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. 
DiVincenti, L. Jr., Rehrig, A. 2017. Social behavior of adult male New Zealand White rabbits housed in groups or pairs in the laboratory. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 20(1), 86-94.

Rabbits are usually singly housed in laboratories, but a new emphasis on providing social housing for social species has prompted exploration of alternative housing for this species. However, a paucity of literature on the social...

Nordquist, R., van der Staay, F., van Eerdenburg, F. et al. 2017. Mutilating procedures, management practices, and housing conditions that may affect the welfare of farm animals: Implications for welfare research. Animals 7(2), 12.

A number of mutilating procedures, such as dehorning in cattle and goats and beak trimming in laying hens, are common in farm animal husbandry systems in an attempt to prevent or solve problems, such as...

Marshall, K., Wolford, H., Martin, L. 2017. Creatively meeting the standards – taking rabbit housing to the next level. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(3), 226-228.

The 8th Edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals clarified its language regarding housing social species, specifying that, “Single housing of social species should be the exception…”. This is a...

Zomeño, C., Birolo, M., Zuffellato, A. et al. 2017. Aggressiveness in group-housed rabbit does: Influence of group size and pen characteristics. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 194, 79-85.

The aim of this work was to study how the group size and the number of doorways in a pen may influence the aggressive interactions throughout the reproductive cycle among does kept in a part-time...

Tucker, R. D. 2017. Woodchuck College. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(2) (June), 33-36.

Marmota monax is a valuable laboratory animal species used in studies of Hepatitis B virus (HBV), food intake, obesity, hibernation, and circannual cycles. This article describes the woodchuck’s (also known as groundhog) natural behavior and...

Sands, C., Evans, C., Buckmaster, C. A. 2017. The grooming sleeve: Encouraging conspecific-like behavior and strengthening the human-animal bond. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(2) (June), 52-53.

The act of grooming has been found to greatly decrease stress, heart rate, and cortisol levels in nonhuman primates; this decrease in stress and cortisol is seen in the animal being groomed, as well as...

Monreal-Pawlowsky, T., Marco-Cabedo, V., Manteca, X. et al. 2017. Environmental enrichment facilitates release and survival of an injured loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) after ten years in captivity. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 5(4), 182-186.

In June 2006 a loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) was admitted to a rescue centre on the Mediterranean coast with severe fishing net entanglement in its fore right flipper. The flipper could not be saved...

Riley, J. L., Noble, D. W. A., Byrne, R. W. et al. 2017. Does social environment influence learning ability in a family-living lizard? Animal Cognition 20(3), 449–458.

Early developmental environment can have profound effects on individual physiology, behaviour, and learning. In birds and mammals, social isolation during development is known to negatively affect learning ability; yet in other taxa, like reptiles, the...

Brown, J. L., Paris, S., Prado-Oviedo, N. A. 2016. Reproductive health assessment of female elephants in North American zoos and association of husbandry practices with reproductive dysfunction in African Elephants (Loxodonta africana). PLOS ONE 11(7), e0145673.

As part of a multi-institutional study of zoo elephant welfare, we evaluated female elephants managed by zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and applied epidemiological methods to determine what factors in the...

Holdgate, M. R., Meehan, C. L., Hogan, J. N. et al. 2016. Walking behavior of zoo elephants: Associations between GPS-measured daily walking distances and environmental factors, social factors, and welfare indicators. PLOS ONE 11(7), e0150331.

Research with humans and other animals suggests that walking benefits physical health. Perhaps because these links have been demonstrated in other species, it has been suggested that walking is important to elephant welfare, and that...

Meehan, C. L., Hogan, J. N., Bonaparte-Saller, M. K. et al. 2016. Housing and social environments of African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) elephants in North American zoos. PLOS ONE 11(7), e0146703.

We evaluated 255 African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) elephants living in 68 North American zoos over one year to quantify housing and social variables. All parameters were quantified for the both the day...

Holdgate, M. R., Meehan, C. L., Hogan, J. N. et al. 2016. Recumbence behavior in zoo elephants: Determination of patterns and frequency of recumbent rest and associated environmental and social factors. PLOS ONE 11(7), e0153301.

Resting behaviors are an essential component of animal welfare but have received little attention in zoological research. African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) and Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) rest includes recumbent postures, but no large-scale investigation...

Enser, S. 2016. Comparison of housing and welfare of group housed rabbits. Animal Technology and Welfare 15(1), 77-79.

This poster is based on welfare improvements gained from group housing rabbits in floor pens in the new Antibody Production Facility with a focus on development, behaviours and environmental enrichment in both male and female...

Brien, M. L., Webb, G. J., McGuinness, K. A. et al. 2016. Effect of housing density on growth, agonistic behaviour, and activity in hatchling saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 184, 141-149.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of density on growth rate, agonistic behaviour, activity and use of space by hatchling C. porosus in captivity. Hatchling C. porosus were raised in identical...

Buijs, S., Vangeyte, J., Tuyttens, F. A. M. 2016. Effects of communal rearing and group size on breeding rabbits’ post-grouping behaviour and its relation to ano-genital distance. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 182, 53-60.

Group housing is becoming the standard for many farm animal species, as it is seen as a more welfare friendly way of keeping gregarious animals. Aggression between female breeding rabbits currently obstructs the implementation of...

Bozicovich, T. F. M., Moura, A. S. A. M. T., Fernandes, S. et al. 2016. Effect of environmental enrichment and composition of the social group on the behavior, welfare, and relative brain weight of growing rabbits. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 182, 72-79.

The objective of the study was to investigate if environmental enrichment and the composition of the social group would affect the behavior and relative brain weight of growing rabbits. Rabbits (72 males and 72 females)...

Buijs, S., Maertens, L., Hermans, K. et al. 2015. Behaviour, wounds, weight loss and adrenal weight of rabbit does as affected by semi-group housing. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 172, 44-51.

Group housing is often assumed to improve the welfare of gregarious species. Whether this is actually the case depends on the advantages (e.g. more opportunity for social and locomotor behaviour) and disadvantages (e.g. increased fighting...

Buijs, S., Tuyttens, F. A. M. 2015. Evaluating the effect of semi-group housing of rabbit does on their offspring's fearfulness: Can we use the open-field test? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 162, 58-66.

Breeding does are usually housed one doe per cage, but there is an increased interest in (semi-)group housing systems designed to improve welfare. However, there is a lack of information on how such systems actually...

Bayne, K. A., Beaver, B. V., Mench, J. A. et al. 2015. Laboratory animal behavior. In: Laboratory Animal Medicine, 3rd edition. Fox, J. G., Anderson, L., Otto, G., et al. (eds). Elsevier, Inc., Amsterdam, NL. pp. 1617-1651.

The study of laboratory animal behavior has increased steadily over the last decade, with expanding emphasis on a variety of commonly used species. In the United States, this trend was initially focused on species for...

Buijs, S., Hermans, K., Maertens, L. et al. 2014. Effects of semi-group housing and floor type on pododermatitis, spinal deformation, and bone quality in rabbit does. Animal 8(10), 1728-1734.

The most common housing system for reproduction rabbits, individual cage housing on a wire floor, is increasingly scrutinized because of its potential detrimental impact on animal welfare. We compared three types of housing: (1) individual...

Dorman, B., Weir, D. E. 2014. From swinging single to peacefully cohabitating: A DIY way to managing rabbit socialization without breaking your budget. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 563 (Abstract #P54).

The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals requires that all animals, without veterinary or study exemptions, be socially housed. Our current caging only allows enough floor space to house one large rabbit...

Lutz, C. K., Williams, P. C., Sharp, R. M. 2014. Abnormal behavior and associated risk factors in captive baboons (Papio hamadryas spp.). American Journal of Primatology 76(4), 355-361.

Abnormal behavior, ranging from motor stereotypies to self‐injurious behavior, has been documented in captive nonhuman primates, with risk factors including nursery rearing, single housing, and veterinary procedures. Much of this research has focused on macaque...

Rommers, J. M., Reuvekamp, B. J. F., Gunnink, H. et al. 2014. Effect of hiding places, straw and territory on aggression in group-housed rabbit does. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 157, 117-126.

Group-housing of rabbit does may be preferred from welfare point of view. However, group-housing causes agonistic behaviour which may cause severe injuries. Severe injuries may be prevented by offering hiding places for attacked does. Providing...

Grippo, A. J., Ihm, E., Wardwell, J. et al. 2014. The effects of environmental enrichment on depressive and anxiety-relevant behaviors in socially isolated prairie voles. Psychosomatic Medicine 76(4), 277-284.

Social isolation is associated with depression, anxiety and negative health outcomes. Environmental enrichment, including environmental and cognitive stimulation with inanimate objects and opportunities for physical exercise, may be an effective strategy to include in treatment...

Szendrö, Z., Mikó, A., Odermatt, M. et al. 2013. Comparison of performance and welfare of single-caged and group-housed rabbit does. Animal 7(3), 463-468.

Although rabbit does are generally single housed on rabbit farms worldwide, it has been suggested by some specialists and recommendation of organic rabbit production systems that group housing of does is more comfortable and similar...