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. 
Clough, G. 1984. Environmental factors in relation to the comfort and well-being of laboratory rats and mice. In: Standards in Laboratory Animal Management . The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (ed), 7-23. The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Potters Bar, UK.

Of all the commonly considered environmental factors, light intensity within cages is probably the most variable.

Clough, G. , Donnelly, H. T. 1984. Light intensity influences the oestrous cycle of LACA mice. In: Standards in Laboratory Animal Management. The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (ed), 60. The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Potters Bar, UK.

The variation in light intensities in the center of multi-tier, translucent rodent cages can exceed an 8-fold difference at bottom rows from top rows.

Collins, D. A. 1984. Spatial pattern in a troop of yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) in Tanzania. Animal Behaviour 32, 536-553.

Observations of adult and subadult yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) revealed class differences in spatial pattern both during movement and when at rest. males tended to spend slightly more time on the periphery than did females...

Coe, C. L. , Rosenblum, L. A. 1984. Male dominance in the bonnet macaque: A malleable relationship. In: Social Cohesion. Essays Toward a Sociophysiological Perspective. Barchas, P. R. , Mendoza, S. P. (eds), 31-64. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT.

The bonnet macaque may possibly show the highest degree of male-male tolerance in the genus Macaca. Five pairs of unfamiliar adult males were formed without any preliminaries. As usually occurs when unfamiliar males first meet...

Chamove, A. S., Anderson, J. R., Nash, V. J. 1984. Social and environmental influences on self-aggression in monkeys. Primates 25, 319-325.

Simply separating the individuals off from the rest of the group ... led to a significant increase in SA [Self-Aggression]. .. It is clear that enriched environmental conditions reduced SA [self-aggression]. Allowing [group-housed] monkeys to...

Canadian Council on Animal Care , Gilman, J. 1984. Chapter VIII: Cats. In : Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, Volume 2 . Canadian Council on Animal Care , Gilman, J. (ed). Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada.

Valuable guidelines for the cat-adequate housing and handling in the research laboratory setting. Individual cages must be large enough to provide for normal posturing, allowing the cat the opportunity to stretch fully both horizontally and...

Canadian Council on Animal Care , Gilman, J. 1984. Chapter X: Ferrets. In : Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, Volume 2 . Canadian Council on Animal Care , Gilman, J. (ed). Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada.

Introduction to the adequate the housing and handling of ferrets. Ferrets are best kept on a solid floor with wood shavings for bedding. They will always defecate in one corner of the cage and can...

Canadian Council on Animal Care , Gilman, J. 1984. Chapter IV: Pigeons and Doves. In : Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, Volume 2 . Canadian Council on Animal Care , Gilman, J. (ed). Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada.

Valuable guidelines for the housing of pigeons in the research laboratory setting. Following issues are dealt with: (1) Housing and Caging; (2) Microenvironment; (3) Feeding and Water; (4) Breeding; (5) Handling; (6) Health care. There...

Canadian Council on Animal Care , Gilman, J. 1984. Chapter III: Reptiles. In : Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, Volume 2 . Canadian Council on Animal Care (ed), 19-28. Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada.

Excellent guidelines for the keeping of reptiles in the research laboratory setting. Following issues are dealt with: (1) Aquatic caging; (2) Terrestrial caging; (3) Foods and Feeding; (4) Health care; (5) Breeding; (6) Handling. Under...

Canadian Council on Animal Care , Gilman, J. 1984. Chapter II: Amphibians. In : Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, Volume 2 . Canadian Council on Animal Care (ed.), 11-17. Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada.

Excellent guidelines for the keeping of amphibians in the research laboratory setting. Following issues are dealt with: (1) Aquatic caging; (2) Terrestrial caging; (3) Food and Feeding; (4) Breeding; (5) Health care. Water loss is...

Canadian Council on Animal Care , Gilman, J. 1984. Chapter I: Fish. In : Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, Volume 2 . Canadian Council on Animal Care , Gilman, J. (ed). Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada.

Excellent guidelines for the keeping of fish in the research laboratory setting. Following issues are dealt with: (1) Procurement; (2) Transportation; (3) Acclimatization after transport; (4) Water source; (5) Water quality; (6) Tanks; (7) Water...

Canadian Council on Animal Care 1984. Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, Volume 2 . Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada.
Canadian Council on Animal Care 1984. Chapter XX: Non-human primates. In: Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, Volume 2 . Canadian Council on Animal Care (ed), 163-173. Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa, Canada.

Any primate housed alone will probably suffer from social deprivation, the stress from which may distort processes, both physiological and behavioural.

Becker, C., Hick, U. 1984. The formation of a family group as social therapy and activity enhancement for seven orang-utans (Pongo p. pygmaeus) at the Cologne Zoo [German text with English summary]. Zeitschrift des K?lner Zoo.

The formation of a family group of orangutans is described.

Baun, M. M., Bergstrom, N., Langston, N. F. et al. 1984. Physiological effects of petting dogs: Influence of attachment. In: Pet Connection. Anderson, R. K., Hart, B. L., Hart, L. A. (eds), 162-10. Center to Study Human-Animal Relationships and Environment, Minneapolis, MN.

Individuals experience a significant decrease in blood pressure when they pet their dogs.

Broom, D. M. , Potter, M. J. 1984. Factors affecting the occurrence of stereotypies in stall-housed dry sows. In: Proceedings of the International Congress on Applied Ethology. Unshelm, J., van Putten, G., Zeeb, K. (eds), 229-231. Kuratorium f?r Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft [KTBL], Darmstadt, Germany.

Feeding extra oat hulls resulted in less bar-biting but more sham-chewing.

Blokhuis, H. J. 1984. Rest in poultry. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 12, 289-303.

Hens often use high perches in preference to low perches, when offered a choice.

Blokhuis, H. J., Arkes, J. G. 1984. Some observations on the development of feather pecking in poultry. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 12, 145-157.

Feather pecking occurs much more often when chicken are kept on wire floor rather then litter which allows the hens to peck up additional food particles. It is argued that feather pecking in the absence...

Anderson, J. R. , Chamove, A. S. 1984. Allowing captive primates to forage. In: Standards in Laboratory Animal Management. Proceedings of a Symposium. 253-256. The Universities Federation For Animal Welfare, Potters Bar, UK.

A woodchip litter substrate reduces abnormal behaviours, primarily self-aggression, and encourages foraging, even in the absence of grain. Comparison between the bare floor and litter with grain showed that in the latter monkeys foraged more...

Menich SR, Baron A. 1984. Social housing of rats: Life-span effects on reaction time, exploration, weight, and longevity. Exp Aging Res. 10;95-100.

Sprague-Dawley rats were housed throughout their lives either in group cages or singly in standard laboratory cages. Locomotor activity was observed at selected ages and, in addition, operant conditioning procedures were used with an extensively...

Barnett, J. L., Cronin, G. M., Hemsworth, P. H. et al. 1983. The welfare of confined sows: physiological, behavioral, and production responses to contrasting housing systems and handler attitude. Annales de Recherche V?t?rinaire 15, 217-226.
Armario, A., Luna, G., Balasch, J. 1983. The effect of conspecifics on corticoadrenal response of rats to a novel environment. Behavioral Neural Biology 37(2), 332-337.

The effect of housing conditions and the presence of a conspecific on corticoadrenal response to a novel environment was studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats. The response to a novel environment was the same in rats...

Armario, A., Ortiz, R., Balasch, J. 1983. Corticoadrenal and behavioral response to open field in pairs of male rats either familiar or non-familiar to each other. Experientia 39(11), 1316-1317.

The effect of the presence either of a familiar or non-familiar conspecific animal on serum corticosterone and some behavioral responses in the open field was studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals tested in presence of...

Zimmermann, M. 1983. Ethical guidelines for investigations of experimental pain in conscious animals. Pain 16, 109-110.

Investigators ... should accept a general attitude in which the animal is regarded not as an object for exploitation, but as a living individual [p. 109].

Turnquist, J. 1983. Influence of age, sex, and caging on joint mobility in the patas monkey. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 61, 211-220.

Living in small cages lead to the development of conspicuous changes in joint mobility.