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...

Baumgartner, M., Erhard, M. H., Zeitler-Feicht, M. H. 2023. Which animal-to-feeding-place ratio at time-controlled hay racks is animal appropriate? Preliminary analysis of stress responses of horses. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1005102

Automated feeding systems offer numerous advantages for animals and humans, but the associated benefits and risks can often only be seen under practical conditions. The space allowance (~80 cm per horse) at time-controlled hay racks...

Bradshaw-Wiley, E., Randle, H. 2023. The effect of stabling routines on potential behaviour indicators of affective state in horses and their use in assessing quality of life. Animals 13(6), 1065.

Increasing interest in equine welfare has emphasised the need for objective and reliable behavioural indicators of horses’ affective state. However, research has yielded mixed results regarding behaviours suited for industry use largely because they are...

Brando, S., Vitale, A., Bacon, M. 2023. Promoting good nonhuman primate welfare outside regular working hours. Animals 13(8), 1423.

Promoting good primate welfare outside of daylight hours is an important task. The responsibility to provide a complex environment and environmental enrichment is an essential element of primate wellbeing programs that should be approached from...

Ermers, C., McGilchrist, N., Fenner, K. et al. 2023. The fibre requirements of horses and the consequences and causes of failure to meet them. Animals 13(8), 1414.

Failure to meet the minimum forage requirement of 1.5% of the horse’s bodyweight and the opportunity for foraging for a minimum of 8 h a day (not going without this opportunity longer than four to...

Harvey, A. M., Beausoleil, N. J., Ramp, D. et al. 2023. Mental experiences in wild animals: Scientifically validating measureable welfare indicators in free-roaming horses. Animals 13(9), 1507.

The mental experiences of animals are what characterises their welfare status. The Five Domains Model for assessing welfare aligns with the understanding that physical and mental states are linked. Following measurement of indicators within each...

Morgado, J. N., Lamonaca, E., Santeramo, F. G. et al. 2023. Effects of management strategies on animal welfare and productivity under heat stress: A synthesis. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10, 1145610.

Climate change includes different dramatic events, and among them, heat stress exposition is the strongest phenomenon affecting the livestock sector. The effects of heat stress events on animal welfare are complex and the economic impacts...

Padalino, B., Benedetti, B., Felici, M. et al. 2023. GLAD scale for ranking welfare of horses on arrival after transport to slaughterhouses. Animals 13(9), 1465.

To date, there is no official method for measuring horse welfare after transport. This study aimed to develop a scale to classify horses into four categories: good shape; light affected; affected; down (GLAD) based on...

Seganfreddo, S., Fornasiero, D., De Santis, M. et al. 2023. A pilot study on behavioural and physiological indicators of emotions in donkeys. Animals 13(9), 1466.

Recognizing animal emotions is critical to their welfare and can lead to a better relationship with humans and the environment, especially in a widespread species like the donkey, which is often prone to welfare issues...

Ricci-Bonot, C., Mills, D. S. 2023. Recognising the facial expression of frustration in the horse during feeding period. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 265, 105966.

Horses often present negative emotional states which are frequently poorly recognised, with much of our understanding of horse expressions based on anecdotes, rather than scientific evidence. The aim of this project was to identify potential...

Elwood, R. W. 2023. Behavioural indicators of pain and suffering in arthropods and might pain bite back? Animals 13(16), 2602.

Pain in response to tissue damage functions to change behaviour so that further damage is minimised whereas healing and survival are promoted. This paper focuses on the behavioural criteria that match the function to ask...

Olczak, K., Penar, W., Nowicki, J. et al. 2023. The role of sound in livestock farming—Selected aspects. Animals 13(14), 2307.

To ensure the optimal living conditions of farm animals, it is essential to understand how their senses work and the way in which they perceive their environment. Most animals have a different hearing range compared...

Winther Christensen, J., Gargulak Andersen, A., Nymark Skovbo, K. et al. 2022. Shelter use by horses during summer in relation to weather conditions and horsefly (Tabanidae) prevalence. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 253, 105676.

National legislation requires shelter access for horses kept outside during winter, whereas there are no requirements for shelter access to provide shade and a refuge from biting insects during summer. This study investigated use of...

Harvey, A. M., Ramp, D., Mellor, D. J. 2022. Review of the foundational knowledge required for assessing horse welfare. Animals 12(23), 3385.

A detailed understanding of what is usual for a species under optimal conditions is critical for identifying and interpreting different features of body function that have known impacts on animal welfare and its assessment. When...

Popescu, S., Lazar, E. A., Borda, C. et al. 2022. Changes in management, welfare, emotional satate, and human-related docility in stallions. Animals 12(21), 2981.

Despite an increase in awareness of their essential needs, many stallions continue to be kept in conditions limiting their social interactions and movement. To supplement the studies which highlight the effects of these practices on...

Riva, M. G., Sobrero, L., Menchetti, L. et al. 2022. Unhandled horses classified with broken/unbroken test (BUT) exhibit longer avoidance, flight reactions, and displacement behaviors when approached by humans. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1022255.

Horses with a low level of tameness are at higher risk for transport-related disease and injury; hence, European regulations for the protection of animals during transport (EC 1/2005) are stricter for unhandled (unbroken) horses. However...

Wilson, C. H., Wyeth, R. C., Spicer, J. I. et al. 2022. Effect of animal stocking density and habitat enrichment on survival and vitality of wild green shore crabs, Carcinus maenas, maintained in the laboratory. Animals 12(21), 2970.

The wide geographic distribution, large size and ease of capture has led to decapod crustaceans being used extensively in laboratory experiments. Recently in the United Kingdom decapod crustaceans were listed as sentient beings, resulting in...

Liew, K.-S., Tan, K., Liew, H. J. et al. 2022. Responses of purple mud crab (Scylla tranquebarica) to various saccharide solutions and the saccharide-coated pelleted feeds. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 257, 105793.

Mud crabs (Scylla spp.) are economically important portunid species for aquaculture in many countries across the Indo-Pacific region. However, there is still no commercial species-specific formulated feed available for mud crabs, and mud crabs generally...

Brando, S., Coe, J. 2022. Confronting back-of-house traditions: Primates as a case study. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3(3), 366–397.

This review commentary focuses on traditional management practices and facility design with suggested improvements in non-public primate management areas, often called “back-of-house”, (henceforth BOH) in zoos, sanctuaries, and research facilities. Progress has been made toward...

Briffa, M. 2022. When should we ascribe sentience to animals? A commentary on “Hermit crabs, shells and sentience” (Elwood 2022). Animal Cognition 25(6), 1375–1380.

In a new review article, experiments on hermit crab behaviour are discussed in the context of possible animal sentience. Sentience can be defined as the ability to experience feelings such as pleasure or pain but...

Elwood, R. W. 2022. Caution is required when considering sentience in animals: A response to the commentary by Briffa (2022) on “Hermit crabs, shells, and sentience” (Elwood 2022). Animal Cognition 25(6), 1371–1374.

My recent review examined the complex and intimate relationship between hermit crabs and the empty gastropod shells upon which they depend for survival. Because shells come with costs as well as benefits, the crabs are...

Elwood, R. W. 2022. Hermit crabs, shells, and sentience. Animal Cognition 25(5), 1241–1257.

Hermit crabs have an intimate relationship with gastropod shells and show numerous activities by which they locate, select, and change shells in different contexts. They gather information about new shells and update information about their...

Fieschi-Méric, L., Ellis, C., Servini, F. et al. 2022. An improvement in enclosure design can positively impact welfare, reduce aggressiveness and stabilise hierarchy in captive Galapagos giant tortoises. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3(4), 499–512.

The interest in the welfare of zoo animals, from both the public and the scientific community, has long been biased towards mammals. However, growing evidence of the complex behavioural repertoires of less charismatic animals, such...

Takahashi, K. 2022. Changes in the anxiety-like and fearful behavior of shrimp following daily threatening experiences. Animal Cognition 25(2), 319–327.

Behavioral variation in animals is often influenced by experience. Previous studies have found that daily threatening experiences can enhance fear- and anxiety-like behaviors in some vertebrates. However, it is unclear whether the change in fear/anxiety...

Bolt, L. M. 2021. Agonistic vocalization behaviour in the male ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta). Primates 62(2), 417–430.

Vocalizations are used by group-living animals as aggressive and submissive signals during agonistic interactions, and are also used to maintain dominance hierarchies in many species. For gregarious strepsirrhines with large vocal repertoires and differentiated dominance...