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. 
Monreal-Pawlowsky, T., Vaicekauskaitė , R., Palencia Membrive, G. et al. 2021. Goal-oriented behavioural and environmental enrichment in aquarium species. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research, 9(4), 273-280.

Environmental enrichment is a common tool used in zoo and aquarium settings to provide mental and physical stimulation to animals under human care. This paper aims to present a primary approach to goal-oriented environmental and...

Ramos, J., Ortiz-Díez, G. 2021. Evaluation of environmental enrichment for Xenopus laevis using a preference test. Laboratory Animals 55(5), 428-434.

Xenopus laevis frogs have long been widely used as an animal model in research. However, their husbandry has scarcely evolved, although they are prone to environmental stress. Environmental enrichment has been shown to improve animal...

Frei, J., Clauss, M., Winkler, D. E. et al. 2021. Use of running plates by floor housed rats: A pilot study. Laboratory Animals 55(6), 521-530.

The outfit of husbandry facilities of, and the enrichment provided for, experimental rodents plays an important role in the animals’ welfare, and hence also for the societal acceptance of animal experiments. Whether rats and mice...

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Acacia gum hanging saucer. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(5) (September/October), 50.

This article describes the ingredients, supplies, and directions to make this DIY hanging item, which is great for NHP and swine.

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Busy boxes. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(6) (November/December), 32.

This article describes the ingredients and directions to make this simple DIY destructible enrichment for NHP and swine.

Locklear, J., Whiteside, T. E. 2021. Optimal colloidal water gel type and novel placement for frequent travelers. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(6) (November/December), 38-40.

During transportation, animals must have a water source available to prevent dehydration. Some shipping facilities use potatoes whereas, others use colloidal water gels that provide a uniform water source. The problem occurs when colloidal water...

Melfi, V. A., Dorey, N. R., Ward, S. (Eds.) 2020. Zoo Animal Learning and Training. John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 384 pp.

Comprehensively explains animal learning theories and current best practices in animal training within zoos. This accessible, up-to-date book on animal training in a zoo/aquaria context provides a unified approach to zoo animal learning, bringing together...

Ebel, S. J., Kopp, K. S., Liebal, K. 2020. Object preferences in captive Sumatran orang-utans (Pongo abelii). Behavioural Processes 170, 103993.

While preferences for perceptual features of objects are well studied in humans, little is known about this trait in other great apes. We therefore presented captive Sumatran orang-utans (Pongo abelii) with objects that differed in...

Crawford, L. E., Knouse, L. E., Kent, M. et al. 2020. Enriched environment exposure accelerates rodent driving skills. Behavioural Brain Research 378, 112309.

Although rarely used, long-term behavioral training protocols provide opportunities to shape complex skills in rodent laboratory investigations that incorporate cognitive, motor, visuospatial and temporal functions to achieve desired goals. In the current study, following preliminary...

Qu, C., Xu, L., Shen, J. et al. 2020. Protection of blood-brain barrier as a potential mechanism for enriched environments to improve cognitive impairment caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Behavioural Brain Research 379, 112385.

Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) is a common pathophysiological basis for Alzheimer’s Disease and vascular dementia in the early stages. It has been confirmed that blood-brain barrier (BBB) destruction is a key factor in CCH-related cognitive...

Menezes, J., Souto das Neves, B.-H., Gonçalves, R. et al. 2020. Maternal deprivation impairs memory and cognitive flexibility, effect that is avoided by environmental enrichment. Behavioural Brain Research 381, 112468.

Maternal deprivation (MD) causes cognitive deficits that persist until adulthood. Thereby, the environmental enrichment (EE) is widely used to increase brain plasticity. Here, pregnant female rats were used and their offspring were submitted to neonatal...

Webb, E. K., Caneva Saccardo, C., Poling, A. et al. 2020. Rapidly training African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys ansorgei) with multiple targets for scent detection. Behavioural Processes 174, 104085.

Since 1997, APOPO, a non-profit organization based in Tanzania, has deployed African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys ansorgei) to detect landmines in post-conflict areas. More recent research suggests the pouched rats can also be trained to...

Petrović, T. G., Vučić, T. Z., Nikolić, S. Z. et al. 2020. The effect of shelter on oxidative stress and aggressive behavior in crested newt larvae (Triturus spp.). Animals 10(4), 603.

Shelters are important for animal survival. Provision of adequate hiding places allow animals to express their natural sheltering behavior and it can have different positive effects on cortisol levels, physiological processes and mental performance. Although...

Forrest, G., Sattar, A., Evenden, P. et al. 2020. A sweet change to the needle. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 73-75.

The Named Veterinary Surgeon (NVS) at the Royal Veterinary College in London suggested providing post-operative pain relief (carprofen) to rats in raspberry flavoured jelly to avoid the use of s.c. injections. This article provides a...

Watson, H. A study into viable wooden enrichment objects for Syrian hamsters. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 86-88.

Failing to provide hamsters with a method to wear down their teeth can lead to detrimental behaviour such as bar chewing, and health issues, for example, overgrown teeth and tooth loss. However, hamsters use their...

Ballantine, A., Rodgers, D., Watts, C. et al. 2020. The cotton rat – a new challenge. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 92-95.

This poster describes how the Animal Technologists at Envigo adapted their current practices and procedures for a new species at their laboratory: the cotton rat. The paper describes cotton rat biology and behaviour; housing; environmental...

Brekke, J., Scholz, J. 2020. Just hanging out: Elevating rat enrichment in small spaces. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(3) (May/June), 40-42.

This article describes how an Animal Care Technician at Mayo Clinic Rochester campus designed and created a novel enrichment item for rats: a ‘hammock’ made of PVC tunnels hung onto the lid of standard laboratory...

Buchanan, K. 2020. DIY: Foraging balls. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(3) (May/June), 51.

This article describes the steps for making a DIY guinea pig or rabbit cardboard foraging ball. Pictures are provided for each step as well as the completed ball. These cardboard foraging balls can be made...

Bengtsson, C., Eriksson, M. 2020. Handling and training of mice and rats results in calmer animals during experimental procedures. AWI Quarterly 69(2) Summer, 6-8.

This article describes the handling and training protocols for mice and rats in preparation for their use in toxicology studies at the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE).

Reinhardt, V. (ed.) 2020. It’s Okay to Cry - Discussions by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum [LAREF], Volume V. Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC.

This is the 5th volume of selected discussions that took place on the electronic Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum between February 2016 and December 2019. The forum was created in October 2002; it allows...

Stevens, C., Finnegan, E., Clarkson, J. et al. 2020. Report of the 2019 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 101-111.

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 26 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues, and share experiences of...

Blackburn, N., Cronshaw, G., Mitchell, M. 2020. Environmental enrichment for a small colony of rats. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 158.

Due to limited space and resource for equipment, we came up with some easy and cost-effective ways to improve enrichment for the rat colony. Since implementing our protocol for forage feeding and out of cage...

Khoo, S. Y.-S., Correia, V., Uhrig, A. 2020. Nesting material enrichment reduces severity of overgrooming-related self-injury in individually housed rats. Laboratory Animals 54(6), 546-558.

Individual or singly-housing laboratory rats is common in many animal facilities, but has an adverse impact on the welfare of this social species. It has previously been shown that a small proportion of individually housed...

Gabriel, P., Mastracchio, T., Bordner, K. et al. 2020. Impact of enriched environment during adolescence on adult social behavior, hippocampal synaptic density and dopamine D2 receptor expression in rats. Physiology & Behavior, 226, 113133.

Environmental enrichment (EE) is one experimental manipulation that induces changes in the brain. However, it is important to distinguish between physical and social components of enrichment. To this end we established four groups of rats...

Keymoradzadeh, A., Hedayati Ch, M., Abedinzade, M. et al. 2020. Enriched environment effect on lipopolysaccharide-induced spatial learning, memory impairment and hippocampal inflammatory cytokine levels in male rats. Behavioural Brain Research 394, 112814.

Neuro-inflammation is responsible for cognitive impairments and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, we aimed to investigate the enriched environment (EE) effect on learning and memory impairment as well as on pro-inflammatory...