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. 
Zemanova, M. A. 2021. Noninvasive genetic assessment is an effective wildlife research tool when compared with other approaches. Genes 12(11), 1672.

Wildlife research has been indispensable for increasing our insight into ecosystem functioning as well as for designing effective conservation measures under the currently high rates of biodiversity loss. Genetic and genomic analyses might be able...

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...

Neethirajan, S. 2021. The use of artificial intelligence in assessing affective states in livestock. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 715261.

In order to promote the welfare of farm animals, there is a need to be able to recognize, register and monitor their affective states. Numerous studies show that just like humans, non-human animals are able...

Abbo, L. A., Himebaugh, N. E., DeMelo, L. M. et al. 2021. Anesthetic efficacy of magnesium chloride and ethyl alcohol in temperate octopus and cuttlefish species. JAALAS 60(5), 556-567.

Cephalopods are important in biologic and biomedical research, yet relatively little objective information is available to guide researchers and veterinarians regarding the best methods for anesthetizing these animals for various experimental procedures. Recent studies demonstrate...

Hausmann, J. C., Krisp, A. R., Mans, C. et al. 2021. Analgesic efficacy of tramadol and morphine in White's tree frogs (Litoria caerulea). JAALAS 60(6), 681-686.

Published data are sparse regarding the recognition of clinically relevant pain and appropriate analgesia in amphibians. The amphibian analgesia literature has primarily focused on nociceptive pathways in a single species, the northern leopard frog (Rana...

Lencioni, G. C., de Sousa, R. V., de Souza Sardinha, E. J. et al. 2021. Pain assessment in horses using automatic facial expression recognition through deep learning-based modeling. PLOS ONE 16(10), e0258672.

The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a machine vision algorithm to assess the pain level in horses, using an automatic computational classifier based on the Horse Grimace Scale (HGS) and trained...

Thatcher, D. 2021. The use of a borescope for Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus goodfellowi) husbandry. RATEL (Journal of the Association of British and Irish Wild Animal Keepers) 48(2), 10-11.

In 2017 Bristol Zoological Gardens received two Goodfellow tree kangaroos. As this was a new marsupial species for the collection, keepers attended the European Symposium on tree kangaroos to better improve our husbandry, knowledge and...

White, K. L., Hird, J. F. R., Taylor, P. M. 2021. Sevoflurane or isoflurane anaesthesia? A prospective, randomised blinded clinical trial in horses undergoing elective surgery. Veterinary Record 189(3), e507.

Background: Isoflurane is the only volatile anaesthetic agent licensed for equine use in the United Kingdom, but sevoflurane is also commonly used. The two agents have rarely been compared for use in clinical elective surgery...

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...

Jorge, S., Ferreira, J. M., Olsson, I. A. S. et al. 2021. Efficacy and behavioral recovery of different anesthetics. Zebrafish 18(5), 330-337.

The use of proper anesthesia in zebrafish research is essential to ensure fish welfare and data reliability. However, anesthesia long-term side effects remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to assess anesthesia quality...

Hewitt, L., Small, A. 2021. Welfare of farmed crocodilians: Identification of potential animal-based measures using elicitation of expert opinion. Animals 11(12), 3450.

Animal-based measures are the measure of choice in animal welfare assessment protocols as they can often be applied completely independently to the housing or production system employed. Although there has been a small body of...

Watters, J. V., Krebs, B. L., Eschmann, C. L. 2021. Assessing animal welfare with behavior: Onward with caution. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 2(1), 75–87.

An emphasis on ensuring animal welfare is growing in zoo and aquarium associations around the globe. This has led to a focus on measures of welfare outcomes for individual animals. Observations and interpretations of behavior...

Watters, J. V., Krebs, B. L., Eschmann, C. L. 2021. Assessing animal welfare with behavior: Onward with caution. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 2(1), 75–87.

An emphasis on ensuring animal welfare is growing in zoo and aquarium associations around the globe. This has led to a focus on measures of welfare outcomes for individual animals. Observations and interpretations of behavior...

Woody, S. M., Santymire, R. M., Cronin, K. A. 2021. Posture as a non-invasive indicator of arousal in American toads (Anaxyrus americanus). Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 2(1), 1–9.

Animal welfare has become a priority for modern zoos and aquariums. However, amphibians have not yet been the focus of much welfare research, perhaps in part because they do not tend to display many quantifiable...

Keubler, L. M., Hoppe, N., Potschka, H. et al. 2020. Where are we heading? Challenges in evidence-based severity assessment. Laboratory Animals 54(1), 50–62.

Evidence-based severity assessment in laboratory animals is, apart from the ethical responsibility, imperative to generate reproducible, standardized and valid data. However, the path towards a valid study design determining the degree of pain, distress and...

Guo, Y., He, D., Chai, L. 2020. A machine vision-based method for monitoring scene-interactive behaviors of dairy calf. Animals 10(2), 190.

Requirements for animal and dairy products are increasing gradually in emerging economic bodies. However, it is critical and challenging to maintain the health and welfare of the increasing population of dairy cattle, especially the dairy...

Lowe, G., McCane, B., Sutherland, M. et al. 2020. Automated collection and analysis of infrared thermograms for measuring eye and cheek temperatures in calves. Animals 10(2), 292.

As the reliance upon automated systems in the livestock industry increases, technologies need to be developed which can be incorporated into these systems to monitor animal health and welfare. Infrared thermography (IRT) is one such...

Espinoza, C., Lomax, S., Windsor, P. 2020. The effect of topical anaesthesia on the cortisol responses of calves undergoing dehorning. Animals 10(2), 312.

Dehorning causes pain and distress to cattle, and there is a need to provide effective and practical analgesia to improve animal welfare. We conducted an experiment to determine the effect of a modified post-operative topical...

Hyde, R. M., Down, P. M., Bradley, A. J. et al. 2020. Automated prediction of mastitis infection patterns in dairy herds using machine learning. Scientific Reports 10(1), 4289.

Mastitis in dairy cattle is extremely costly both in economic and welfare terms and is one of the most significant drivers of antimicrobial usage in dairy cattle. A critical step in the prevention of mastitis...

Baciadonna, L., Briefer, E. F., McElligott, A. G. 2020. Investigation of reward quality-related behaviour as a tool to assess emotions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 225, 104968.

Animals are likely to appraise events as positive or negative based on their subjective perception, current state and past experiences. We tested the effects of anticipating positive (food anticipation), negative (inaccessible food) and neutral (clicker...

Marcantonio Coneglian, M., Duarte Borges, T., Henrique Weber, S. et al. 2020. Use of the horse grimace scale to identify and quantify pain due to dental disorders in horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 225, 104970.

Dental disorders can cause discomfort and chronic pain, affecting the athletic performance and welfare of the horses. However, dental disorders may not be manifested with recognizable clinical signs and may, therefore, lead to late diagnosis...

Padalino, B., Raidal, S. 2020. Effects of transport conditions on behavioural and physiological responses of horses. Animals 10(1), 160.

The regulations for minimal space and direction of travel for land transport in horses vary worldwide and there is currently no definitive guidance to promote equine health and welfare. This study evaluated the effects of...

Torcivia, C., McDonnell, S. 2020. In-person caretaker visits disrupt ongoing discomfort behavior in hospitalized equine orthopedic surgical patients. Animals 10(2), 210.

Horses have evolved to show little indication of discomfort or disability when in the presence of potential predators, including humans. This natural characteristic complicates the recognition of pain in equine patients. It has been our...

Lesimple, C. 2020. Indicators of horse welfare: State-of-the-art. Animals 10(2), 294.

Animal welfare is defined as a chronic state reflecting an individual’s subjective perception of its situation. Because it is possible to be in a good welfare state and nevertheless experience acute fear or pain, and...

Raw, Z., Rodrigues, J., Rickards, K. et al. 2020. Equid assessment, research and scoping (EARS): The development and implementation of a new equid welfare assessment and monitoring tool. Animals 10(2), 297.

The assessment of animal welfare poses numerous challenges, yet an emerging approach is the consolidation of existing knowledge into new frameworks which can offer standardised approaches to welfare assessment across a variety of contexts. Multiple...