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. 
Hsia, L. C. , Weng, R. C. 1991. The effect of space on feeding and social behaviour of gilts. In: Applied Animal Behaviour: Past, Present and Future. Appleby, M. C., Horrell, R. I., Petherick, J. C., Rutter, S. M. (eds), 89 (Abstract). The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Potters Bar, UK.

Eating time during the first hour and total fighting time during 24 hr were significantly higher for gilt in the pen with small space.

Horton, G. M. J., Malinowski, K., Burgher, C. C. et al. 1991. The effect of space allowance and sex on blood catecholamines and cortisol, feed consumption and average daily gain in growing lambs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 32, 197-204.

Reducing the [barren] space allowance from 0.99 to 0.62 sq.m per lamb reduced feed intake and average daily gain. .. There was no effect of pen size on plasma epinephrine, norepinephrine or cortisol concentrations....

Hemsworth, P. H., Barnett, J. L. 1991. The effects of aversively handling pigs, either individually or in groups, on their behaviour, growth and corticosteroids. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 30, 61-72.

Rough handling has profound effects on normative physiology and behavior.

Gonyou, H. W. 1991. The interaction of humans with food animals: Making husbandry a science. In: Applied Animal Behaviour: Past, Present and Future. Appleby, M. C., Horrell, R. I., Petherick, J. C., Rutter, S. M. (eds), 31-33. The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Potters Bar, UK.

The effects of good human/animal interactions include improved growth and immune response in chickens, and fewer problems in the milking parlour in dairy cattle. Negative handling of pigs has resulted in increased adrenal activity, poorer...

Gantt, W. H., Newton, J. E. O., Royer, F. L. et al. 1991. Effect of person. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science 26, 145-160.
Freedman, D. G., King, J. A., Elliot, O. 1991. Critical period in the social development of dogs. Science 133, 1016-1017.

If dogs are not provided with an adequate early experience of humans they will later be fearful of people and as a result can be difficult to handle.

Fraser, D., Phillips, P. A., Thompson, B. K. et al. 1991. Effect of straw on the behaviour of growing pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 30, 307-318.

Straw in a rack provided a stimulus and outlet for rooting and chewing, with a resulting reduction in such activities directed at pen-mates.

Fordham, D. P., Al-Gahtani, S., Durotoye, L. A. et al. 1991. Changes in plasma cortisol and ?-endorphin concentrations and behaviour in sheep subjected to a change in environment. Animal Production 52, 287-296.

With prolonged chronic stress, such as confinement in metabolism crates, cortisol is depressed below baseline values.

Faure, J. M. 1991. Rearing conditions and needs for space and litter in laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 31, 111-117.

Many results show that hens in battery cages show abnormal behaviour indicative of frustration. The fact than none of the single factors studies [space, litter] seem to be solely responsible for this frustration may indicate...

Evans, C. S., Marler, P. 1991. On the use of video images as social stimuli in birds: audience effect on alarm calling. Animal Behaviour 41, 17-26.

Chickens are highly responsive to video images.

Durman, K. J. 1991. Behavioural Indicators of Stress (BSc. Thesis). University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.

Cats use structures more often than the floor and prefer high structures over low ones.

Drescher, B., Loeffler, K. 1991. Einflu? unterschiedlicher Haltungsverfahren und Bewegungsm?glichkeiten auf die Kompakta der R?hrenknochen von Versuchs- und Fleischkaninchen [German text with English abstract]. Tier?rztliche Umschau 46, 736-741.

Individually housed animals living in 'small' [0.27 sq.m] standard cages with wire mesh floor had thinner long bones with reduced strength compared to control animals living in 'large' [1.5 sq.m] floor pens.

Coppinger, T. R., Minton, J. E., Reddy, P. G. et al. 1991. Repeated restraint and isolation stress in lambs increases pituitary-adrenal secretions and reduces cell-mediated immunity. Journal of Animal Science 69, 2808-2814.

Repeated restraint and isolation stress in lambs increases pituitary-adrenal secretions and reduces cell-mediated immunity.

Clark, J. D., Calpin, J. P., Armstrong, R. B. 1991. Influence of type of enclosure on exercise fitness of dogs. American Journal of Veterinary Research 52, 1024-1028.

The general opinion supported by members of the biomedical scientific community has been that caged dogs do not need additional exercise beyond the activity in a cage to maintain a normal state of physiological well-being.

Church, J. S., Tennessen, T., Webster, A. B. 1991. Effects of environmental enrichment and genetic strain on the behaviour of white leghorn pullets. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 71, 1274 (Abstract).

Unspecified environmental enrichment reduced fearfulness.

Coelho, A. M., Carey, K. D., Shade, R. E. 1991. Assessing the effects of social environment on blood pressure and heart rates of baboons. American Journal of Primatology 23, 257-267.

In the social companion condition, a subject was able to have visual, tactile, and auditory interactions with his companion through the wire mesh walls of the specially designed cages. When animals were housed with social...

Coe, C. L. 1991. Is social housing of primates always the optimal choice? In: Through the Looking Glass. Issues of Psychological Well-Being in Captive Nonhuman Primates. Novak, M. A. , Petto, A. J. (eds), 78-92. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Especially when new pairs are formed and dominance relationships are being established, there is a strong likelihood that the veterinarian will be kept quite busy suturing wounds. ... In a recent longitudinal assessment of six...

Chang, C. H., Lee, M. B., Chiang, Y. C. 1991. Trichotillomania: a clinical study of 36 patients. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association 90, 176-180.

The habit of hair plucking was easily corrected if the duration of the disease was less than 6 months. .. In contrast, the patients with a hair loss of more than half a year were...

Chamove, A. S. , Moodie, E. M. 1991. Objective criteria of enrichment. In: Primatology Today . Ehara, A., Kimura, T., Takenaka, O., Iwamoto, M. (eds), 663-665. Elsevier, Amsterdam.

39 cotton-top tamarins living in four families were observed following stimulating husbandry procedures [capture, birds passing overhead]. Arousal led to an improvement in behaviour (i.e., decrease in activity and an increase in affiliation) during the...

Canali, E., Ferrante, V., Todeschini, R. et al. 1991. Rabbit nest construction and its relationship with litter development. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 31, 259-266.

The results of this study have indicated the importance of prenatal behavior, particularly the construction of a straw nest, on the growth and survival of the young.

Byrne, G. D., Suomi, S. J. 1991. Effects of woodchips and buried food on behavior patterns and psychological well-being of captive rhesus monkeys. American Journal of Primatology 23, 141-151.

The addition of woodchips increased exploration and feeding levels and decreased social interactions among group-housed animals. Burial of regular monkey chow in woodchips had little effect on behavior beyond that of the woodchips alone, increasing...

Burd, L., Moore, D. 1991. Primate enrichment: Using novel stimuli for behavioral modification in captive gibbons. American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) Regional Conference Proceedings, 505-511.
Buchanan-Smith, H. M. 1991. A field study on the red-bellied tamarin, Saguinus l. labiatus, in Boliva. International Journal of Primatology 12, 259-276.

Tamarins spent 90% of their time in the upper half of their 186 cm-high cages when observations were made from a hide.

Brokenshire, B. 1991. Increasing food foraging activities in caged Macaca fascicularis. Australian Primatology 6(3), 19-20.
Brent, L., Eichberg, J. W. 1991. Woodchip bedding as enrichment for captive chimpanzees. American Journal of Primatology 24, 91-92.

Abnormal behavior and environmental manipulation were significantly lower during the woodchip [not mixed with food] condition.