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. 
Bombail, V., Brown, S. M., Hammond, T. J. et al. 2021. Crying with laughter: Adapting the tickling protocol to address individual differences among rats in their response to playful handling. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 677872.

In this Opinion paper, we consider whether current methods of tickling overemphasize the use of pinning (Figure 1) to which there may be a wider response variation than commonly acknowledged. We do not dispute that...

Alvarez Ramírez, L., Mejía Huerta, N. G., Sánchez Cervantes, A. 2021. Artificial shade effects on behavior and body weight of pregnant grazing red deer (Cervus elaphus). Journal of Veterinary Behavior 44, 32-39.

The study aimed to determine whether artificial shade influences grazing behavior and body weight of pregnant female red deer. Two groups of pregnant does were grazed in enclosures with shade (WS, n = 23), or non-shaded enclosures...

Jewell, D., Muensch, A., Kupronis, R. et al. 2021. Husbandry techniques for a research colony of veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus). Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(4) (July/August), 52-55.

Although most chameleon species can be challenging captives, C. calyptratus have been successfully kept and bred in captivity for over thirty years. Despite their relative familiarity, our challenge is to replicate their preferred habitats in...

Song, M. K., Lee, J. H., Kim, Y.-J. 2021. Effect of chronic handling and social isolation on emotion and cognition in adolescent rats. Physiology & Behavior 237, 113440.

Adolescence is a critical period of establishing social relations through social interactions that affect the emotional development associated with stress responses, anxiety, depression, and cognitive development. We investigated the behavioral and neurobiological changes induced by...

Huber, N., Mahr, K., Tóth, Z. et al. 2021. The stressed bird in the hand: Influence of sampling design on the physiological stress response in a free-living songbird. Physiology & Behavior 238, 113488.

Despite the widely used application of standardized capture-handling protocols to collect blood and assess the physiological stress response, the actual sampling design (e.g., timing and the number of blood samples) often differs between studies, and...

Hollandt, T., Baur, M., Wöhr, A.-C. 2021. Animal-appropriate housing of ball pythons (Python regius)—Behavior-based evaluation of two types of housing systems. PLOS ONE 16(5), e0247082.

Considering animal welfare, animals should be kept in animal-appropriate and stress-free housing conditions in all circumstances. To assure such conditions, not only basic needs must be met, but also possibilities must be provided that allow...

Kaneko, A., Takasu, M., Miyabe-Nishiwaki, T. et al. 2021. Physiological variation in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) housed in different outdoor cages evaluated using the metabolic profile test. Primates 62(4), 609-615.

Captive primates require environmental enrichment to minimize physical and mental stress. However, only a few objective evaluations have been performed to assess environment-induced physiological variations in these animals. In this study, we evaluated the usage...

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...

Robbins, R. L., Sheridan, J. 2021. Effect of enclosure expansion on the activity budgets of eastern black-and-white colobus monkeys, Colobus guereza. Zoo Biology 40(2), 115-123.

Behavior is one of the most observable and informative indicators of animal welfare. This study used behavioral observation methodologies to evaluate the impact of an enclosure expansion on the activity budgets of a group of...

Moore, J., Wickert, M. 2021. Thinking outside of the tunnel for non-aversive mouse handling. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(2), 161-163.

The key to non-aversive methods of handling lies in understanding what capture method creates the least anxiety in mice: be this tunnel or cupping or another method. It is important that we do not get...

Archibald, W., Glynn, C. 2021. Refining cages for social housing of non-human primates on ADME studies. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(2), 172-174.

The assessment and understanding of Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Elimination (ADME) for new pharmaceuticals is required in regulatory submissions. Typically, ADME studies are conducted using metabolism cages designed for the single housing of animals to...

Burn, C. C., Popat, R. 2021. A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(3), 203-210.

Mouse shelters can provide mice with security, help them thermoregulate, offer darkness to prevent damage to their eyes and enable climbing and gnawing opportunities. For laboratory mice, there is a vast array of commercially available...

Borgmans, G., Palme, R., Sannen, A. et al. 2021. Routine handling does not lead to chronic stress in captive green anole (Anolis carolinensis). Animal Welfare 30(2), 145-154.

Routine handling has been shown to affect stress levels in a variety of animal species. This could result in a general decrease in welfare and may confound the results of scientific experiments or observations on...

Sans, E. C. O., Tuyttens, F. A.M., Taconeli, C. A. et al. 2021. Welfare of broiler chickens reared under two different types of housing. Animal Welfare 30(3), 341-353.

We compared closed- and open-sided industrial houses with respect to the welfare of broiler chickens in southern Brazil. Ten flocks from each design were evaluated and measures divided into the following categories: i) bird health...

Kimm, S., Rauterberg, S. L., Bill, J. et al. 2021. Use of space, active and resting behaviour in fattening rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) housed in a combi park system: A case study. Animal Welfare 30(4), 493-506.

In this case study, a housing system for rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) was developed, complying with the new German Welfare Regulation, and evaluated on-farm with regard to the rabbits' behaviour during four fattening periods. The housing...

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...

Ujita, A., Seekford, Z., Kott, M. et al. 2021. Habituation protocols improve behavioral and physiological responses of beef cattle exposed to students in an animal handling class. Animals 11(8), 2159.

Our objective was to determine the impact of different habituation protocols on beef cattle behavior, physiology, and temperament in response to human handling. Beef heifers were exposed to three habituation strategies: (1) tactile stimulation (brushing)...

Lange, A., Hahne, M., Lambertz, C. et al. 2021. Effects of different housing systems during suckling and rearing period on skin and tail lesions, tail losses and performance of growing and finishing pigs. Animals 11(8), 2184.

Feasible alternatives to stressful weaning and tail-docking are needed to inhibit tail biting. Therefore, we investigated the effects of housing systems for 1106 pigs that were weaned from: (1) conventional farrowing crates (FC), (2) free-farrowing...

Holdsworth, S. E., Kells, N. J., Chidgey, K. L. et al. 2021. Characterisation of the behavioural effects of a thoracic squeeze in healthy newborn piglets. Animals 11(8), 2465.

Firmly squeezing the chests of newborn foals and calves that are showing abnormal behaviours after birth causes them to enter a less-responsive state, characterised by lying down with eyes closed and no limb movements. Once...

Glaeser, S. S., Shepherdson, D., Lewis, K. et al. 2021. Supporting zoo Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) welfare and herd dynamics with a more complex and expanded habitat. Animals 11(9), 2566.

Ensuring good health and welfare is an increasingly important consideration for conservation of endangered species, whether free-ranging or managed to varying degrees under human care. The welfare-based design of a new habitat for Asian elephants...

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...

Hildebrandt, F., Büttner, K., Salau, J. et al. 2021. Area and resource utilization of group-housed horses in an active stable. Animals 11(10), 2777.

The aim of this study was to analyze the utilization of different stable areas of a total of 52 group-housed horses as well as their preferred stable parts and the use of resources. The study...

Mieske, P., Diederich, K., Lewejohann, L. 2021. Roaming in a land of milk and honey: Life trajectories and metabolic rate of female inbred mice living in a semi naturalistic environment. Animals 11(10), 3002.

Despite tremendous efforts at standardization, the results of scientific studies can vary greatly, especially when considering animal research. It is important to emphasize that consistent different personality-like traits emerge and accumulate over time in laboratory...

Desforges, E. 2021. Challenges and solutions surrounding environmental enrichment for dogs and cats in a scientific environment. Animals 11(10), 2980.

Dogs and cats housed in research-, kennel- and cattery-type settings are reliant on caregivers to optimise their day-to-day experiences and welfare. The goal is to provide enriching environments for physical, social and environmental control; behavioural...