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. 
Mattiello, S., Battini, M., De Rosa, G. et al. 2019. How can we assess positive welfare in ruminants? Animals 9(10), 758.

Until now, most research has focused on the development of indicators of negative welfare, and relatively few studies provide information on valid, reliable, and feasible indicators addressing positive aspects of animal welfare. However, a lack...

Tracy, L. M., Temple, S. M., Bennett, D. C. et al. 2019. The reliability and accuracy of palpation, radiography, and sonography for the detection of keel bone damage. Animals 9(11), 894.

Palpation is the most popular method of measuring keel bone damage on live birds, although it has been criticized for being subjective and inaccurate. The goals of this study were to examine intra- and inter-rater...

Moyano Barbosa, H., Gama Nogueira-Filho, S. L., Nogueira de Morais, R. et al. 2019. Non-invasive stress monitoring and temperament of chestnut-bellied seed-finch (Passeriformes, Thraupidae). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 220, 104859.

Songbirds are kept as pets around the world, and bird-singing contests occur in several countries. However, there is a lack of scientific support for songbird welfare and stress monitoring. Thus, we aimed to validate the...

Chatigny, F. 2019. The controversy on fish pain: A veterinarian’s perspective. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 22(4), 400-410.

Fish welfare is still a relatively new field. As such, regulations and protocols to ensure fish welfare are currently limited and vary considerably in different jurisdictions. This is in part because of the ongoing controversy...

Solås, M. R., Skoglund, H., Salvanes, A. G. V. 2019. Can structural enrichment reduce predation mortality and increase recaptures of hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. fry released into the wild? Journal of Fish Biology 95(2), 575-588.

Captive-reared fish often have poor survival in the wild and may fail to boost threatened populations. Enrichment during the nursery period can in some circumstances generate a broader behavioural repertoire than conventional hatchery production. Yet...

Bracke, M. B. M., Koene, P., Estevez, I. et al. 2019. Broiler welfare trade-off: A semi-quantitative welfare assessment for optimised welfare improvement based on an expert survey. PLOS ONE 14(10), e0222955.

In order to support decision making on how to most effectively improve broiler welfare an innovative expert survey was conducted based on principles derived from semantic modelling. Twenty-seven experts, mainly broiler welfare scientists (n =...

Correia de Lima Almeida Paz, I., Correia de Lima Almeida, I., Milbradt, E. L. et al. 2019. Effects of analgesic and noise stimulus in gait score assessment. PLOS ONE 14(1), e0208827.

This experiment was carried out aiming to assess walking manner and speed of broiler chickens with different gait scores (GS), with or without sound stimulus, and with or without administration of analgesic. To that end...

Deakin, A. G., Buckley, J., AlZu'bi, H. S. et al. 2019. Automated monitoring of behaviour in zebrafish after invasive procedures. Scientific Reports 9, 9042.

Fish are used in a variety of experimental contexts often in high numbers. To maintain their welfare and ensure valid results during invasive procedures it is vital that we can detect subtle changes in behaviour...

Egelkamp, C. L., Ross, S. R. 2019. A review of zoo-based cognitive research using touchscreen interfaces. Zoo Biology 38(2), 220-235.

In the past few decades, there has been an increase in the number of zoo-based touchscreen studies of animal cognition around the world. Such studies have contributed to the field of comparative cognition despite the...

Cox, R. J., Nol, P., Ellis, C. K. et al. 2019. Research with agricultural animals and wildlife. ILAR Journal 60(1), 66-73.

In fiscal year 2016, agricultural animals such as swine, sheep, goats, and cattle represented 10% of the 820 812 animals used in USDA-regulated research. In addition to traditional agricultural animals, research studies using captive wildlife...

Stevens, C. 2019. Refining handling for small laboratory fishes. Animal Technology and Welfare 18(3), 191-193.

Fishes in captivity, such as those used in laboratory research, may experience handling on a regular basis. In the laboratory, handling is usually done with dip-nets, and involves pursuit, confinement and capture and removal of...

Message, R., Greenhough, B. 2019. “But it’s just a fish”: Understanding the challenges of applying the 3Rs in laboratory aquariums in the UK. Animals 9(12), 1075.

Adopting a social science perspective and qualitative methodology on the problem of laboratory fish welfare, this paper examines some underlying social factors and drivers that influence thinking, priorities and implementation of fish welfare initiatives and...

Elwood, R. W. 2019. Assessing the potential for pain in crustaceans and other invertebrates. In: The Welfare of Invertebrate Animals. Carere, C., Mather, J. (eds), 147-177. Springer, Cham.

All animals face hazards that cause tissue damage, and most have nociceptive reflex responses that protect them from such damage. However, some taxa have also evolved the capacity for pain experience, presumably to enhance long-term...

McMillan, F. D. (ed). 2019. Mental Health and Well-being in Animals (2nd ed). CABI, Wallingford, UK.

This second edition is fully revised, expanded, and comprehensively updated with the most current knowledge about the full array of mental health issues seen in animals. Written by key opinion leaders, internationally-recognized experts and specialists...

Thomson, J. S., Al-Temeemy, A. A., Isted, H. et al. 2019. Assessment of behaviour in groups of zebrafish (Danio rerio) using an intelligent software monitoring tool, the chromatic fish analyser. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 328, 108433.

Background: Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are an increasingly popular model species within a variety of biomedical and neurobiological contexts. Researchers are required to prevent any negative states, such as pain, when using experimental animals to optimise...

Gott, A., Andrews, C., Bedford, T. et al. 2019. Developmental history and stress responsiveness are related to response inhibition, but not judgement bias, in a cohort of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). Animal Cognition 22(1), 99–111.

Judgement bias tasks are designed to provide markers of affective states. A recent study of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) demonstrated modest familial effects on judgement bias performance, and found that adverse early experience and developmental...

McIlhone, A. E., Beausoleil, N. J., Kells, N. J. et al. 2018. Effects of noxious stimuli on the electroencephalogram of anaesthetised chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). PLOS ONE 13(4), e0196454.

The reliable assessment and management of avian pain is important in the context of animal welfare. Overtly expressed signs of pain vary substantially between and within species, strains and individuals, limiting the use of behaviour...

Souza, A., Soriano, V. S., Schnaider, M. A. et al. 2018. Development and refinement of three animal-based broiler chicken welfare indicators. Animal Welfare 27(3), 263-274.

This study aimed to refine bird-soiling as a broiler chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) welfare indicator, and to develop and test two additional indicators, namely contact dermatitis on the breast and abdominal areas and carcase scratches...

Casey-Trott, T. M., Widowski, T. M. 2018. Validation of an accelerometer to quantify inactivity in laying hens with or without keel-bone fractures. Animal Welfare 27(2), 103-114.

Accelerometers are used to remotely monitor activity in various species in studies that quantify pain, document behavioural patterns, and measure individual activity differences. Studies validating accelerometers typically quantify various active states; however, targeting states specific...

Clegg, I. 2018. Cognitive bias in zoo animals: An optimistic outlook for welfare assessment. Animals 8(7), 104.

Cognitive bias testing measures how emotional states can affect cognitive processes, often described using the “glass half-full/half-empty” paradigm. Classical or operant conditioning is used to measure responses to ambiguous cues, and it has been reported...

Wolfensohn, S., Shotton, J., Bowley, H. et al. 2018. Assessment of welfare in zoo animals: Towards optimum quality of life. Animals 8(7), 110.

Zoos are required to maintain a high standard of animal welfare, and this can be assessed using a combination of resource-based and animal-based indices usually divided into behavioural indicators, physiological indicators and clinical/pathological signs. Modern...

Sneddon, L. U., Lopez-Luna, J., Wolfenden, D. et al. 2018. Fish sentience denial: Muddying the waters. Animal Sentience 21(1).

Recent empirical studies have reported evidence that many aquatic species, including fish, cephalopods and crustaceans, have the capacity for nociception and pain, and that their welfare should be taken into consideration. Some sceptics, rejecting the...

Kittelsen, K. E., Granquist, E. G., Aunsmo, A. L. et al. 2018. An evaluation of two different broiler catching methods. Animals 8(8), 141.

Catching is the first step in the pre-slaughter chain for broiler chickens. The process may be detrimental for animal welfare due to the associated handling. The aim of this pilot study was to compare two...

Muvhali, P. T., Bonato, M., Engelbrecht, A. et al. 2018. The effect of extensive human presence at an early age on stress responses and reactivity of juvenile ostriches towards humans. Animals 8(10), 175.

The effect of extensive human presence and regular gentle handling performed at an early age (0–3 months old) on stress responses and reactivity of juvenile ostriches towards humans was investigated. A total of 416 ostrich...

Clark, T. S., Pandolfo, L. M., Marshall, C. M. et al. 2018. Body condition scoring for adult zebrafish (Danio rerio). JAALAS 57(6), 698–702.

Body condition scoring (BCS) is a simple, rapid, noninvasive tool used to assess body condition in animals. In this study, we developed and validated a diagram-based BCS for adult zebrafish (Danio rerio), a popular research...