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. 
Llaniguez, J. T., Szczepaniak, M. A., Rickman, B. H. et al. 2020. Quantitative and qualitative behavioral measurements to assess pain in axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum). JAALAS 59(2), 186–196.

Effective pain relief in animals relies on the ability to discern pain and assess its severity. However, few objective measures exist to assess the presence and severity of pain in axolotls, and few resources are...

Stevens, T., Williams, W. R. 2020. Tarps used as visual barriers decrease aggressive conflicts in baboons. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 8(5) (September/October), 72-74.

Nonhuman primate (NHP) colonies housed in research settings are manipulated frequently due to research protocols, for breeding, and for veterinary procedures. These manipulations come with maneuvering complex group dynamics that can be challenging for baboon...

Chapa, J. M., Maschat, K., Iwersen, M. et al. 2020. Accelerometer systems as tools for health and welfare assessment in cattle and pigs – A review. Behavioural Processes 181, 104262.

Welfare assessment has traditionally been performed by direct observation by humans, providing information at only selected points in time. Recently, this assessment method has been questioned, as ‘Precision Livestock Farming’ technologies may be able to...

Butler, J. L., Kennerley, S. W. 2019. Mymou: A low-cost, wireless touchscreen system for automated training of nonhuman primates. Behaviour Research Methods 51, 2559–2572.

Training nonhuman primates (NHPs) to perform cognitive tasks is essential for many neuroscientific investigations, yet laboratory training is a time-consuming process with inherent limitations. Habituating NHPs to the laboratory staff and experimental equipment can take...

Howell, C. P., Cheyne, S. M. 2019. Complexities of using wild versus captive activity budget comparisons for assessing captive primate welfare. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 22(1), 78-96.

Activity budget comparisons between groups or individuals in the wild and those in captivity are commonly used to determine the range of wild-type behaviors that nonhuman animals in captivity perform. These comparisons are conducted with...

Hopper, L. M., Fernandez‐Duque, E., Williams, L. E. 2019. Testing the weekend effect hypothesis: Time of day and lunar phase better predict the timing of births in laboratory‐housed primates than day of week. American Journal of Primatology 81(7), e23026.

The weekend effect hypothesis proposes that captive primates are more likely to give birth during times of low disturbance and reduced staff activity. The hypothesis specifically predicts that laboratory‐housed primates will be more likely to...

Adams, R., Stanley, C. E., Piana, E. et al. 2019. Physiological and behavioral indicators to measure crustacean welfare. Animals 9(11), 914.

The purpose of this project was to determine how neural circuits were affected during warming by examining sensory neurons, the neuromuscular junction, and the cardiac function and behavior of the commercially important crustacean species, the...

Darbyshire, A. K., Oliver, K. H., Dupont, W. D. et al. 2019. Anesthesia and euthanasia of brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana). JAALAS 58(1), 58-63.

Invertebrates are often overlooked as laboratory animals, yet they are commonly used in toxicology, developmental, cellular and molecular biology, and radiation studies with euthanasia as an endpoint. Little is known regarding appropriate euthanasia methods for...

Association of Primate Veterinarians. 2019. Association of Primate Veterinarians’ guidelines for nonhuman primate restraint. JAALAS 58(3), 282-284.

The Association of Primate Veterinarians (APV) recognizes that several forms of restraint, including physical and chemical, are necessary for the safe handling of nonhuman primates (NHPs). The following guidelines aim to provide information to researchers...

McIntosh, M. K., Armitage-Brown, B., Levy, R. 2019. Refinements of equipment and methodology to reduce risk during pole-guided chair transfer of nonhuman primates. JAALAS 58(4), 462-468.

Neurophysiologic studies of NHP commonly involve their transfer from a housing enclosure to a laboratory by using a mobile chair. This transfer should be performed in a manner that is safe and minimizes stress for...

Association of Primate Veterinarians. 2019. Association of Primate Veterinarians’ Position Statement: Cerebrospinal fluid aspiration for nonhuman primates in biomedical research. JAALAS 58(4), 428-429.

The Association of Primate Veterinarians (APV) recognizes that CSF collection may be required for both clinical and research purposes in nonhuman primates (NHP). Because there are inherent risks associated with the technique, the laboratory animal...

Animal Welfare Institute. 2019. Let’s get serious about animal play. AWI Quarterly 68(3) Fall, 19.

This article describes the importance of providing laboratory animals with opportunities to engage in play, and provides a few practical ideas for how to do this.

Balansard, I., Cleverley, L., Cutler, K. L. et al. 2019. Revised recommendations for health monitoring of non-human primate colonies (2018): FELASA Working Group Report. Laboratory Animals 53(5), 429–446.

The genetic and biological similarity between non-human primates and humans has ensured the continued use of primates in biomedical research where other species cannot be used. Health-monitoring programmes for non-human primates provide an approach to...

Weber, L., Šmejkal, M., Bartoň, D. et al. 2019. Testing the applicability of tagging the Great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) using passive integrated transponders. PLOS ONE 14(7), e0219069.

Tracking individual animals with small-sized passive integrated transponder tags (PIT tags) has become a popular and widespread method, one which can be used for investigating life history traits, including dispersal patterns of small protected animals...

Mather, J. A. 2019. Ethics and care: For animals, not just mammals. Animals 9(12), 1018.

Animals come in a huge array of types, species and structures, but without realizing it, we have focused our care on those like us, mammals. They look something like us, so it's easy to empathize...

Colby, L. A., Nowland, M. H., Kennedy, L. H. 2019. Clinical Laboratory Animal Medicine: An Introduction (5th ed). Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, IA.

The revised fifth edition of Clinical Laboratory Animal Medicine: An Introduction is an accessible guide to basic information for conducting animal research safely and responsibly. It includes a review of the unique anatomic and physiologic...

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...

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...

Wiley, J. N., Leeds, A., Carpenter, K. D. et al. 2018. Patterns of wounding in hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) in North American zoos. Zoo Biology 37(2), 74–79.

In North American zoos, hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) have traditionally been housed as single one‐male units (single male groups). In recent years, efforts have been made to house hamadryas in groups composed of multiple one‐male...

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...

Lutz, C. K. 2018. A cross-species comparison of abnormal behavior in three species of singly-housed old world monkeys. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 199, 52-58.

Abnormal behavior occurs in a number of captive nonhuman primate species and is often used as an indicator of welfare. However, reported levels of abnormal behavior often vary across species, making general welfare judgments difficult...

Weineck, K., Ray, A. J., Fleckenstein, L. J. et al. 2018. Physiological changes as a measure of crustacean welfare under different standardized stunning techniques: Cooling and electroshock. Animals 8(9), 158.

Stunning of edible crustaceans to reduce sensory perception prior and during slaughter is an important topic in animal welfare. The purpose of this project was to determine how neural circuits were affected during stunning by...

Bueno da Silva, A. P., Oliveira, I. P. M. R., Bastos-Pereira, R. et al. 2018. Are laboratory studies on behavior of troglobitic species always trustful? A case study with an isopod from Brazil. Behavioural Processes 153, 55-65.

There is a huge lack of information regarding the natural history of subterranean species, particularly focusing on aspects of the behavioral ecology of Brazilian cave fauna. In the present work, we aimed to describe and...

Perdue, B. M., Beran, M. J., Washburn, D. A. 2018. A computerized testing system for primates: Cognition, welfare, and the Rumbaughx. Behavioural Processes 156, 37-50.

Innovations in apparatus technology come about for a variety of reasons such as the need to use the same methodology with various species, the opportunity to present dynamic and carefully controlled stimuli, the goal of...

O’Rourke, D. P., Baccanale, C. L., Stoskopf, M. K. 2018. Nontraditional laboratory animal species (cephalopods, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds). ILAR Journal 59(2), 168-176.

Aquatic vertebrates and cephalopods, amphibians, reptiles, and birds offer unique safety and occupational health challenges for laboratory animal personnel. This paper discusses environmental, handling, and zoonotic concerns associated with these species.