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. 
Stevens, C., Hawkins, P., Lovell-Badge, R. et al. 2019. Report of the 2018 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 18(2), 81-91.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent (and now Rabbit) Working Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 25 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and...

Watz, J. 2019. Structural complexity in the hatchery rearing environment affects activity, resting metabolic rate and post-release behaviour in brown trout Salmo trutta. Journal of Fish Biology 95(2), 638-641.

The effects of structural enrichment in the hatchery rearing environment of brown trout Salmo trutta was linked to post-release performance. Enrichment resulted in reduced swimming activity scored in an open field test and reduced movement...

Animal Welfare Institute. 2019. Let’s get serious about animal play. AWI Quarterly 68(3) Fall, 19.

This article describes the importance of providing laboratory animals with opportunities to engage in play, and provides a few practical ideas for how to do this.

Animal Welfare Institute. 2019. Rabbit enrichment items: Getting bang for the buck (and doe). AWI Quarterly 68(1) Spring, 24-25.

A recent discussion on the Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum (LAREF) focused on new enrichment ideas for rabbits. Contributors shared their experiences about which toys and treats get rave reviews from rabbits.

Ladewig, J. 2019. Body language: Its importance for communication with horses. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 29, 108-110.

Body language is important for communication between individuals. Body language is based on the fact that the thought of performing a known action, alone, will activate the motor neurons used for the action, resulting in...

Rogers, S., White, J., Busby, D. 2019. Introducing human behavior change for animals: a new approach to sustainable change for horses. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 29, 152. (13th International Society of Equitation Science (ISES) Conference Abstract)

The root cause of most welfare issues for horses is human behavior – people doing, or not doing, certain care, management or training practices. In addition, there is a gap between advancing scientific knowledge about...

Ladewig, J. 2019. Body language: its importance for communication with horses. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 29, 147-148. (13th International Society of Equitation Science (ISES) Conference Abstract)

Body language is important for communication between individuals. Body language is based on the fact that the thought, alone of performing a known action will activate the motor neurons used for the action, resulting in...

Proops, L. Osthaus, B., Bell, N. et al. 2019. Shelter-seeking behavior of donkeys and horses in a temperate climate. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 32, 16-23.

Domestic donkeys descended from wild asses, adapted to the semi-arid climates of Africa, whereas domestic horses originate from more temperate areas of Eurasia. Despite this difference in evolutionary history, modern domestic equids can be found...

Anderson, J. R., Ang, M. Y. L., Lock, L. C. et al. 2019. Nesting, sleeping, and nighttime behaviors in wild and captive great apes. Primates 60(4), 321–332.

The past few decades have seen a burgeoning of scientific studies on great apes’ use of nests for sleeping in the wild, as well as their nesting behavior and sleep in captivity. We review recent...

Egelkamp, C. L., Ross, S. R. 2019. A review of zoo-based cognitive research using touchscreen interfaces. Zoo Biology 38(2), 220-235.

In the past few decades, there has been an increase in the number of zoo-based touchscreen studies of animal cognition around the world. Such studies have contributed to the field of comparative cognition despite the...

Message, R., Greenhough, B. 2019. “But it’s just a fish”: Understanding the challenges of applying the 3Rs in laboratory aquariums in the UK. Animals 9(12), 1075.

Adopting a social science perspective and qualitative methodology on the problem of laboratory fish welfare, this paper examines some underlying social factors and drivers that influence thinking, priorities and implementation of fish welfare initiatives and...

Mather, J. A. 2019. Ethics and care: For animals, not just mammals. Animals 9(12), 1018.

Animals come in a huge array of types, species and structures, but without realizing it, we have focused our care on those like us, mammals. They look something like us, so it's easy to empathize...

Scopa, C., Contalbrigo, L., Greco, A. et al. 2019. Emotional transfer in human–horse interaction: New perspectives on equine assisted interventions. Animals 9(12), 1030.

Equine assisted interventions (EAIs) include all therapeutic interventions aimed at improving human wellbeing through the involvement of horses. Due to the prominent emotional involvement traditionally characterizing their relation with humans, horses developed sophisticated communicative skills...

Schmitt, V. 2019. Implementing portable touchscreen-setups to enhance cognitive research and enrich zoo-housed animals. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 7(2), 50-58.

To understand the evolutionary development of cognition, comparing the cognitive capacities of different animal species is essential. However, getting access to various species with sufficient sample sizes can be very challenging. Zoos, housing large ranges...

Špinka, M. 2019. Animal agency, animal awareness and animal welfare. Animal Welfare 28(1), 11–20.

In nature, animals need to actively engage with the environment in order to prosper in survival and reproduction. Hence, agency is a central adaptive characteristic of animal life. In this paper, I propose that from...

Luna, D., Vásquez, R. A., Yáñez, J. M. et al. 2018. The relationship between working horse welfare state and their owners’ empathy level and perception of equine pain. Animal Welfare 27(2), 115-123.

An understanding of the factors influencing the human-animal relationship is relevant in the development of welfare interventions for working equids. However, the link between the psychological attributes of animal owners, such as empathy level and...

Costa, R., Sousa, C., Llorente, M. 2018. Assessment of environmental enrichment for different primate species under low budget: A case study. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 21(2), 185-199.

The 2011 European Union Zoo Inquiry presented evidence that most zoos fail to achieve adequate levels of nonhuman animal welfare. Appropriate environmental enrichment (EE) can play a role in the promotion of welfare. However, financial...

Shapiro, M. E., Shapiro, H. G., Ehmke, E. E. 2018. Behavioral responses of three lemur species to different food enrichment devices. Zoo Biology 37(3), 146–155.

Environmental enrichment is a tool used to promote the welfare and well‐being of captive animals by encouraging the display of species‐specific behaviors and reducing the stress or boredom induced by captive environments. Lemurs are highly...

Baker, B., Taylor, S., Montrose, V. T. 2018. The effects of olfactory stimulation on the behavior of captive ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Zoo Biology 37(1), 16–22.

Ring‐tailed lemurs reside in many animal collections worldwide. Lemur welfare may be a cause of concern due to some captive individuals exhibiting stereotypic behavior. Despite these concerns, there has been little exploration of methods of...

Fuller, G., Murray, A., Thueme, M. et al. 2018. Behavioral and hormonal responses to the availability of forage material in Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Zoo Biology 37(1), 23–34.

We investigated how forage material affects indicators of welfare in three male Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at the Detroit Zoo. In addition to their maintenance diet and enrichment foods, the gorillas generally received...

Hawkins, P., McBride, A., Paiba, G. et al. 2018. Report of the 2017 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(2), 75-83. [Meeting Report]

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent (and now Rabbit) Welfare Group held a one-day meeting on 14 November 2017 in Weybridge, UK. The first session addressed meeting animals' needs and aiming for a 'good life', with the needs...

Pearson, K., Gant, J. 2018. Improving rabbit enrichment: Developing a rolling enrichment plan. Animal Technology and Welfare 17(2), 121-123.

A three-week enrichment preference study trialling different substrates, food and pen structures was carried out in three, group-housed female New Zealand White Rabbits (NZW). Preference results: structural - rabbits spent the most time with a...

Rochais, C., Henry, S., Hausberger, M. 2018. “Hay-bags” and “Slow feeders”: Testing their impact on horse behaviour and welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 198, 52-59.

The temporal distribution of feeding behaviour is of primary importance in grazing herbivores. Many domestic horses are managed under conditions far removed from the natural environment. For example, restricted access to roughage may induce health...

Peveler, J. L., Hickman, D. L. 2018. Effects of music enrichment on individually housed male New Zealand white rabbits. JAALAS 57(6), 695–697.

The beneficial effect of music has been demonstrated in many species. Although commercially available music CDs intended for use with rabbits are available, these enrichments have not been critically evaluated to determine whether they reduce...

Ijichi, C., Griffin, K., Squibb, K. et al. 2018. Stranger danger? An investigation into the influence of human-horse bond on stress and behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 206, 59-63.

Human-animal bond is receiving increasing attention and is thought to confer benefits on well-being and performance in working animals. One important benefit of bonding is the “safe base” an attachment figure provides, which manifests in...