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. 
Kovács, L., Kézér, F. L., Bodó, S. et al. 2021. Salivary cortisol as a non-invasive approach to assess stress in dystocic dairy calves. Scientific Reports 11(1), 6200.

The intensity and the magnitude of saliva cortisol responses were investigated during the first 48 h following birth in newborn dairy calves which underwent normal (eutocic, EUT, n = 88) and difficult (dystocic, DYS, n = 70) calvings. The...

Lowe, G. L., Sutherland, M. A., Waas, J. R. et al. 2021. Effect of milk allowance on the suitability of automated behavioural and physiological measures as early disease indicators in calves. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 234, 105202.

This study investigated the effect of milk allowance on the suitability of behavioural and physiological responses, individually and in combination, as early disease indicators. A total of 120 heifer calves were assigned into a 5...

Bica, G. S., Pinheiro Machado Filho, L. C., Teixeira, D. L. 2021. Beef cattle on pasture have better performance when supplied with water trough than pond. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 616904.

The behavior and performance of steers on pasture regarding water availability in troughs or in ponds were compared. Eight paddocks were randomly allocated to one treatment: POND (~30 m of diameter) or TROUGH (water trough...

Coleman, K., Shapiro, S. J. (Eds.). 2021. Behavioral Biology of Laboratory Animals (1st ed). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

This 30-chapter volume informs students and professionals about the behavioral biology of animals commonly housed in laboratory and other captive settings. Each species evolved under specific environmental conditions, resulting in unique behavioral patterns, many of...

Li, P., Cai, A., Descovich, K. et al. 2021. A comparison of rice husks and peanut shells as bedding materials on dairy cows’ preferences, behaviour, and health. Animals 11(7), 1887.

The provision and quality of bedding materials affect the behaviour, welfare, and health of dairy cows. The objective of this study was to evaluate the preference, behaviour, cleanliness, and physiological status of cows on three...

Sobte, H. F. M., Buijs, S. 2021. Impact of paper bedding on lying behaviour and welfare in lactating dairy cows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 239, 105321.

Lying is a highly motivated behaviour in dairy cows. The level of comfort provided by the lying surface not only affects lying time, but can also affect several other aspects of welfare. We used a...

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...

FELASA Working Group on Farm Animals: Berset, C. M., Caristo, M. E., Ferrara, F. et al. 2021. Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations recommendations of best practices for the health management of ruminants and pigs used for scientific and educational purposes. Laboratory Animals 55(2), 117-128.

Most ruminants and pigs used for scientific and educational aims are bred not for these purposes but in a farm environment. Given the wide range of diseases that these species might have, ensuring that the...

Lemes, A. P., Garcia, A. R., Pezzopane, J. et al. 2021. Silvopastoral system is an alternative to improve animal welfare and productive performance in meat production systems. Scientific Reports 11(1), 14092.

Climate change is a reality and global surface temperature is projected to rise substantially in the next 80 years. Agriculture practices will have to adapt to climate change, and also help to mitigate this effect...

Argüelles, J., Echaniz, M., Bowen, J. et al. 2021. The impact of a stress-reducing protocol on the quality of pre-anaesthesia in cats. Veterinary Record 188(12), e138.

Introduction: Transport to the clinic is a major source of stress for cats. The process involves being put into a carrier, driven in a car and handled. Cats are therefore removed from the safe-haven of...

Dickinson, A. 2021. Maximising efficacy of your health monitoring programme. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(3), 255-257.

There are a multitude of health monitoring techniques/ methods available. It can be difficult to know which of these to use and when to use them. This is an attempt to simplify, maximise the efficacy...

Schmidt, T., Ferrara, F., Pobloth, A.-M. et al. 2021. Large farm animals used for research purposes: A survey on purchase, housing and hygiene management. Animals 11(8), 2158.

Background: Farm animals (FAs) are frequently used in biomedical research. Recommendations for the purchase, housing and health monitoring of these animals (sheep, goats, cattle and pigs) are still missing, and many institutes have developed their...

Whalin, L., Weary, D. M., von Keyserlingk, M. A. G. 2021. Understanding behavioural development of calves in natural settings to inform calf management. Animals 11(8), 2446.

One important type of animal welfare concern is “natural living” (i.e., that animals are able to express natural behaviours that are important to them, and to engage with aspects of the natural world that they...

Ventura, G., Lorenzi, V., Mazza, F. et al. 2021. Best farming practices for the welfare of dairy cows, heifers and calves. Animals 11(9), 2645.

The concept of animal welfare (AW) has many meanings. Traditionally, AW has been considered as freedom from disease and suffering. Nowadays, growing attention goes to the concept of “positive animal welfare” (PAW), which can be...

Cardoso, C. S., von Keyserlingk, M. A. G., Pinheiro Machado Filho, L. C. et al. 2021. Dairy heifer motivation for access to a shaded area. Animals 11(9), 2507.

We used an operant conditioning paradigm to test the motivation of non-pregnant dairy heifers to access shade during the summer and autumn months (January to June) in southern Brazil. Dairy heifers (n = 18) were...

Wenker, M. L., van Reenen, C. G., de Oliveira, D. et al. 2021. Calf-directed affiliative behaviour of dairy cows in two types of cow-calf contact systems. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 243, 105461.

There is an interest in alternative rearing systems that allow for prolonged cow-calf contact (CCC). Yet, a better understanding of cows’ affiliative behaviour in those systems is needed. We evaluated the effect of type of...

Grigg, E. K., Ueda, Y., Walker, A. L. et al. 2021. Comparative assessment of heart rate variability obtained via ambulatory ECG and polar heart rate monitors in healthy cats: A pilot study. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 741583.

Chronic exposure to stressful environments can negatively impact cats' health and welfare, affecting behavioral, autonomic, endocrine, and immune function, as with cats in shelters. Low-stress handling practices likely improve shelter cat welfare, but data supporting...

Ross, S. R., Lake, B. R., Fultz, A. et al. 2021. An evaluation of thermal imaging as a welfare monitoring tool for captive chimpanzees. Primates 62(6), 919-927.

Among the growing list of novel tools with which to assess animal welfare is the use of thermal (infrared) imaging. The technology has already been utilized to identify emotional arousal in several nonhuman primate species...

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...

Leach, K. A., Charlton, G. L., Green, M. J. et al. 2021. Bedding system influences lying behaviour in dairy cows. Veterinary Record 190(7), e1066.

Background: The nature and depth of bedding material have an important influence on cow lying behaviour and comfort. Increasing use of recycled manure solids (RMS) as bedding led to an investigation of the influence of...

Costantino, A., Fabrizio, E., Calvet, S. 2021. The role of climate control in monogastric animal farming: The effects on animal welfare, air emissions, productivity, health, and energy use. Applied Sciences 11(20), 9549.

In the last decades, an engineering process has deeply transformed livestock houses by introducing fine-tuned climate control systems to guarantee adequate indoor climate conditions needed to express the maximum genetic potential of animals and to...

Crailsheim, D., Stüger, H., P., Kalcher-Sommersguter, E. et al. 2020. Early life experience and alterations of group composition shape the social grooming networks of former pet and entertainment chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). PLOS ONE 15(1), e0226947.

The long-term effects of early life adversities on social capacities have been documented in humans and wild-caught former laboratory chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). However, former pet and entertainment chimpanzees have received little attention to date. This...

Wang, P., Ma, Y., Liang, F. et al. 2020. Non-contact vital signs monitoring of dog and cat using a UWB radar. Animals 10(2), 205.

As pets are considered members of the family, their health has received widespread attention. Since pets cannot talk and complain when they feel uncomfortable, monitoring vital signs becomes very helpful in disease detection, as well...

Palczynski, L., Bleach, E., Brennan, M. et al. 2020. Appropriate dairy calf feeding from birth to weaning: “It’s an investment for the future”. Animals 10(1), 116.

Dairy calves must be fed appropriately to meet their nutritional needs, supporting optimal growth and development to achieve the recommended target age at first calving (AFC) of 24 months. Traditional restricted milk feeding practices suppress...

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...