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...

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...

Reese, L., Ladwig-Wiegard, M., von Fersen, L. et al. 2020. Deflighting zoo birds and its welfare considerations. Animal Welfare 29(1), 69-80.

For over a century, the practice of deflighting has taken place in zoological collections in order to ensure birds remain in open-topped enclosures. Over time, efforts have been made to improve or develop new (surgical)...

Harrup, A. J., Rooney, N. 2020. Current welfare state of pet guinea pigs in the UK. Veterinary Record 186(9), 282.

Little research has been carried out into how guinea pigs are cared for in the UK, and information regarding potential welfare issues is sparse. This study was designed to examine the five welfare needs, collecting...

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...

Colman, R. J., Capuano, 3rd, S., Bakker, J. et al. 2021. Marmosets: Welfare, ethical use, and IACUC/regulatory considerations. ILAR Journal 61(2-3), 167-178.

Use of marmosets in biomedical research has increased dramatically in recent years due, in large part, to their suitability for transgenic applications and utility as models for neuroscience investigations. This increased use includes the establishment...

Bertelsen, M., Jensen, M. B. 2019. Does dairy calves’ motivation for social play behaviour build up over time? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 214, 18-24.

Dairy calves are often housed in individual pens, which limits play behaviour. This study investigates whether the motivation for social play builds up during periods of deprivation hereof. Sixteen mixed-sex pairs of calves (33 ±...

Finkemeier, M.-A., Oesterwind, S., Nürnberg, G. et al. 2019. Assessment of personality types in Nigerian dwarf goats (Capra hircus) and cross-context correlations to behavioural and physiological responses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 217, 28-35.

The assessment of personality in farm animals and its relation to other behavioural and physiological traits is of growing scientific and practical interest. Therefore, the aims of the present study were first to assess the...

Baker, S. W., Tucci, E. R., Felt, S. A. et al. 2019. A bird's-eye view of regulatory, animal care, and training considerations regarding avian flight research. Comparative Medicine 69(3), 169–178.

A thorough understanding of how animals fly is a central goal of many scientific disciplines. Birds are a commonly used model organism for flight research. The success of this model requires studying healthy and naturally...

Colby, L. A., Nowland, M. H., Kennedy, L. H. 2019. Clinical Laboratory Animal Medicine: An Introduction (5th ed). Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, IA.

The revised fifth edition of Clinical Laboratory Animal Medicine: An Introduction is an accessible guide to basic information for conducting animal research safely and responsibly. It includes a review of the unique anatomic and physiologic...

Coke, C., Skoumbourdis, E., Rodgers, J. C. et al. 2018. Blunting/cutting canines of adult male monkeys: A discussion by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology & Welfare 17(2), 105-107.

"When you keep adult Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) males, adult Cynomolgus (Macaca fascicularis) males or adult Vervet males (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), in the same enclosure, is it advisable to have the canines of the males blunted...

Ekman, L., Nyman, A.-K., Landin, H. et al. 2018. Hock lesions in dairy cows in freestall herds: A cross-sectional study of prevalence and risk factors. Acta Vererinaria Scandinavica 60(1), 47.

Hock lesions (HL) in dairy cows are a common animal welfare problem in modern dairy production with freestall housing systems, but there are no large-scale studies addressing its epidemiology in Sweden. The aims of this...

Bastian, M. L., Glendinning, D. R., Reddy, A. J. et al. 2018. Nest location preferences in zoo-housed orangutans. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 207, 123-128.

Nest building is an advanced and complex activity that wild orangutans engage in, yet they do so on a daily basis and with potential safety consequences. Like their wild counterparts, zoo-housed orangutans also make nests...

Editorial. 2017. Reducing lameness in sheep: new approach recommended. Veterinary Record 180(23), 555.

Farm vets can recommend that sheep farmers stop routine foot trimming to treat lameness in their flocks. Instead, they should treat cases of footrot, the major cause of lameness, with an injectable antibiotic and a...

Ludwig, S. C., Kapetanopoulos, K., Kotrschal, K. et al. 2017. Effects of mate separation in female and social isolation in male free-living Greylag geese on behavioural and physiological measures. Behavioural Processes 138, 134-141.

The presence of a social partner may significantly contribute to coping with stressful events, whereas dyadic separation generally increases glucocorticoid levels and, thereby, might also affect immune function and health. To study the covariation between...

Lalot, M., Ung, D., Péron, F. et al. 2017. You know what? I’m happy. Cognitive bias is not related to personality but is induced by pair-housing in canaries (Serinus canaria). Behavioural Processes 134, 70-77.

Recent studies suggest that cognitive bias could constitute a novel and valid measure of animal welfare. Although interest for a link between personality and cognition is growing, no study to date investigated whether a cognitive...

Axelsson, H. M. K., Hansen, S. W., Loberg, J. et al. 2017. Effects of group size on behaviour, growth and occurrence of bite marks in farmed mink. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 194, 112-119.

The aims of this study were to investigate the occurrence of stereotypic behaviours and the activity level in farmed mink when group housed in climbing cages and if group housing increase aggression by assessing the...

Sands, C., Evans, C., Buckmaster, C. A. 2017. The grooming sleeve: Encouraging conspecific-like behavior and strengthening the human-animal bond. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(2) (June), 52-53.

The act of grooming has been found to greatly decrease stress, heart rate, and cortisol levels in nonhuman primates; this decrease in stress and cortisol is seen in the animal being groomed, as well as...

Daoudi, S., Badihi, G., Buchanan-Smith, H. 2017. Is mixed-species living cognitively enriching? Enclosure use and welfare in two captive groups of tufted capuchins (Sapajus apella) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus). Animal Behavior and Cognition 4(1).

Non-human primates have complex relationships with conspecifics and also other animals with whom they share their habitat in the wild. Some primates, such as capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus), naturally associate...

Averós, X., Beltrán de Heredia I., Ruiz, R. et al. 2016. The impact of group size on welfare indicators of ewes during pregnancy. PLOS ONE 11(11), e0167061.

Group size (GS) and space allowance have major implications for the welfare of production species, however their effects are often confounded. In a previous study we investigated the impact of varying space allowance at constant...

Foditsch, C., Oikonomou, G., Machado, V. S. et al. 2016. Lameness prevalence and risk factors in large dairy farms in upstate New York. Model development for the prediction of claw horn disruption lesions. PLOS ONE 11(1), e0146718.

The main objectives of this prospective cohort study were a) to describe lameness prevalence at drying off in large high producing New York State herds based on visual locomotion score (VLS) and identify potential cow...

Curtis, G. C., Argo, C. McG., Jones, D. et al. 2016. Impact of feeding and housing systems on disease incidence in dairy calves. Veterinary Record 179(20), 512.

Contentious issues in calf rearing include milk feeding level and single versus group housing. The current study was performed on a high-producing 170 Holstein cow dairy farm to investigate the impact of nutrition and housing...

Harl, H., Stevens, L., Margulis, S. W. et al. 2016. Gibbon aggression during introductions: An international survey. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 19(3), 260-270.

Little is known regarding the prevalence of aggression seen during introductions of captive gibbons (Hylobatidae). In this study, an online survey was developed to quantify and collect contextual details regarding the frequency and types of...

National Health and Medical Research Council [NHMRC]. 2016. Principles and guidelines for the care and use of non-human primates for scientific purposes. National Health and Medical Research Council: Canberra, Australia, 25 pp.

The Principles and guidelines for the care and use of non-human primates for scientific purposes is a revision of NHMRC’s Policy on the care and use of non-human primates for scientific purposes 2003 (the Policy)...

Tokumaru, R. S., Ades, C., Monticelli, P. F. 2015. Social support does not require attachment: Any conspecific tranquilizes isolated guinea-pig pups. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 171, 197-203.

Guinea pig pups produce typical distress whistles when isolated. Whistles’ frequency is decreased or abolished when they contact with the mother and, to a lesser degree, a sibling or even an unfamiliar female, is regained...