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. 
Koperski, P. 2023. It is not only data—Freshwater invertebrates misused in biological monitoring. Animals 13(16), 2570.

The article presents and discusses the issues of the use of free-living invertebrates to assess the ecological status of freshwater environments with different methods of biological monitoring. Invertebrates are excluded from ethical consideration in the...

Spitzer, H. B., Meagher, R. K., Proudfoot, K. L. 2022. The impact of providing hiding spaces to farmed animals: A scoping review. PLOS ONE 17(11), e0277665.

Many wild animals perform hiding behaviours for a variety of reasons, such as evading predators or other conspecifics. Unlike their wild counterparts, farmed animals often live in relatively barren environments without the opportunity to hide...

Wahltinez, S. J., Stacy, N. I., Hadfield, C. A. et al. 2022. Perspective: Opportunities for advancing aquatic invertebrate welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 973376.

Welfare considerations and regulations for invertebrates have lagged behind those for vertebrates, despite invertebrates comprising more than 95% of earth’s species. Humans interact with and use aquatic invertebrates for exhibition in zoos and aquaria, as...

Leeds, A., Boyer, D., Ross, S. R. et al. 2021. Patterns of wounding in mixed-sex social groups of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 236, 105226.

Long-term, multi-institutional assessments have become a reliable tool for evaluating patterns of wounding in zoo-living primates, with results informing on best practices for species-specific care protocols and population management strategies. For western lowland gorillas (Gorilla...

Spiezio C., Vaglio, S., Vandelle C. et al. 2021. Effects of rearing on the behaviour of zoo-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Folia Primatologica 92(2), 91–102.

Early-life experiences may considerably affect the behavioural patterns of adult primates. Particularly, atypical rearing practices might lead to abnormal behaviours and social-sexual deficiencies in captive, adult non-human primates. We conducted behavioural observations of mother-reared (n...

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...

Andrade, B. M.T., Freire-Filho, R., Bezerra, B. 2020. The behaviours of a female blonde capuchin (Sapajus flavius) towards her dead infant. Behaviour 157(14/15), 1231-1238.

Here we describe the behaviour of a female blonde capuchin (Sapajus flavius) towards her dead infant and discuss possible explanations linked to the anecdotal event. We conducted our study in a fragment of Atlantic forest...

Hopper, L. M., Fernandez‐Duque, E., Williams, L. E. 2019. Testing the weekend effect hypothesis: Time of day and lunar phase better predict the timing of births in laboratory‐housed primates than day of week. American Journal of Primatology 81(7), e23026.

The weekend effect hypothesis proposes that captive primates are more likely to give birth during times of low disturbance and reduced staff activity. The hypothesis specifically predicts that laboratory‐housed primates will be more likely to...

Darbyshire, A. K., Oliver, K. H., Dupont, W. D. et al. 2019. Anesthesia and euthanasia of brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana). JAALAS 58(1), 58-63.

Invertebrates are often overlooked as laboratory animals, yet they are commonly used in toxicology, developmental, cellular and molecular biology, and radiation studies with euthanasia as an endpoint. Little is known regarding appropriate euthanasia methods for...

Association of Primate Veterinarians. 2019. Association of Primate Veterinarians’ Position Statement: Cerebrospinal fluid aspiration for nonhuman primates in biomedical research. JAALAS 58(4), 428-429.

The Association of Primate Veterinarians (APV) recognizes that CSF collection may be required for both clinical and research purposes in nonhuman primates (NHP). Because there are inherent risks associated with the technique, the laboratory animal...

Phillips, K.A., Tukan, A. N., Rigodanzo, A. D. et al. 2018. Quantification of hair cortisol concentration in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) and tufted capuchins (Cebus apella). American Journal of Primatology 80(7), e22879.

Quantifying cortisol concentration in hair is a non‐invasive biomarker of long‐term hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) activation, and thus can provide important information on laboratory animal health. Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) and capuchins (Cebus apella) are New World primates...

Parkinson, L., Mans, C. 2017. Anesthetic and postanesthetic effects of alfaxalone–butorphanol compared with dexmedetomidine–ketamine in chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera). JAALAS 56(3), 290-295.

Effective and safe anesthetic protocols are required for a variety of surgical and diagnostic procedures in chinchillas. Alfaxalone, a new anesthetic agent in the United States, can be administered intramuscularly and subcutaneously and is therefore...

Cooper, J. E., Hull, G. 2017. Gorilla Pathology and Health: With a Catalogue of Preserved Materials. Elsevier/Academic Print, London, UK.

Gorilla Pathology and Health: With a Catalogue of Preserved Materials consists of two cross-referenced parts. The first, the book itself, is a review of pathological changes and tissue responses in gorillas (Gorilla gorilla and G...

Fregin, T., Bickmeyer U. 2016. Electrophysiological investigation of different methods of anesthesia in lobster and crayfish. PLOS ONE 11(9), e0162894.

Objectives: In search for methods of anesthesia of crustaceans, an implanted electrode into lobster and crayfish CNS enabled us to monitor signal propagation in the nerve system of animals undergoing different protocols. Results: Cooling (tap...

Wallace, P. Y., Asa, C. S., Agnew, M. et al. 2016. A review of population control methods in captive-housed primates. Animal Welfare 25(1), 7-20.

The success of breeding primates in captivity has led to a surplus number of animals in collections. This review examines published journals and key books to investigate the various methods of primate population control. Hormonal...

Caron, A., Lelong, C., Pascual, M. H. et al. 2015. Miniaturized blood sampling techniques to benefit reduction in mice and refinement in nonhuman primates: Application to bioanalysis in toxicity studies with antibody-drug conjugates. JAALAS 54(2), 145-152.

Minimizing the number of animals in regulatory toxicity studies while achieving study objectives to support the development of future medicines contributes to good scientific and ethical practices. Recent advances in technology have enabled the development...

Bloomsmith, M., Kim, N., Franklin, A. et al. 2015. Positive reinforcement methods to train chimpanzees to cooperate with urine collection. JAALAS 54, 66-69.

Positive reinforcement training can be used in many ways to enhance the welfare of captive primates. Training for biologic sample collection is one application of positive reinforcement training. In this study, 35 adult female chimpanzees...

Reamer, L. A., Haller, R. H., Thiele, E. J. et al. 2014. Factors affecting initial training success of blood glucose testing in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Zoo Biology 33(3), 212-220.

Type 2 diabetes can be a problem for captive chimpanzees. Accurate blood glucose (BG) readings are necessary to monitor and treat this disease. Thus, obtaining voluntary samples from primates through positive reinforcement training (PRT) is...

van Leeuwen, E. J. C., Mulenga, I. C., Chidester, D. L. 2014. Early social deprivation negatively affects social skill acquisition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Animal Cognition 17(2), 407–414.

In a highly social species like chimpanzees, the process by which individuals become attuned to their social environment may be of vital importance to their chances of survival. Typically, this socialization process, defined by all...

Bloomsmith, M., Franklin, A., Neu, K. et al. 2013. Training time required to collect a variety of biological samples using primarily positive reinforcement training methods. American Journal of Primatology 75(S1), 65. (36th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #112)

Positive reinforcement training (PRT) methods can be applied to gain the voluntary cooperation of laboratory primates with the collection of biological samples. Information will be provided on training techniques used and the amount of training...

Schapiro, S. J. 2005. Chimpanzees used in research: Voluntary blood samples differ from anesthetized samples. AWI Quarterly 54(3) (Summer), 15-16.

Chimpanzees were successfully trained to cooperate during injection and blood collection.

Luzzi, M., Skoumbourdis, E., Baumans, V. et al. 2005. Collecting blood from rodents: A discussion by the Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology and Welfare 4, 99-102.

The question was asked: "In your own experience, what is the least disturbing technique - from the subject's point of view! - of blood collection for rodents?" In summary, it is fair to conclude the...

Schapiro, S. J. 2000. A few new developments in primate housing and husbandry. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 27(2), 103-110.

A major focus of this paper is an examination of the complementary role that behavioral management strategies play in the establishment and enhancement of well-defined nonhuman primate research resources. .... Additionally, I will discuss the...

Reinhardt, V., Reinhardt, A. 2000. Blood collection procedure of laboratory primates: A neglected variable in biomedical research. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 3(4), 321-333.

A survey of 75 biomedical articles dealing with stress-dependent blood parameters in caged primates revealed that the conditions under which blood collection occurred were in most cases [72%] described either not at all or so...

Abello, M. T., Velasco, M., Esteban, F. 1999. A training programme for a male gorilla at Barcelona Zoo. International Zoo News 46, 418-420.

Training program for voluntary ejaculation is described. In May 1998 we began the training program with Xebo. At the time of this writing (March 1999) Xebo understands ten different orders. ... So we hope that...