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Welcome to the Refinement Database

Search scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research and testing.


The Refinement Database, launched by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) in 2000, is a curated collection of published scientific articles and books on topics related to the refinement of housing, husbandry, care, and use of animals in research and testing. The database is intended to provide the most up-to-date information on best practices for improving or safeguarding animal welfare. It is updated every four months; the most recent update was made in November 2025.


  • Use the filters to search publications by Animal Type and/or Topic.
  • Most articles published before the year 2010 cannot be filtered by Topic. If you wish your search to include articles published before 2010, do not use the Topic filter. Instead, you can add a keyword to your search.
  • You can also add a keyword in addition to using the Animal Type and Topic filters to further narrow your search. For example, after selecting Topic: Environmental Enrichment, you could add the keyword "music" to refine your search to publications on music-related environmental enrichment. Or, you could add an author's name to search for publications by a particular individual.
8,048 total publications

Note: Adding a Topic filter will restrict your search to articles published in 2010 or later (see Search Tips).

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Showing 20 of 8,048 results

A computational model to support the welfare-based management of a laboratory colony of common marmosets (2025)

Gillard, J. J. 2025.

Here, a computational model to forecast the population dynamics of a laboratory colony of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) is presented. This tool supports decision-making that seeks to maximize welfare and maintain a healthy and genetically...

A cross-sectional study to investigate associations between flooring substrates and prevalence of limb and paw abnormalities of dogs housed in commercial breeding facilities (2025)

Stella, J., Gomes, P., Shreyer, T. et al.

Understanding the impact of environmental and management factors on the health and behavior of dogs housed in commercial breeding (CB) facilities is critical to their welfare. The specific aims of the study were to assess...

A gentling program decreases fear-related behaviour towards humans but not towards novel objects in broiler chickens (2025)

Stocker, T., Nawroth, C., Puppe, B. et al.

The human-animal-relationship is a crucial aspect of good animal welfare. Improvements in this regard might be particularly relevant for chickens, as their relationship with humans in commercial husbandry conditions is often limited to brief animal...

A guide for junior technicians: The importance of giving the correct amount of nesting in a mouse IVC and the benefits of an enriched cage (2025)

Pitcher, L., Stringer, A.

During our experience of working on the breeding floor of the University of Cambridge's Anne McLaren Building, we have recognised the importance of giving the correct amount of nesting and the benefits of additional enrichment.

A history of pain studies and changing attitudes to the welfare of crustaceans (2025)

Elwood, R. W.

Early discussions about possible pain in crustaceans often comprised speculation and anecdotes. Experiments to investigate pain took guidance from these early debates, and from studies on other taxa. Many experiments provided data that are consistent...

A literature review on equine bedding: Impacts on horse and human welfare, health, and the environment (2025)

Masebo, N. T., Benedetti, B., Mountricha, M. et al.

Bedding is an important component of equine accommodation management. Choosing the right bedding is important for stable management and its selection may include considerations such as the sourcing of the material, the capital investment and...

A method to improve the housing of breeding rats used to produce pups for tissue (2025)

Booth, K., King, J., Stephen, J. et al.

Rats are considered highly social animals. In the wild, they live in groups and develop complex social structures. Regrouping rats is considered stressful. We therefore wanted to keep animals in monogamous pairs so that they...

A metric-based, meta-analytic appraisal of environmental enrichment efficacy in captive primates (2025)

Duncan, L. M., Pillay, N.

Non-human primates (hereafter ‘primates') constitute a common group of animals in captivity but their captive maintenance involves ethical and husbandry issues, many of which can be addressed through environmental enrichment (hereafter ‘enrichment'). Enrichment is often...

A minimally invasive marine mammal sex determination method using epidermal tissue recovered from suction-cup tags (2025)

Novak, S. X., Linsky, J. M. J., Knapp, K. J. et al.

For many baleen whales, minimal sexual dimorphism means that sex cannot necessarily be reliably determined through observation alone. Suction cup tags deployed for behavioral studies of free-ranging whales sometimes retain exfoliated epidermal tissue from the...

A multimodal approach to treatment and management of rumination syndrome in a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) (2025)

Ramos, A. M., McClain, A., Dunham, J. M. et al.

The management of chronic rumination syndrome in professionally cared-for animals requires a comprehensive and individualized approach. In this case study, a multimodal approach incorporating pharmacological treatment, feeding modifications, and behavioral management was applied to a...

A new research tool for use in sharks and rays: relevance of reproductive hormone levels in the skin of small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) (2025)

Carbajal, A., Lobato, I. G., Agustí, C. et al.

The present study marks a significant step forward in validating the use of skin biopsies for measuring reproductive steroid hormones in sharks. Given the conservation concerns surrounding many chondrichthyan species and the growing emphasis on...

A new therapy to alleviate the inflammatory injury of piglet intestine caused by short-distance transportation—music (2025)

Fu, Q., Bai, B., Zhou, S. et al.

The purpose of this study was to explore whether music can reduce stress in animals by regulating the activity of the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal cortex (HPA) axis and reducing the concentration of cortisol. The control...

A positive-reinforcement training regimen for refined sample collection in laboratory pigs (2025)

Layton, R., Beggs, D., Fisher, A. et al.

Positive-reinforcement training of laboratory pigs can reduce the reliance on forced manual restraint and anaesthesia for sample collection, reducing stress and physiological disruption. Training regimens for laboratory pigs typically rely on specialised equipment for restraint,...

A scoping review on pair housing dairy calves: Health and performance outcomes and tactics to reduce cross-sucking behavior (2025)

Plaugher, G. D., Cantor, M. C.

Calves raised in pairs or triplets often experience better growth performance outcomes when compared to their individually housed peers. However, veterinarians may be concerned that pair housing compromises calf health, and producers are concerned about...

A scoping review on salivary oxytocin and vasopressin measurement in the dog (2025)

De Santis, M., Soncin, M., Bertazzo, V. et al.

Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) are attracting interest as potential measures for dog welfare and human-dog interactions. The potential for detection and measurement of these two neuropeptides in canine saliva provides a viable alternative to...

A single-dose pharmacokinetic study of metronidazole administered to Gottingen minipigs (Sus scrofa) by oral gavage or voluntary oral dosing (2025)

Cooper, D. M., Rainey, A., Rosenfeld, C. et al.

Oral gavage (OG) dosing can be stressful to pigs and is associated with the risk of complications. To evaluate a potential refinement, we compared the pharmacokinetics of a drug with a known aversive taste (metronidazole)...

A study on light preference in gilts via behavioral pattern analysis (2025)

Ge, S., Ma, H., Li, X. et al.

The rational design of artificial lighting systems in pig housing can enhance animal welfare, thereby boosting gilt health and reproductive performance while improving economic metrics for swine farms. To identify the optimal light environments for...

A surgical recovery matrix to evaluate post-surgical recovery in mice using sham and myocardial infarction models of cardiac surgery as prototypes (2025)

Pal, E., Shokoples, B., Naik, S. et al.

Examinations of biomarkers are useful in measuring overall health. Endpoints are critical to assess the threshold where the scientific aim of the study does not prevail over the wellbeing of experimental laboratory animal. However, parameters...
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