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. 

Corticosterone levels of non-handled rats increase when the animals witness stress reactions of conspecifics during forced restraint.

A bedding of ground wood shavings was changed once each week. Pregnant females and female test mice were provided with cotton squares (Nestlets, Ancare Corp., Manhasset,NY; 4.8 X 4.8 X 0.6-cm thick) for making nests.

Experiments are described which demonstrate that manipulation of the environments of female rats even prior to pregnancy can significantly modify the behaviour of future offspring.

The effects of solid metal cage partitions or wire mesh cage partitions and two cage densities (5 or 7 birds/60.9 cm × 35.6-cm shallow cage) on production performance traits, aggressive behavior, and feather covering of...

The social structure and demography of a free-living rabbit population,living on a 10-ha bowl of chalk downland in Oxfordshire, England, were studied for 6 years. The population was divided into eleven and fourteen breeding groups...

One of the major concerns of the public today is the veil of secrecy that surround much of the research and testing with laboratory animals, a situation which creates public suspicion [p. 120]. Finally, the...

The addition of branch segments for gnawing was found to be an effective and inexpensive method of environmental enrichment for single-housed adult rhesus macaques.

Gerbils who had one hour per month access to a complex outdoor enclosure or who were reared in a large cage were more efficient in locating a feeding source than controls [reared/kept in small cages].

The single most important factor for the individually caged primate may be the prevention of boredom.

Captive lowland gorillas were provided with log segments which had been bored to accomodate a variety of food for extraction, including peanut butter, seeds and figs.

Traditional blood collection procedure is described. "Blood samples were obtained by removing the subjects from their home cages, transporting them to the surgery room, and withdrawing 3 ml of blood from either the right or...

Flightiness was reduced in chickens reared in an environment where they had access to perches.

The single-housed subject wears permanent collar and light flexible chain; is caught with a pole which is clipped to the collar. Stress appears to be greatly reduced or eliminated.

Trichotillomania is classified as a mental disorder . The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Pigs housed in tether stalls showed immunosuppression suggesting that their welfare was impaired. It was concluded that unresolved aggression in tether-housed pigs may result in a chronic stress response.

Maintenance of experimental animals should account for species-specific needs of accommodation, activity, feeding and social interactions to the degree possible [p. 1].

Animals who are fearful of humans show a marked increase in corticosteroid levels both in the presence and in the absence of people. A poor human-animal relationship, in which swine are fearful of human, should...

Sheep show a marked increase in heart rate when isolated from other sheep. When a sheep was separated from other sheep by a fence, she stayed calm as long as she could see her companions...

We designed a two-cage structure that housed each member of an experimental pair in a separate cage approximately 5.5 cm apart. Thus, each animal could either maintain a safe distance from the other or reach...