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. 
Bučková, K., Špinka, M., Hintze, S. 2019. Pair housing makes calves more optimistic. Scientific Reports 9, 20246.

Individual housing of dairy calves is common farm practice, but has negative effects on calf welfare. A compromise between practice and welfare may be housing calves in pairs. We compared learning performances and affective states...

Alsaaod, M., Bucher, E., Feierabend, M. et al. 2019. Detection and localisation of unilateral hindlimb pathologies in cattle using the cow pedogram. Veterinary Record 184(10), 318.

Detection of slightly lame cows and non-lame cows with limb pathologies and those with early limb pathologies is most challenging. Therefore, the availability of a sensitive, objective tool to complement the clinical limb examination is...

Busin, V., Viora, L., King, G. et al. 2019. Evaluation of lameness detection using radar sensing in ruminants. Veterinary Record 185(18), 572.

Background: Lameness is a major health, welfare and production-limiting condition for the livestock industries. The current ‘gold-standard’ method of assessing lameness by visual locomotion scoring is subjective and time consuming, whereas recent technological advancements have...

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...

Jorquera-Chavez, M., Fuentes, S., Dunshea, F. et al. 2019. Modelling and validation of computer vision techniques to assess heart rate, eye temperature, ear-base temperature and respiration rate in cattle. Animals 9(12), 1089.

Precision livestock farming has emerged with the aim of providing detailed information to detect and reduce problems related to animal management. This study aimed to develop and validate computer vision techniques to track required features...

Wooddell, L. J., Beisner, B., Hannibal, Darcy L. et al. 2019. Increased produce enrichment reduces trauma in socially-housed captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). American Journal of Primatology 81(12), e23073.

Due to primate adaptations for sociality, captive rhesus macaques have optimal welfare and utility as a biomedical model when they can be maintained in outdoor social groups. As a despotic species; however, aggression can result...

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...

Descovich, K. A., Richmond, S. E., Leach, M. C. et al. 2019. Opportunities for refinement in neuroscience: Indicators of wellness and post-operative pain in laboratory macaques. Alternatives to Animal Experimentation 36(4), 535-554.

Being able to assess pain in nonhuman primates undergoing biomedical procedures is important for preventing and alleviating pain, and for developing better guidelines to minimize the impacts of research on welfare in line with the...

de Oliveira, D., Keeling, L. J. 2018. Routine activities and emotion in the life of dairy cows: Integrating body language into an affective state framework. PLOS ONE 13(5), e0195674.

We assessed dairy cows’ body postures while they were performing different stationary activities in a loose housing system and then used the variation within and between individuals to identify potential connections between specific postures and...

Stammen, R. L., Cohen, J. K., Meeker, T. L. et al. 2018. Effect of chronic social stress on prenatal transfer of antitetanus immunity in captive breeding rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). JAALAS 57(4), 357-367.

Because tetanus can cause significant morbidity and mortality in NHP, colonywide vaccination with tetanus toxoid is recommended for outdoor breeding colonies of rhesus macaques, with primary immunizations commonly given to infants at 6 mo of...

Hannibal, D. L., Cassidy, L. C.,Vandeleest, J. et al. 2018. Intermittent pair-housing, pair relationship qualities, and HPA activity in adult female rhesus macaques. American Journal of Primatology 80(5), e22762.

Laboratory rhesus macaques are often housed in pairs and may be temporarily or permanently separated for research, health, or management reasons. While both long‐term social separations and introductions can stimulate a stress response that impacts...

Chotard, H., Ioannou, S., Davila-Ross, M. 2018. Infrared thermal imaging: Positive and negative emotions modify the skin temperatures of monkey and ape faces. American Journal of Primatology 80(5), e22863.

Facial thermography has enabled researchers to noninvasively and continuously measure the changes of a range of emotional states in humans. The present work used this novel technology to study the effect of positive and negative...

Coke, C., Skoumbourdis, E., Rodgers, J. C. et al. 2018. Blunting/cutting canines of adult male monkeys: A discussion by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology & Welfare 17(2), 105-107.

"When you keep adult Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) males, adult Cynomolgus (Macaca fascicularis) males or adult Vervet males (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), in the same enclosure, is it advisable to have the canines of the males blunted...

Duarte, R. B., Maior, R. S., Barros, M. 2018. Behavioral and cortisol responses of adult marmoset monkeys (Callithrix penicillata) to different home-cage social disruption intervals. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 201, 117-124.

Social separation is an increasingly used strategy to experimentally assess psychogenic stress in nonhuman primates, yet it is also inherently required for captive management. Surprisingly, little is known on the effects of an individual left...

Gómez, Y., Bieler, R., Hankele, A. K. 2018. Evaluation of visible eye white and maximum eye temperature as non-invasive indicators of stress in dairy cows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 198, 1-8.

The aim of this study was to investigate if visible eye white and eye temperature measurements are feasible non-invasive physiological indicators of acute stress in cows when they are exposed to cattle crush treatment for...

de Boyer des Roches, A., Lussert, A., Faure, M. et al. 2018. Dairy cows under experimentally-induced Escherichia coli mastitis show negative emotional states assessed through Qualitative Behaviour Assessment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 206, 1-11.

Mastitis and associated pain have been identified as a major health and welfare problem affecting dairy cows, however little is known about how cows emotionally experience this illness. Qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA) is a ‘whole...

Lee, C., Cafe, L. M., Robinson, S. L. et al. 2018. Anxiety influences attention bias but not flight speed and crush score in beef cattle. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 205, 210-215.

Attentional biases towards threatening stimuli are increased when animals are in anxious states. An ability to assess negatively valanced affective states such as anxiety are important as they may be related to poor welfare. Flight...

Toaff-Rosenstein, R. L., Tucker, C. B. 2018. The sickness response at and before clinical diagnosis of spontaneous bovine respiratory disease. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 201, 85-92.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is often diagnosed in feedlots after observing behavioral changes such as anorexia, with fever confirmatory. However, this method has poor diagnostic accuracy compared to postmortem lung lesions. Little is known about...

Moomaw, H., Abney, D., Duffy, A. et al. 2018. A successful strategy for social housing adult male cynomolgus macaques in triads. American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 31-32 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #62).

At Charles River, we are committed to ensuring all animals have the highest level of care and welfare. For juvenile, subadult and adult female cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis), we have a near 100% success rate...

Truelove, M. A., Martin, A. L., Perlman, J. E. et al. 2018. Behavioral predictors of successful pairing of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) at the visual contact phase of social introduction. American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 32 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #65).

Identification of behaviors early in the process of rhesus macaque social introductions that might predict social housing success would allow primate managers to best allocate resources and minimize animal stress by aborting introductions unlikely to...

Crast, J., Seelig, D., Meeker, T. L. et al. 2018. Rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) groups with more non-natal adult males per adult female have lower rates of aggression-induced trauma and greater reproductive success. American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 45 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #140).

Limiting contact aggression and social stress is a principal animal welfare challenge in managing large groups of captive nonhuman primates. This challenge is especially pronounced in rhesus monkeys (macaca mulatta), a species characterized by a...

Heagerty, A. L., Coleman, K. 2018. Amount and reciprocity of affiliative behaviors can predict pairing success in captive rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 47 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #148).

Socialization is one of the most important forms of enrichment for rhesus macaques. However, pair introductions can result in aggression and injury if partners are incompatible, even days after the initial introduction. Identifying predictors of...

Hanniba, D., Beisner, B., Nathman, A. et al. 2018. Removals based on low within-matriline relatedness can reduce severe aggression in captive rhesus macaques. American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 48 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #151).

Previous observational research of captive rhesus macaques suggests that higher coefficients of relatedness within matrilines are associated with lower rates of severe within‐matriline aggression and more cohesive grooming communities. We tested whether experimental removals targeted...

Balasubramaniam, K. N., Beisner, B. A., Vandeleest, J. J. et al. 2018. Social buffering and contact transmission: Network connections have beneficial and detrimental effects on Shigella infection risk among captive rhesus macaques. American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 51-52 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #162).

Group living in primates may impact the risk of pathogen acquisition in two ways. First, social connectedness makes individuals more susceptible to pathogens via contact‐mediated transmission. Yet in strongly bonded societies, having close connections and...

Rox, A., de Vries, H., Louwerse, A. L. et al. 2018. Female social behaviour during three male introductions in captive groups of rhesus macaques. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 207, 89-97.

Introductions of new males into captive primate groups are often necessary to prevent inbreeding, but also bear high social risks. To minimize these risks, it is crucial to understand the social behaviour accompanying male introductions...