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. 
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...

Breuer, L., Mösch, L., Kunczik, J. et al. 2023. Camera-based respiration monitoring of unconstrained rodents. Animals 13(12), 1901.

Animal research has always been crucial for various medical and scientific breakthroughs, providing information on disease mechanisms, genetic predisposition to diseases, and pharmacological treatment. However, the use of animals in medical research is a source...

Kannan, G., Batchu, P., Naldurtiker, A. et al. 2023. Habituation to livestock trailer and its influence on stress responses during transportation in goats. Animals 13(7), 1191.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of habituation to livestock trailers on stress responses in goats transported for long periods. Intact male Spanish goats (12-month old; BW = 31.6 ± 0.34 kg; N...

Peruga, M., Kawala, B., Sarul, M. et al. 2023. Are currently selected laboratory animals useful in the research of how female hormones influence orthodontic biomechanics? Animals 13(4), 629.

Animal testing was and remains the only method of introducing a certain treatment and medical procedure on humans. On the other hand, animals have their rights resulting from applicable legal acts, including Directive 2010/63/EU and...

Ruvira, S., Rodríguez-Rodríguez, P., Cañas, S. et al. 2023. Evaluation of parameters which influence voluntary ingestion of supplements in rats. Animals 13(11), 1827.

Drug safety and efficacy studies frequently use oral gavage, but repetitive usage may cause problems. Administration through voluntary ingestion represents an opportunity for refinement. We aimed to develop a protocol for voluntary ingestion of gelatin-based...

Vicentini, R. R., El Faro, L., Ujita, A. et al. 2023. Effects of training for first milking involving positive tactile stimulation on post-calving maternal behaviors in primiparous gyr dairy cows. Animals 13(5), 921.

In dairy systems with Zebu breeds, calves are not immediately separated from their dams after calving; consequently, maternal care and protective behavior are important, influencing both productive performance and stockpeople’s safety. Our objectives were to...

Danforth, M. D., Clyde, V. L., Jourdan, B. et al. 2023. Blood pressure monitoring in zoologically managed bonobos (Pan paniscus). American Journal of Primatology 85(3), e23474.

In response to the growing evidence that hypertension may play a significant role in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in bonobos, the Great Ape Heart Project established a finger blood pressure (BP) monitoring protocol...

Machado, M., Freitas Silveira, R. M., Machado Bittar, C. M. et al. 2023. Can the emotional state of calves be noticed by their facial expression and heart rate? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 260, 105874.

The aim of this study was to identify whether or not dairy calves change their facial expression and heart rate according to their emotional state when subjected to a stroking or umbrella stimulus. Thirty-two mixed-breed...

Bakony, M., Kovács, L., Kézér, L. F. et al. 2023. The use of body surface temperatures in assessing thermal status of hutch-reared dairy calves in shaded and unshaded conditions. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.

The study was carried out in a Hungarian large-scale dairy farm during a 5-day period in hot August weather. Altogether 16 preweaning calves were chosen for the study. An agricultural mesh with 80% shielding was...

Brezov, D., Hristov, H., Dimov, D. et al. 2023. Predicting the rectal temperature of dairy cows using infrared thermography and multimodal machine learning. Applied Sciences 13(20), 11416.

The paper proposes an approach for estimating the rectal temperature of dairy cows based on the non-invasive real-time monitoring of their respiration rates and the temperature-humidity index (THI) of the environment, combined with the analysis...

Chiba, Y., Nozaki, I., Itoh, M. et al. 2023. Noninvasive measurement of blood calcium concentration using electrocardiography in peripartum Jersey cows. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.

We previously developed a noninvasive method for measuring blood calcium concentration (Ca) in Holstein cows on site using electrocardiographic (ECG) variables and calving number, based on a high positive correlation between Ca. Jersey cows easily...

Kastelic, M., Gregurić Gračner, G., Tomažič, I. et al. 2023. Comparison of cortisol concentrations in different matrices in Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) at the zoo. Animals 13(15), 2491.

The usefulness of blood collection using venipuncture versus kissing bugs or medicinal leeches and the collection of saliva, faeces, hair, urine, and tears for measuring “immunoreactive” C (iC) concentration in Alpine ibexes was verified using...

Poudel, S., Fike, J. H., Wright, L. et al. 2023. Non-invasive techniques reveal heifer response to fescue endophyte type in grazing studies. Animals 13(14), 2373.

Cattle grazing tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceous) infected with wild-type endophytes (WE) leads to a syndrome commonly known as fescue toxicosis. Replacing WE tall fescue with a novel endophyte-infected (NE) tall fescue can mitigate this problem...

Schneidewind, S. J., Meemken, D., Langforth, S. 2023. Measures and penalties for animal welfare violations at german abattoirs: A compilation of current recommendations and practices. Animals 13(18), 2916.

Protecting animal welfare during preslaughter handling and slaughter is an important ethical concern with growing importance to consumers. However, animal welfare violations in abattoirs remain a serious problem, and the enforcement of relevant laws and...

Van Loo, P. L. P., Janssens, M. R. E. 2023. Why all healthy laboratory animals should be rehomed, no matter how small. Animals 13(17), 2727.

This paper explores the ethical imperative of rehoming all healthy animals of sentient species after experiments have finished or when they have become otherwise redundant. We take into account disparate perspectives in animal ethics and...

Bartlett, J., Davies, J., Purawijaya, D. et al. 2022. Refinement of handling and dosing methods for rats and mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 21(2), 120-124.

Modified Handling for Mice: Handling mice by gripping the base of the tail has been shown to negatively impact animal welfare by increasing anxiety and aversion to handling. We aimed to refi ne the dosing...

Fares, R., Flénet, T., Vial, J. et al. 2022. Non invasive jacketed telemetry in socially-housed rats for a combined assessment of respiratory system, electrocardiogram and activity using the DECRO system. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 117, 107195.

Respiratory and cardiovascular systems are among the vital organ systems that should be studied in safety pharmacology core battery test. Non-invasive jacketed external telemetry technology that enables concomitant monitoring of both systems has been available...

Chesler, K. C., Motz, C. T., Bales, K. L. et al. 2022. Voluntary oral dosing for precise experimental compound delivery in adult rats. Laboratory Animals 56(2), 147-156.

Preclinical drug studies routinely administer experimental compounds to animal models with the goal of minimizing potential adverse events from the procedure. In this study, we assessed the ability to train adult male Long Evans rats...

Idris, M., Uddin, J., Sullivan, M. et al. 2021. Non-invasive physiological indicators of heat stress in cattle. Animals 11(1), 71.

Cattle are susceptible to heat stress, especially those kept on high levels of nutrition for the purpose of maximising growth rates, which leads to a significant heat increment in their bodies. Consequences include compromised health...

Kim, S., Hidaka, Y. 2021. Breathing pattern analysis in cattle using infrared thermography and computer vision. Animals 11(1), 207.

Breathing patterns can be considered a vital sign providing health information. Infrared thermography is used to evaluate breathing patterns because it is non-invasive. Our study used not only sequence temperature data but also RGB images...

Carbone, L. 2021. Estimating mouse and rat use in American laboratories by extrapolation from Animal Welfare Act-regulated species. Scientific Reports 11(1), 493.

Alone among Western nations, the United States has a two-tier system for welfare protections for vertebrate animals in research. Because its Animal Welfare Act (AWA) excludes laboratory rats and mice (RM), government veterinarians do not...

Kovács, L., Kézér, F. L., Bodó, S. et al. 2021. Salivary cortisol as a non-invasive approach to assess stress in dystocic dairy calves. Scientific Reports 11(1), 6200.

The intensity and the magnitude of saliva cortisol responses were investigated during the first 48 h following birth in newborn dairy calves which underwent normal (eutocic, EUT, n = 88) and difficult (dystocic, DYS, n = 70) calvings. The...

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., Hawkins, P., Smulders, T. V. et al. 2021. Report of the 2020 RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(1), 21-33.

The RSPCA/UFAW rodent and rabbit welfare group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 27 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues and share...

Satokar, V., Vickers, M., Bridge-Comer, P. et al. 2021. Emulsified gels: A refined vehicle for accurate and rapid oral administration of lipid based preparations to rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(2), 95-103.

Oro-gastric gavage is used to accurately administer nutritional substances or drugs to animals. However, it induces stress and has a substantial risk of mishap. Incorporation into edible gels is difficult for lipid-based preparations. We report...