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. 
Guesgen, M. J., Beausoleil, N. J., Minot, E. O. et al. 2016. Lambs show changes in ear posture when experiencing pain. Animal Welfare 25(2), 171-177.

Ear posture, or the frequency of postural changes, may reflect various emotional states of animals. In adult sheep (Ovis aries), the 'forward' ear posture has been associated with negative experiences whereas the 'plane' posture has...

Goodwin, N., Karp, N. A., Blackledge, S. et al. 2016. Standardized welfare terms for the zebrafish community. Zebrafish 13(S1), S164-S168.

Managing the welfare of laboratory animals is critical to animal health, vital in the understanding of phenotypes created by treatment or genetic alteration and ensures compliance of regulations. Part of an animal welfare assessment is...

Lang, A., Schulz, A., Ellinghaus, A. et al. 2016. Osteotomy models – the current status on pain scoring and management in small rodents. Laboratory Animals 50(6), 433-441.

Fracture healing is a complex regeneration process which produces new bone tissue without scar formation. However, fracture healing disorders occur in approximately 10% of human patients and cause severe pain and reduced quality of life...

Graf, R., Cinelli, P., Arras, M. 2016. Morbidity scoring after abdominal surgery. Laboratory Animals 50(6), 453-458.

Postoperative monitoring of pain and distress in small rodents is not standardized, and widely accepted score sheets are not available. Here we describe a score sheet used in abdominal surgery of rodents, with particular reference...

Kanzler, S., Rix, A., Czigany, Z. et al. 2016. Recommendation for severity assessment following liver resection and liver transplantation in rats: Part I. Laboratory Animals 50(6), 459-467.

Score sheets were first introduced 30 years ago to assess pain, distress and suffering in animals. To date, however, there is still no general agreement on their use in research practice, and only a few...

Drude, N., Pawlowsky, K., Tanaka,H. et al. 2016. Severity assessment in rabbits after partial hepatectomy: Part II. Laboratory Animals 50(6), 468-475.

Although the recognition of pain, distress and discomfort has already been described in 1985 by Morton and Griffiths there is still very little known about the establishment of score sheets especially, regarding postsurgical pain and...

Kruger, M. C., Morel, P. C. H. 2016. Experimental control for the ovariectomized rat model: Use of sham versus nonmanipulated animal. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 19(1), 73-80.

One of 2 models required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for registration of a treatment for osteoporosis, the ovariectomized (OVX) rat model, is widely used in scientific studies investigating sex hormone-deficient bone loss...

Wark, J. D., Amendolagine, L., Lukas, K. E. et al. 2016. Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite responses to management stressors and social change in four species of callitrichine monkeys. Primates 57(2), 267-277.

The use of enzyme immunoassays (EIA) for the non-invasive measurement of glucocorticoids provides a valuable tool for monitoring health and welfare in sensitive species. We validated methods for measuring fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) using the...

Kanghae, H., Thongprajukaew, K., Jatupornpitukchat, S. et al. 2016. Optimal?rearing density for head?starting green turtles (Chelonia mydas Linnaeus, 1758). Zoo Biology 35(5), 454-461.

While ex situ conservation programs of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas Linnaeus, 1758), before release to natural habitats, have been conducted in several countries, the optimal‐stocking density for husbandry has not yet been reported. The...

Hawkins, P., Atkinson, J., Birt, R. et al. 2016. Report of the 2015 RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare group meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 9-22. [Meeting Report]

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 21 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on rodent welfare issues and share experiences...

Guesgen, M. J., Beausoleil, N. J., Leach, M. et al. 2016. Coding and quantification of a facial expression for pain in lambs. Behavioural Processes 132, 49-56.

Facial expressions are routinely used to assess pain in humans, particularly those who are non-verbal. Recently, there has been an interest in developing coding systems for facial grimacing in non-human animals, such as rodents, rabbits...

Lidster, K., Jefferys, J. G., Blümcke, I. et al. 2016. Opportunities for improving animal welfare in rodent models of epilepsy and seizures. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 260, 2-25.

Animal models of epilepsy and seizures, mostly involving mice and rats, are used to understand the pathophysiology of the different forms of epilepsy and their comorbidities, to identify biomarkers, and to discover new antiepileptic drugs...

Lockworth, C., Monts de Oca, N. 2016. Rodent health: A picture is worth a thousand words. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 4(2) (June), 46-47.

An animal health program involves identification of health conditions, as well as treatment and disposition of rodents. In most facilities with a large rodent population, the initial identification of health conditions is typically accomplished by...

Lidster, K., Jefferys, J. G., Blümcke, I. et al. 2016. Opportunities for improving animal welfare in rodent models of epilepsy and seizures. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 260, 2-25.

Animal models of epilepsy and seizures, mostly involving mice and rats, are used to understand the pathophysiology of the different forms of epilepsy and their comorbidities, to identify biomarkers, and to discover new antiepileptic drugs...

Gleerup, K. B., Andersen, P. H., Munksgaard, L. et al. 2015. Pain evaluation in dairy cattle. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 171,25-32.

Pain compromises the welfare of animals. A prerequisite for being able to alleviate pain is that we are able to recognize it. Potential behavioural signs of pain were investigated for dairy cattle with the aim...

Barnard, S., Matthews, L. R., Messori, S., et al. 2015. Behavioural reactivity of ewes and lambs during partial and total social isolation. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 163, 89-97.

This work investigated the differences in the reactivity of Sarda (primiparous n = 18, multiparous n = 17) and Dorset (multiparous n = 8) breeds of sheep and their singleton lambs to two challenging test...

Hawkins, P., Armstrong, R., Boden, T. et al. 2015. Applying refinement to the use of mice and rats in rheumatoid arthritis research. Inflammopharmacology 23, 131–150.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful, chronic disorder and there is currently an unmet need for effective therapies that will benefit a wide range of patients. The research and development process for therapies and treatments...

Sneddon, L. U., Elwood, R. W., Adamo, S. A. et al. 2014. Defining and assessing animal pain. Animal Behaviour 97, 201-212.

The detection and assessment of pain in animals is crucial to improving their welfare in a variety of contexts in which humans are ethically or legally bound to do so. Thus clear standards to judge...

Burlingame, L. A., Na, J., Dunbar, M. et al. 2014. Behavioral ethogram as a health assessment tool in a feline vaccine study. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 610. (Abstract #P227).

For infectious disease studies, assessment of feline health is traditionally limited to metrics such as body temperature (BT), change in body weight (BW), and clinical signs (CS). Recently, behavioral ethograms designed for assessment of rabbits...

Chapagain, D., Uvns-Moberg, K., Lidfors, L. M. 2014. Investigating the motivation to play in lambs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 160, 64-74.

The aim of this study was to identify behaviours and ear postures linked to the appetitive, consummatory and post-consummatory motivational phases of play in male lambs, and to evaluate how cortisol was affected by play...

Proctor, H. S., Carder, G. 2014. Can ear postures reliably measure the positive emotional state of cows? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 161, 20-27.

Animal welfare science is increasingly concerned with the promotion of positive emotions in animals, yet little is known about how to measure them. We examined whether ear postures in dairy cows were reliable indicators of...

Whittaker, A. L., Howarth, G. S. 2014. Use of spontaneous behaviour measures to assess pain in laboratory rats and mice: How are we progressing? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 151, 1-12.

The understanding and recognition of pain in laboratory rats and mice has advanced considerably in recent times. However, there is evidence that despite these advances, analgesics are still relatively underutilised in these species. One possible...

Nicholson, G., Sheldon, E. L., Hamilton, J. et al. 2014. Sand pools as a novel enrichment for rabbits. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 571. (Abstract #P83).

For anyone who has housed rabbits in an artificial plastic environment, what to provide as a nonfood enrichment can be an issue. Nonfood enrichment, or environmental enrichment, can be any toy, engaging sights or sounds...

Rushen, J., de Passillé, A. M., Appleby, M. C. et al. 2014. Alone or together: A risk assessment approach to group housing. In: Dilemmas in Animal Welfare. Appleby, M. C., Weary, D. M., Sandøe, P. (eds), 169-187. CAB International, Oxfordshire, UK.

The question of whether it is better to house animals in groups rather than alone deals with the unresolved issues at the heart of animal welfare. In particular, we need to be able to rank...

Martínez Silvestre, A. 2014. How to assess stress in reptiles. Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 23(3), 240-243.

Stress, as an adaptive response of any animal to a stimulus that presents a threat to homeostasis, can occur in reptiles. Yet, many veterinarians fail to recognize the signs of stress in reptiles. In this...