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. 
de Mouzon, C., Di-Stasi, R., Leboucher, G. 2024. Human perception of cats’ communicative cues: Human‐cat communication goes multimodal. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 270, 106137.

As a central key to apprehend the human-cat relationship, the question of how humans decode the behaviours expressed by their feline companions has drawn scientists’ attention in the past decades. To this point, previous studies...

Mason, M. A., Semple, S., Marshall, H. H. et al. 2024. Goats discriminate emotional valence in the human voice. Animal Behaviour 209, 227–240.

Reading another animal’s emotional state can enable receivers to anticipate their behavioural motivations, which is important in guiding interactions with that individual. For species living closely alongside humans, the emotional cues that we express can...

Marks, C. A., Allen, L., Lindeberg, H. 2023. Non-lethal dose-response models replace lethal bioassays for predicting the hazard of para-animopropiophenone to Australian wildlife. Animals 13(3), 472.

Para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) is a potent methaemoglobin (MetHb) forming agent used for the lethal control of exotic carnivores and mustelids. To assess the sensitivity of Australian wildlife to PAPP we developed an in vivo assay that...

Morton, D. B. 2023. A model framework for the estimation of animal “suffering”: Its use in predicting and retrospectively assessing the impact of experiments on animals. Animals 13(5), 800.

This paper presents and illustrates, with a working example, a hypothesis for the assessment of ongoing severity before and during an experiment that will enable humane endpoints and intervention points to be applied accurately and...

Warwick, C., Pilny, A., Steedman, C. et al. 2023. Mobile zoos and other itinerant animal handling events: Current status and recommendations for future policies. Animals 13(2), 214.

Mobile zoos are events in which non-domesticated (exotic) and domesticated species are transported to venues such as schools, hospitals, parties, and community centres, for the purposes of education, entertainment, or social and therapeutic assistance. We...

Williams, E., Hunton, V., Hosey, G. et al. 2023. The impact of visitors on non-primate species in zoos: A quantitative review. Animals 13(7), 1178.

Visitors are a prominent feature in the lives of zoo animals, and their presence can cause a range of impacts on zoo animals (typically classed as positive, negative or neutral impacts), commonly referred to as...

Deng, J., Zhang, H., Wang, Q. et al. 2023. An optimized environmental DNA method to improve detectability of the endangered Sichuan taimen (Hucho bleekeri). Fishes 8(7), 339.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques have emerged as a cost-effective and non-invasive strategy for monitoring the distribution of endangered aquatic species. Despite their numerous advantages, operational uncertainty at each step of the process represents a significant...

Macdonald, D. W. 2023. Mitigating human impacts on wild animal welfare. Animals 13(18), 2906.

Human activities negatively impact the welfare of wild vertebrates in many different contexts globally, and countless individual animals are affected. Growing concern for wild animal welfare, especially in relation to conservation, is evident. While research...

Elane, G. L., Portela, D. A., Hobbs, K. J. et al. 2023. Sedated cesarean sections are associated with increased kid survival compared to general anesthesia in goats: Retrospective cohort of 45 cases (2011–2021). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 261(3), 391–396.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether anesthesia type (sedation or general anesthesia) affects kid survival to discharge in caprine cesarean sections (C-sections). ANIMALS Retrospective cohort of 99 caprine C-sections (2011–2021). PROCEDURES All surgeries were performed via left...

Martin-Flores, M., Nugen, S. A., Boesch, J. M. et al. 2023. Low-dose epidural anesthesia decreases the use of intraoperative systemic analgesics in goats undergoing lower urinary tract surgery. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 261(8), 1147–1151.

OBJECTIVE To test whether the use of low-dose epidural anesthesia (EA) in goats undergoing lower urinary tract surgery reduces the requirements of perioperative analgesics, contributes to intraoperative hypotension, and improves postoperative comfort during the first...

Scott, L., Florkiewicz, B. N. 2023. Feline faces: Unraveling the social function of domestic cat facial signals. Behavioural Processes 213, 104959.

Lately, there has been a growing interest in studying domestic cat facial signals, but most of this research has centered on signals produced during human-cat interactions or pain. The available research on intraspecific facial signaling...

Acharya, R. Y., Hemsworth, P. H., Coleman, G. J. et al. 2022. The animal-human interface in farm animal production: Animal fear, stress, reproduction and welfare. Animals 12(4), 487.

A negative human-animal relationship (HAR) from the perspective of the animal is a limiting factor affecting farm animal welfare, as well as farm animal productivity. Research in farm animals has elucidated sequential relationships between stockperson...

Celozzi, S., Battini, M., Prato-Previde, E. et al. 2022. Humans and goats: Improving knowledge for a better relationship. Animals 12(6), 774.

There is consensus that the quality of the human–animal relationship (HAR) is relevant to guarantee appropriate levels of animal welfare. Given the impact that HAR may have on both goats and human beings, the aim...

Windschnurer, I., Häusler, A., Waiblinger, S. et al. 2022. Relationships between owner and household characteristics and enrichment and cat behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 247, 105562.

Owners may enhance their cats’ welfare by social enrichment (e.g. positive human-animal interactions), and physical enrichment (e.g. play objects). The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between owner characteristics (e.g. attitudes, attachment), household...

Leconstant, C., Spitz, E. 2022. Integrative Model of Human-Animal Interactions: A One Health–One Welfare systemic approach to studying HAI. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 656833.

The Integrative Model of Human-Animal Interactions (IMHAI) described herewith provides a conceptual framework for the study of interspecies interactions and aims to model the primary emotional processes involved in human-animal interactions. This model was developed...

Williams, W. O., Baneux, P. 2022. Humane Intervention Points: Refining endpoint terminology to incorporate non-euthanasia intervention options to improve animal welfare and preserve experimental outcomes. Laboratory Animals 56(5), 482-489.

Consideration of The Three R’s (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement) is essential when setting Humane Endpoints; however, a common interpretation assumes that Humane Endpoints are timepoints to perform euthanasia. This interpretation is not always consistent with...

Mason, G. J., Lavery, J. M. 2022. What is it like to be a bass? Red herrings, fish pain and the study of animal sentience. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 788289.

Debates around fishes’ ability to feel pain concern sentience: do reactions to tissue damage indicate evaluative consciousness (conscious affect), or mere nociception? Thanks to Braithwaite’s research leadership, and concerns that current practices could compromise welfare...

Nagasawa, T., Kimura, Y., Masuda, K. et al. 2022. Physiological assessment of the health and welfare of domestic cats—An exploration of factors affecting urinary cortisol and oxytocin. Animals 12(23), 3330.

Physiological samples are beneficial in assessing the health and welfare of cats. However, most studies have been conducted in specialized environments, such as shelters or laboratories, and have not focused on cats living in domestic...

Tuozzi, A., Arhant, C., Anderle, K. et al. 2021. Effects of human presence and voice on the behaviour of shelter dogs and cats: A preliminary study. Animals 11(2), 406.

Reading books to shelter animals combining auditory enrichment with human presence is increasingly used although its effects on animal welfare have not yet been investigated. This study compared the behaviour of single-housed shelter dogs and...

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...

Fife-Cook, I., Franks, B. 2021. Koi (Cyprinus rubrofuscus) seek out tactile interaction with humans: General patterns and individual differences. Animals 11(3), 706.

The study of human–animal interactions has provided insights into the welfare of many species. To date, however, research has largely focused on human relationships with captive mammals, with relatively little exploration of interactions between humans...

Nunamaker, E. A., Davis, S., O’Malley, C. I. et al. 2021. Developing recommendations for cumulative endpoints and lifetime use for research animals. Animals 11(7), 2031.

Research animals are important for scientific advancement, and therefore, their long-term welfare needs to be monitored to not only minimize suffering, but to provide positive affective states and experiences. Currently, there is limited guidance in...

Nagasawa, T., Ohta, M., Uchiyama, H. 2021. The urinary hormonal state of cats associated with social interaction with humans. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 680843.

Research to assess the relationship between cats and humans is in a nascent stage. Some studies have assessed the stress status in cats using physiological indicators, such as the cortisol hormone, but have not focused...

Learmonth, M. J., Sherwen, S., Hemsworth, P. 2021. Assessing choice ability and preferences of five Leopard Tortoises (Stigmochelys pardalis) for three stimuli through a novel two-phase preference test. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research, 9(2), 94-101.

Preference testing has long been used in ethology and animal welfare science to assess the preferences that animals have for different resources and stimuli. The study conducted herein assessed the choice-making ability of five leopard...

Ellis, T., Katsiadaki, I. 2021. Clarification of early end-points for refinement of animal experiments, with specific reference to fish. Laboratory Animals 55(3), 244-253.

Appropriate end-points are integral to the refinement of laboratory animal experiments. Our recent experience has highlighted that ambiguity around end-points is hampering their adoption in experiments that cause severe suffering to fish. In toxicology, the...