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. 
Schmitt, V. 2019. Implementing portable touchscreen-setups to enhance cognitive research and enrich zoo-housed animals. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 7(2), 50-58.

To understand the evolutionary development of cognition, comparing the cognitive capacities of different animal species is essential. However, getting access to various species with sufficient sample sizes can be very challenging. Zoos, housing large ranges...

Golledge, H., Carter, E. 2018. Welfare of fish farmed in the EU during transport and at slaughter. Animal Welfare 27(3), 287-288.

This Report, commissioned by the European Commission, summarises the current state of transport and slaughter practices in the aquaculture industry within eleven case-study countries in the European Economic Area (EAA). Comparisons are also made with...

Chatigny, F., Creighton, C. M., Stevens, E. D. 2018. Updated review of fish analgesia. JAALAS 57(1), 5-12.

Analgesics are an integral part of routine pain management in mammals, yet their use in fish is still limited. Some recommendations on the use of analgesics in fish are currently in the literature; however, information...

Chatigny, F., Creighton, C. M., Stevens, E. D. 2018. Intramuscular infiltration of a local anesthetic, lidocaine, does not result in adverse behavioural side effects in rainbow trout. Scientific Reports 8, 10250.

Fish are a useful animal model for research, but our improvement in some aspects of their welfare has not kept pace with their increased popularity for this use. For example, researchers rarely use analgesics. We...

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...

Fuller, G., Murray, A., Thueme, M. et al. 2018. Behavioral and hormonal responses to the availability of forage material in Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Zoo Biology 37(1), 23–34.

We investigated how forage material affects indicators of welfare in three male Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at the Detroit Zoo. In addition to their maintenance diet and enrichment foods, the gorillas generally received...

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...

Pounder, K. C., Mitchell, J. L., Thomson, J. S. et al. 2018. Physiological and behavioural evaluation of common anaesthesia practices in the rainbow trout. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 199, 94-102.

Anaesthetic drugs are commonly administered to fish in aquaculture, research and veterinary contexts. Anaesthesia causes temporary absence of consciousness and may reduce the stress and/or pain associated with handling and certain invasive procedures. The rainbow...

Egelkamp, C. L., Leahy, M. A., Ross, S. R. et al. 2018. Testing food preferences in zoo-housed apes with touchscreens. American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 30 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #58).

Preference testing has many benefits, informing both applied management decisions and theoretical questions. We developed a preference‐testing method in which subjects are shown pairs of photographs of food items on a touchscreen in a forced‐choice...

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.

Chatigny, F., Groman, D. B., Martinson, S. A. et al. 2018. Evaluation of tissue changes following intramuscular infiltration of lidocaine in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Journal of Fish Biology 92(4), 888-900.

Rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were infiltrated with either saline or lidocaine adjacent to the dorsal fin to assess histopathological changes. Infiltration was done as if it were being used as a local anaesthetic. Tissue lesions...

Fenkes, M., Shiels, H. A., Nudds, R. L. 2018. Body shape and robustness response to water flow during development of brown trout Salmo trutta parr. Journal of Fish Biology 93(2), 360-369.

Domesticated brown trout Salmo trutta parr were subjected to increased, variable flow under controlled experimental conditions. Using geometric morphometric analyses, (a mass:length index) and caudal fin area:body length ratio, this study assessed morphological responses in...

Self, K. E., Schreck, C. B., Cogliati, K. M. et al. 2018. The effect of rearing structures on behaviour and movement of juvenile steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss. Journal of Fish Biology 93(3), 449-454.

The relative movement of juvenile steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss reared on two treatments was investigated to provide insight on the effect of structure in the rearing environment on the behaviour of the fish before potential release...

Fuller, G., Allard, S. 2018. Preliminary data showing potential for salivary C-reactive protein as an indicator of welfare in western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Journal of Veterinary Behavior 28, 58-62.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase protein often used as a biomarker for inflammation related to acute trauma or chronic illness. Animal studies showing elevations in CRP following events such as road transport and...

Heyworth, C., Olivo, D. 2018. Environmental and psychological enrichment for NHPs reimagined and repurposed. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 5(4) (December), 39-43.

This article describes creative enrichment ideas for nonhuman primates, including celery stalks embedded with seeds; paper rolled into tubes, braided and filled with fruit and seeds; pineapple crowns loaded with treats; dry spaghetti noodles coated...

Unakafov, A. M., Möller, S., Kagan, I. et al. 2018. Using imaging photoplethysmography for heart rate estimation in non-human primates. PLOS ONE 13(8), e0202581.

For humans and for non-human primates heart rate is a reliable indicator of an individual’s current physiological state, with applications ranging from health checks to experimental studies of cognitive and emotional state. In humans, changes...

Cronin, K. A., Bethell, E. J., Jacobson, S. L. et al. 2018. Evaluating mood changes in response to anthropogenic noise with a response-slowing task in three species of zoo-housed primates. Animal Behavior and Cognition 5(2), 209–221.

In the zoo environment, anthropogenic noise is common as sound levels fluctuate due to visitors, construction, habitat design, and special events. In this study, changes in the mood of three species of zoo-housed primates in...

Krebs, B. L., Torres, E., Chesney, C. et al. 2017. Applying behavioral conditioning to identify anticipatory behaviors. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 20(2), 155-175.

The ability to predict regular events can be adaptive for nonhuman animals living in an otherwise unpredictable environment. Animals may exhibit behavioral changes preceding a predictable event; such changes reflect anticipatory behavior. Anticipatory behavior is...

Chatigny, F., Kamunde, C., Creighton, C. M. et al. 2017. Uses and doses of local anesthetics in fish, amphibians, and reptiles. JAALAS 56(3), 244-253.

Local anesthetics are an integral part of routine pain management in mammals, yet their use is relatively limited in fish, amphibians and reptiles. These animals frequently undergo potentially painful surgical procedures and therefore could possibly...

Martin, A. L. 2017. Theprimatologist as a behavioral engineer. American Journal of Primatology 79, e22500.

The field of primate behavior management has had only limited success in preventing and treating abnormal behaviors, such as stereotypy and self‐injury, in captive non‐human primates (NHP). In contrast, applied behavior analysts have had great...

Palmer, S. 2017. Rescue-Enrich-Release: The environmental enrichment program for three species of captive primates at Colobus. Canopy 17(2), 27-30.

It is widely known that the psychological wellbeing of captive animals can become compromised by a captive environment that lacks proper environmental stimulation. Environmental enrichment programs have become the norm in captive environments yet research...

Carlson, A., Allen, C., Skoumbourdis, E. et al. 2017. Cooked food for non-human primates: A discussion by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology and Welfare 16(2), 124-126.

"Do any of you give cooked food like pasta, potatoes or vegetables to non-human primates? What’s your experience? Do the animals benefit from cooked food; do they like it; does it affect their health in...

Coleman, K., Novak, M. A. 2017. Environmental enrichment in the 21st century. ILAR Journal 58(2), 295-307.

More than a quarter of a century has elapsed since the Animal Welfare Act mandated that research facilities develop and follow a plan to promote the psychological well-being of captive primates. Since passage of this...