in situ under grazing...

Parés, R., Llonch, P., Such, X. et al. 2023. Wool-pulling behaviour appears in a production system with grazing restriction and can be assessed through wool inspection. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 269, 106109.

Sheep flocks can be reared in different production systems that differ in the duration of indoor housing and grazing restriction. Indoor housing can lead to aggressive interactions, such as blocking, threats and butts, whereas grazing...

Wei, H., Geng, L., Shang, X. et al. 2023. Background color preference of amphibian Rana dybowskii. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 268, 106079.

Background color may affect the welfare of the brown frog Rana dybowskii in captivity. To evaluate the perching platform color and feeding platform color preferences of brown frogs at day and night, a total of...

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...

Berthel, R., Simmler, M., Dohme-Meier, F. et al. 2022. Dairy sheep and goats prefer the single components over the mixed ration. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1017669.

Mixed rations provide ruminants with a balanced diet by aiming to prevent selective feeding. However, this is a natural behavior of sheep and goats based on their dietary needs and the nutritional properties of feedstuffs...

Eyre, R., Trehiou, M., Marshall, E. et al. 2022. Aging cats prefer warm food. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 47, 86-92.

The aim of this study was to determine if meal temperature of cat wet food affected the feeding preference of aging (>7 years of age) domestic short-haired cats. We examined a chunks in gravy product...

Butler, S. 2022. Gardening for Gorillas. Orla Kelly Publishing, Dublin, Ireland. 369 p.

During the author's 37 years as Curator of Horticulture, Dublin Zoo transformed from an almost Victorian appearance to a verdant green ark. A progressive masterplan focused on animal welfare and themed habitats reflects the spirit...

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...

Brando, S., Coe, J. 2022. Confronting back-of-house traditions: Primates as a case study. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3(3), 366–397.

This review commentary focuses on traditional management practices and facility design with suggested improvements in non-public primate management areas, often called “back-of-house”, (henceforth BOH) in zoos, sanctuaries, and research facilities. Progress has been made toward...

Brooke Collins, E., Blackie, N. 2021. The impacts of waterproof insulated jackets on lamb performance on a UK lowland farm. Animals 11(1), 217.

The majority of lamb losses occur within the first two weeks of life, with cold stress being a major cause of lamb morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the effect of insulating lamb jackets on...

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...

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...

FELASA Working Group on Farm Animals: Berset, C. M., Caristo, M. E., Ferrara, F. et al. 2021. Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations recommendations of best practices for the health management of ruminants and pigs used for scientific and educational purposes. Laboratory Animals 55(2), 117-128.

Most ruminants and pigs used for scientific and educational aims are bred not for these purposes but in a farm environment. Given the wide range of diseases that these species might have, ensuring that the...

Wilson-Welder, J. H., Frank, A. T. 2021. Use of food enrichment for medication delivery in large groups of sheep. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(3) (May/June), 40-43.

In a 2018 AALAS webinar on Sheep and Goat Analgesia, Dr. Susie Vogel, a small ruminant expert, introduced the concept of getting sheep and goats to willingly take medication by putting it in a tasty...

Higgins, K., Guerrel, J., Lassiter, E. et al. 2021. Observations on spindly leg syndrome in a captive population of Andinobates geminisae. Zoo Biology 40(4), 330-341.

Amphibian health problems of unknown cause limit the success of the growing number of captive breeding programs. Spindly leg syndrome (SLS) is one such disease, where affected individuals with underdeveloped limbs often require euthanization. We...

Dickinson, A. 2021. Maximising efficacy of your health monitoring programme. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(3), 255-257.

There are a multitude of health monitoring techniques/ methods available. It can be difficult to know which of these to use and when to use them. This is an attempt to simplify, maximise the efficacy...

Schmidt, T., Ferrara, F., Pobloth, A.-M. et al. 2021. Large farm animals used for research purposes: A survey on purchase, housing and hygiene management. Animals 11(8), 2158.

Background: Farm animals (FAs) are frequently used in biomedical research. Recommendations for the purchase, housing and health monitoring of these animals (sheep, goats, cattle and pigs) are still missing, and many institutes have developed their...

Onozawa, E., Azakami, D., Seki, S. et al. 2021. Effect of an insulation device in preventing hypothermia during magnetic resonance imaging examinations for dogs and cats under general anesthesia. Animals 11(8), 2378.

Dogs and cats under general anesthesia may develop hypothermia. When performing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination, it is not possible to place a magnetic material in the MRI room, and MRI equipment requires a...