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. 
Manteca Vilanova, X., Beaver, B., Uldahl, M. et al. 2021. Recommendations for ensuring good welfare of horses used for industrial blood, serum, or urine production. Animals 11(5), 1466.

Various pharmaceutical products have been derived from horse blood and urine for over a century. Production of biologics and therapeutics from these samples is a niche industry and often occurs in regions with little regulation...

Polanco, A., McCowan, B., Niel, L. et al. 2021. Recommendations for abnormal behaviour ethograms in monkey research. Animals 11(5), 1461.

Laboratory monkey ethograms currently include subcategories of abnormal behaviours that are based on superficial morphological similarity. Yet, such ethograms may be misclassifying behaviour, with potential welfare implications as different abnormal behaviours are likely to have...

van Loon, J. P. A. M., Macri, L. 2021. Objective assessment of chronic pain in horses using the Horse Chronic Pain Scale (HCPS): A scale-construction study. Animals 11(6), 1826.

The objective assessment of chronic pain is of utmost importance for improving welfare and quality of life in horses. Freedom from disease and pain is one of the ‘five freedoms’ that are necessary for animal...

Uiuiu, P., Lațiu, C., Păpuc, T. et al. 2021. Multi-approach assessment for stress evaluation in rainbow trout females, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum, 1792) from three different farms during the summer season. Animals 11(6), 1810.

Blood biochemistry parameters are valuable tools for monitoring fish health. Their baseline values are still undefined for a multitude of farmed fish species. In this study, changes in the blood profile of rainbow trout females...

Krueger, K., Esch, L., Farmer, K. et al. 2021. Basic needs in horses?—A literature review. Animals 11(6), 1798.

Every animal species has particular environmental requirements that are essential for its welfare, and when these so-called “basic needs” are not fulfilled, the animals suffer. The basic needs of horses have been claimed to be...

Andersen, P. H., Broomé, S., Rashid, M. et al. 2021. Towards machine recognition of facial expressions of pain in horses. Animals 11(6), 1643.

Automated recognition of human facial expressions of pain and emotions is to a certain degree a solved problem, using approaches based on computer vision and machine learning. However, the application of such methods to horses...

Manthey, T., Nagel-Riedasch, S., Dülsner, A. 2021. The interactive stress assessment in basic animal science training. Animals 11(7), 2145.

In order to assess the extent to which the legally prescribed training for the acquisition of animal experimentation expertise provides scientific personnel with the necessary competence and expertise to carry out a correct harm-benefit analysis...

Mazzola, S. M., Colombani, C., Pizzamiglio, G. et al. 2021. Do you think I am living well? A four-season hair cortisol analysis on leisure horses in different housing and management conditions. Animals 11(7), 2141.

The satisfaction of leisure horses’ behavioral needs has begun to be considered a priority, linked to the awareness that horses kept in single boxes may be deprived of social contact and the possibility to perform...

Bailey, K. L., Bloomsmith, M. A., Michopoulos, V. et al. 2021. Influence of female coalitionary aggressive behavior on the success of male introductions to female groups of rhesus macaques (Macaca Mulatta). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 237, 105293.

Migration patterns of wild rhesus macaque males are often mimicked in captivity by introducing unfamiliar males to female groups every few years. This strategy prevents inbreeding and has been shown to encourage group stability once...

Pearson, G., Waran, N., Reardon, R. J. M. et al. 2021. A Delphi study to determine expert consensus on the behavioural indicators of stress in horses undergoing veterinary care. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 237, 105291.

Horses undergoing veterinary care may perceive the experience to be stressful and their behavioural responses can result in injuries to people involved in their care. Being able to accurately measure the stress response in horses...

Arre, A. M., Horschler, D. J. 2021. Swimming and diving as social play in juvenile rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Behaviour 158(6), 529-546.

Although play is ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom, and in primates especially, the ultimate explanations and proximate mechanisms of play are not well understood. Previous research proposes that primate play may be important for the...

Hintze, S., Schanz, L. 2021. Using the judgment bias task to identify behavioral indicators of affective state: Do eye wrinkles in horses reflect mood? Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8, 676888.

Identifying and validating behavioral indicators of mood are important for the assessment of animal welfare. Here, we investigated whether horses' eye wrinkle expression in a presumably neutral situation is a measure of mood as assessed...

Perry, B. A. L., Mason, S., Nacef, J. et al. 2021. Protective cranial implant caps for macaques. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 348, 108992.

Background: Neuroscience studies with macaque monkeys may require cranial implants to stabilize the head or gain access to the brain for scientific purposes. Wound management that promotes healing after the cranial implant surgery in non-human...

Stow, R., Kendrick, J., Ibbotson, N. et al. 2021. A new group housing approach for non-human primate metabolism studies. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods 107, 106947.

Understanding the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) of candidate drugs in preclinical species is an integral part of the safety and efficacy evaluation in drug development. For this purpose, the housing of single animals...

Haertel, A. J., Schultz, M. A., Colgin, L. M. et al. 2021. Predictors of subcutaneous injection site reactions to sustained-release buprenorphine in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). JAALAS 60(3), 329-336.

Subcutaneous injection site reactions to sustained-release buprenorphine hydrochloride (Buprenorphine SR) in macaques have been reported in only a single case report. In the current study, we evaluated the incidence rate and predictors of buprenorphine SR...

Ellis, T., Katsiadaki, I. 2021. Clarification of early end-points for refinement of animal experiments, with specific reference to fish. Laboratory Animals 55(3), 244-253.

Appropriate end-points are integral to the refinement of laboratory animal experiments. Our recent experience has highlighted that ambiguity around end-points is hampering their adoption in experiments that cause severe suffering to fish. In toxicology, the...

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Acacia gum sealed paper straws. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(3) (May/June), 37.

This DIY snack is great for NHP and can be customized in a variety of ways.

Lambert, K. 2021. DIY: Dehydrated watermelon training chips. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 9(4) (July/August), 48.

This simple DIY training treat is great for NHP, swine, rabbits, rodents, and dogs. Note that dehydrated watermelon may resemble muscle tissue!

Benato, L., Murrell, J., Knowles, T. G. et al. 2021. Development of the Bristol Rabbit Pain Scale (BRPS): A multidimensional composite pain scale specific to rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). PLOS ONE 16(6), e0252417.

A species-specific composite pain scale is a prerequisite for adequate pain assessment. The aim of this study was to develop a multidimensional pain scale specific to rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) called the Bristol Rabbit Pain Scale...

Albanese, V., Kuan, M., Accorsi, P.A. et al. 2021. Evaluation of an enrichment programme for a colony of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in a rescue centre. Primates 62(4), 585-593.

Long-tailed macaques are highly social primates that are commonly used in biomedical research as animal models. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different kinds of enrichment on the behaviour and...

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...

Dalla Costa, E., Dai, F., Lecchi, C. et al. 2021. Towards an improved pain assessment in castrated horses using facial expressions (HGS) and circulating miRNAs. Veterinary Record 188(9), e82.

Background: Pain in horses is an emergent welfare concern, and its assessment represents a challenge for equine clinicians. This study aimed at improving pain assessment in horses through a convergent validation of existing tools: we...

Beisner, B. A., Remillard, C. M., Moss,S. et al. 2021. Factors influencing the success of male introductions into groups of female rhesus macaques: Introduction technique, male characteristics and female behavior. American Journal of Primatology 83(9), e23314.

In captive populations of rhesus macaques, novel adult males are commonly introduced to female groups every few years to prevent inbreeding, which mimics male dispersal in wild macaque populations. However, introducing adult males is challenging...

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...

Peploe, J., MacAulay, C. 2021. Laboratory primate enrichment ideas. Animal Technology and Welfare 20(2), 177-183.

There are several items we often use in animal facilities that when finished with are thrown away. However, many of these items come in packaging that can be recycled as enrichment for our animals, particularly...