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. 
Hemsworth, P. H., Barnett, J. L., Hansen, C. et al. 1986. Effects of social environment on welfare status and sexual behaviour of female pigs: Effects of space allowance. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 16, 259-267.

This study examined the effects of housing groups of adult female pigs (6 pigs per group) with a space allowance of 1, 2 or 3 sq.m per pig. .. There was a significant increase in...

Halliday, T. , Adler, K. 1986. The Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. Facts on File, New York, NY.
Grandin, T. 1986. Minimizing stress in pig handling. Lab Animal 15(3), 15-20.

Readily applicable, ethological principles of stress-reduction in pig handling are discussed and documented. Pigs can easily be handled in the research environment, with a minimum of stress, if their behavior is understood. .. Observations of...

Gonyou, H. W., Hemsworth, P. H., Barnett, J. L. 1986. Effects of frequent interactions with humans on growing pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 16, 269-278.

Repeated handling ameliorated fear and stress responses to people.

Gala, R. R., Haisenleder, D. J. 1986. Restraint stress decreases afternoon plasma prolactin levels in female rats: Influence of neural antagonists and agonists on restraint-induced changes in plasma prolactin and corticosteroid. Neuroendocrinology 43, 115-123.

Restraint resulted in decreased plasma prolactin levels in female rats.

European Economic Community 1986. Council Directive 86/609 on the Approximation of Laws, Regulations, and Administrative Provisions Regarding the Protection of Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes, Annex II Guidelines for Accommodation and Care of Animals. Official Journal of the European Communities, 7-28.

European guidelines for housing and handling of laboratory animals. The performance of an animal during an experiment depends very much on its confidence in man, something which has to be developed. ... It is therefore...

Duellman, W. E. , Trueb, L. 1986. Biology of Amphibians. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
Damon, E. G., Eidson, A. F., Hobbs, C. H. et al. 1986. Effect of acclimation to caging on nephrotoxic response of rats to uranium. Laboratory Animal Science 36, 24-27.

It took rats a minimum of 3 to 5 days to behaviorally adjust [feeding/drinking] to being transferred to a different cage type.

Clarke, M. R., Kaplan, J. R., Bumsted, P. T. et al. 1986. Social dominance and serum testosterone concentration in dyads of male Macaca fascicularis. Journal of Medical Primatology 15, 419-432.

Of 16 pairs, five dyads had to have their composition changed at some point [of the 8-month study period] owing to excessive fighting. [Pair formation procedure is not described.] Testosterone concentration and dominance were associated...

Cheal, M. L., Foley, K., Kastenbaum, R. 1986. Brief periods of environmental enrichment facilitates adolescent development of gerbils. Physiology and Behavior 36, 1047-1051.

The enrichment experience [large outdoor environment] for one hour a month [only!] .. facilitated adolescent development. Area of the ventral gland increased more rapidly in gerbils given environmental enrichment.

Caldecott, J. O. 1986. An Ecological and Behavioral Study of the Pig-Tailed Macaque. Karger, Basel, Switzerland.

Excellent overview of the species-typical behavior of wild pig-tailed macaques. Groups did not appear to select particularly large or emergent trees, but sleeping sites tended to be clumped on the upper part of the hill...

Buhot, M. C. 1986. Nest-box exploration and choice in male and female mice tested under individual and social conditions. Behavioural Processes 13, 119-148.

Nest-box exploration and the choice of nest site were studied in the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus L.) using a long-term successive choice procedure involving six simultaneously available nest-boxes differing in size and shape. The subjects...

Boinski, S. 1986. The Ecology of Squirrel Monkeys in Costa Rica. University of Texas at Austin, Austin.
Bloomstrand, M., Riddle, K., Alford, P. L. et al. 1986. Objective evaluation of a behavioral enrichment device for captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Zoo Biology 5, 293-300.

Group-housed individuals spent on average 13 minutes per 120 minute-observation sessions contacting the puzzle box.. The most dominant males displayed the highest levels of overall use of this enrichment device. It may be desirable to...

Bobek, S., Niezgoda, J., Pierzchala, K. et al. 1986. Changes in circulating levels of iodothyronines, cortisol and endogenous thiocyanate in sheep during emotional stress caused by isolation of animals from the flock. Zentralblatt f?r Veterin?rmedizin 33, 698-705.

Sheep show significant physiological changes when being isolated from other sheep.

Becker, B. A., Ford, J. J., Nienaber, J. A. et al. 1986. Endocrine and behaviour changes associated with intensive housing systems for swine. In: Swine in Biomedical Research, Volume 1. Tumbleson, M. E. (ed), 173-189. Plenum Press, New York, NY.
Asano, T. 1986. Guide for the care and use of laboratory primates. Reichorui Kenkyu/Primate Research 2, 114-117.

Japanese guide for the care and use of laboratory primates

Anderson, J. R. 1986. Mirror-mediated finding of hidden food by monkeys (Macaca tonkeana and Macaca fascicularis). Journal of Comparative Psychology 100(3), 237-242.

Monkeys use a mirror to locate hidden food.

Baldwin, B. A., Start, I. B. 1985. Illumination preferences of pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 14, 233-243.

Pigs work to obtain light, but prefer to spend their time in dimmer rather than brighter light.

Armario, A., Castellanos, J. M., Balsch, J. 1985. Chronic noise stress and insulin secretion in male rats. Physiology and Behavior 34, 359-361.

The effect of chronic noise, followed by acute noise and forced swimming, on basal glucose and insulin levels was studied in adult male rats. Chronic noise did not modify basal levels of either measured variable...

Algers, B., Jensen, P. 1985. Communication during suckling in the domestic pig. Effects of continuous noise. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 14, 49-61.

Fan noise disrupted communication between sows and piglets during nursing, resulting in slower piglet growth. Certain indications were found that suggested that the noise-exposed piglets gained less milk than the ones in the silent environment.

Zbinden, G. 1985. Ethical consideration in toxicology. Food and Chemical Toxicology 23, 137-138.

Toxicologists must realize that their important mission ... does not give them an unconditional license to kill as many animals as they wish and hide behind regulatory requirements, testing guidelines and bureaucratic prescriptions for good...

Whitehead, W. E., Drescher, V. M., Morrill-Corbin, E. et al. 1985. Rumination syndrome in children treated by increased holding. Journal of Gastroenterology and Nutrition 4, 550-556.

Rumination syndrome--the frequent regurgitation of previously ingested food into the mouth where it is chewed--is a common, life-threatening disorder of retarded individuals. Four cases are described in which holding a retarded, ruminating child for 10-15...

Westergaard, G. C., Fragaszy, D. M. 1985. Effects of manipulatable objects on the activity of captive capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Zoo Biology 4, 317-327.

We conclude that providing straw and portable objects in an already well equipped cage is an effective means of long-term behavioral enrichment for [group-housed] captive capuchin monkeys.

Wemelsfelder, F. 1985. Animal boredom: Is a scientific study of the subjective experiences of animal possible? In: Advances in Animal Welfare. Fox, M. W. , Mickley, L. D. (eds), 115-154. Marinus Nijhoff, Den Haag, Netherlands.

Boredome, is a process in which animals gradually cease to be active interactors and loose their interest in the environment, becoming apathetic and/or inflexible in their responses.