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. 
Bannister, C. C., Thomson, A. J. C., Cuculescu-Santana, M. 2021. Can colored object enrichment reduce the escape behavior of captive freshwater turtles? Zoo Biology 40(2), 160-168.

The effect of environmental enrichment on the behavior and welfare in captivity of reptiles and of freshwater turtles in particular, which are popular aquarium and pet species, is very little studied compared to other taxa...

Peploe, J., MacAulay, C. 2021. Laboratory primate enrichment ideas. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(2), 177-183.

There are several items we often use in animal facilities that when finished with are thrown away. However, many of these items come in packaging that can be recycled as enrichment for our animals, particularly...

Borgmans, G., Palme, R., Sannen, A. et al. 2021. Routine handling does not lead to chronic stress in captive green anole (Anolis carolinensis). Animal Welfare 30(2), 145-154.

Routine handling has been shown to affect stress levels in a variety of animal species. This could result in a general decrease in welfare and may confound the results of scientific experiments or observations on...

Ujita, A., Seekford, Z., Kott, M. et al. 2021. Habituation protocols improve behavioral and physiological responses of beef cattle exposed to students in an animal handling class. Animals 11(8), 2159.

Our objective was to determine the impact of different habituation protocols on beef cattle behavior, physiology, and temperament in response to human handling. Beef heifers were exposed to three habituation strategies: (1) tactile stimulation (brushing)...

Silva, S. R., Araujo, J. P., Guedes, C. et al. 2021. Precision technologies to address dairy cattle welfare: Focus on lameness, mastitis and body condition. Animals 11(8), 2253.

Specific animal-based indicators that can be used to predict animal welfare have been the core of protocols for assessing the welfare of farm animals, such as those produced by the Welfare Quality project. At the...

Fernández-Lázaro, G., Dye, M. H., Eddie,C. et al. 2021. Strepsirrhine primate training programs in North American institutions: Status and implications for future welfare assessment. Animals 11(8), 2462.

Many articles have shown the benefits of operant conditioning training techniques in the care and welfare of several species of nonhuman primates; however, the information regarding their use in strepsirrhine species is scarce. We assessed...

Travain, T., Valsecchi, P. 2021. Infrared thermography in the study of animals’ emotional responses: A critical review. Animals 11(9), 2510.

Whether animals have emotions was historically a long-lasting question but, today, nobody disputes that they do. However, how to assess them and how to guarantee animals their welfare have become important research topics in the...

Lee, M., Seo, S. 2021. Wearable wireless biosensor technology for monitoring cattle: A review. Animals 11(10), 2779.

The review aimed to collect information about the wearable wireless sensor system (WWSS) for cattle and to conduct a systematic literature review on the accuracy of predicting the physiological parameters of these systems. The WWSS...

Wang, G., Muhammad, A., Liu, C. et al. 2021. Automatic recognition of fish behavior with a fusion of RGB and optical flow data based on deep learning. Animals 11(10), 2774.

The rapid and precise recognition of fish behavior is critical in perceiving health and welfare by allowing farmers to make informed management decisions on recirculating aquaculture systems while reducing labor. The conventional recognition methods are...

Diana, A., Salas, M., Pereboom, Z. et al. 2021. A systematic review of the use of technology to monitor welfare in zoo animals: Is there space for improvement? Animals 11(11), 3048.

A top priority of modern zoos is to ensure good animal welfare (AW), thus, efforts towards improving AW monitoring are increasing. Welfare assessments are performed through more traditional approaches by employing direct observations and time-consuming...

Saraiva, J. L., Nogueirinha, M., Teodósio, R. et al. 2021. The effect of tank cover on welfare of farmed Nile tilapia. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 241, 105396.

Welfare in aquaculture is a pressing topic. One of the main measures to improve the life of farmed fish is implementing environmental enrichment, which can include the addition of structural covers to rearing tanks. Here...

Thomas, A. D., Orsel, K., Cortés, J. A. et al. 2021. Impact of digital dermatitis on feedlot cattle behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 244, 105468.

Digital dermatitis (DD) is an infectious disease affecting the bovine digital skin which can cause lameness and significantly affect animal welfare and economics. Digital dermatitis has emerged in feedlots and early identification of DD lesions...

Sun, D., Webb, L., van der Tol, P. P. J. et al. 2021. A systematic review of automatic health monitoring in calves: Glimpsing the future from current practice. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 761468.

Infectious diseases, particularly bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and neonatal calf diarrhea (NCD), are prevalent in calves. Efficient health-monitoring tools to identify such diseases on time are lacking. Common practice (i.e., health checks) often identifies sick...

DePasquale, C., Kemerer, N., White, N. et al. 2021. The influence of an enriched environment in enhancing recognition memory in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 749746.

Environmental enrichment is used to increase social and physical stimulation for animals in captivity which can lead to enhanced cognition. Fundamental to the positive effect enrichment has on the brain is that it provides opportunities...

Strappini, A. C., Monti, G., Sepúlveda-Varas, P. et al. 2021. Measuring calves' usage of multiple environmental enrichment objects provided simultaneously. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 698681.

This study aims to assess calf usage of five potential enrichment devices provided simultaneously. We used 25 weaned Holstein-Friesian calves housed in groups of five (five replicates), and their behavior was recorded continuously with video...

Campbell, D. L. M., Lee, C. 2021. A perspective on strategic enrichment for brain development: Is this the key to animal happiness? Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 720422.

Livestock animals are sentient beings with cognitive and emotional capacities and their brain development, similar to humans and other animal species, is affected by their surrounding environmental conditions. Current intensive production systems, through the restrictions...

Jones, N. A. R., Webster, M. M., Salvanes, A. G. V. 2021. Physical enrichment research for captive fish: Time to focus on the DETAILS. Journal of Fish Biology 99(3), 704-725.

Growing research effort has shown that physical enrichment (PE) can improve fish welfare and research validity. However, the inclusion of PE does not always result in positive effects and conflicting findings have highlighted the many...

Brandão, M. L., Dorigão-Guimarães, F., Bolognesi, M. C. et al. 2021. Understanding behaviour to improve the welfare of an ornamental fish. Journal of Fish Biology 99(3), 726-739.

Some common practices in aquaculture, ornamental trade and fish facilities may disturb the behavioural repertoire of fish and its natural adaptive value, reducing welfare and impairing fish production. Hence, it is necessary to understand fish...

Thomson, A. J. C., Bannister, C. C., Marshall, R. T. et al. 2021. Interest in coloured objects and behavioural budgets of individual captive freshwater turtles. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research, 9(4), 218-227.

Recent studies showed that freshwater turtles display inter-individual differences in various behavioural traits, which may influence their health and welfare in captivity due to differences in response to husbandry and enrichment strategies and in ability...

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...

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.

Vining, A. Q., Nunn, C. L., Samson, D. R. 2021. Enriched sleep environments lengthen lemur sleep duration. PLOS ONE 16(11), e0253251.

Characteristics of the sleep-site are thought to influence the quality and duration of primate sleep, yet only a handful of studies have investigated these links experimentally. Using actigraphy and infrared videography, we quantified sleep in...

Edes, A. N., Brand, C. M. 2021. Age, sex, and inflammatory markers predict chronic conditions, cardiac disease, and mortality among captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Primates 62(6), 931-943.

In humans, inflammatory markers predict health risks. As great apes experience many similar conditions, measuring inflammation may provide valuable health information. We examined four serum inflammatory markers in zoo-housed gorillas (n = 48): albumin, CRP, IL-6, and...

Sabrautzki, S., Miller, M., Kague, E. et al. 2021. Welfare assessment of adult laboratory zebrafish: A practical guide. Zebrafish 18(4), 282-292.

Teleost fish such as Danio rerio (zebrafish) have been successfully used in biomedical research since decades. Genetically altered fish lines obtained by state-of-the-art genetic technologies are serving as well-known model organisms. In Europe, following Directive...