Practical Veterinary Forensics

David Bailey, David Bailey

• Publisher: CAB International
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781789244403
• Topic: Médecine
• Subtopic: Médecine légale

Veterinarians often come into contact with the law in cases of animal cruelty, domestic animal and wildlife crimes, and human crimes with an animal element. This book provides practical information and training on how to operate within a crime scene. It covers the tests that may need to be carried out, collecting evidence, preparing reports and giving evidence in court as an expert witness. Concentrating on the basic principles and background knowledge needed, the book includes hair, blood and bite mark analysis as well as an overview of firearms injury. It explores wider concepts such as the human-animal bond and one health, going on to give practical guidance and numerous case studies, which bring the book to life and into the real world of the busy crime scene. Practical Veterinary Forensics is an indispensable guide to all veterinarians working in cases of animal cruelty, abuse and crimes against animals. It is essential for welfare organizations, animal shelters and those requiring an introduction to veterinary forensic science.

1 Introduction – What is Veterinary Forensics?

David Bailey ^*

Department of Forensic and Crime Science, Staffordshire University,
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK

1.1 Introduction	2
1.2 Current Projects	2
1.2.1 Anti-terrorism	2
1.2.2 Forensic analysis of hair	2
1.2.3 Bitemark analysis	2
1.2.4 Teaching and examining	2
1.2.5 Contract research	3
1.2.6 Expert witness appearance	3
1.2.7 Toxicology and chemical analysis	3
1.2.8 Veterinary call-out services	3
1.2.9 Television and media	3
1.2.10 Report writing	4
1.2.11 Documentary evidence	4
1.2.12 Blood pattern analysis	4
1.2.13 Bestiality	4
1.2.14 Ballistics	4
1.2.15 DNA analysis and laboratory competence	4
1.3 Conceptual Views	5
1.3.1 Comparison to human forensics	5
1.3.2 A definition of veterinary forensics	5
1.3.3 Breadth of field	5
1.3.4 Getting caught	6
1.4 Biological Concepts	6
1.5 Know Yourself	8
1.6 A Common Thread	8
1.7 Jones versus Kaney	9
1.8 Critical Thinking	10
1.8.1 Example	11
1.9 Conclusion	11

^*Corresponding author: [email protected]

Live long and prosper.

(Mr Spock, Star Trek, Season 2, Episode 1, ‘Amok Time’, 1967)

1.1 Introduction

At the time of writing, one is reminded of the recent passing (27 February 2015) of Leonard Nimoy, who played the character of Spock in the Star Trek films and television series. The half-human, half-Vulcan who preferred fact to emotion is a useful reminder of the de facto mindset that is required in the world of veterinary forensics. Being exposed to some of the most challenging crime scenes that involve animals and, in many cases, the carcasses of animals, the forensic vet needs a Spock-like skill to filter out the emotional impact of what they encounter and to be able to articulate, clearly and without emotion, what has occurred. This is an important skill to develop if any longevity is expected in this field.

1.2 Current Projects

The following section is provided as a reference for the reader to appreciate the current workload of a forensic vet and to provide an insight into the scale and complexity of the specialism that is veterinary forensics.

1.2.1 Anti-terrorism

While constructing this introductory chapter I am preparing for a talk at the Counter Terror Expo in London, the fourth consecutive year I have been invited to speak at this event. The topic for my discussion this year is ‘The ability to weaponize biological agents’, and covers the utilization of ‘pig bombs’ as a crude but effective device for spreading biological agents. My audience will be mainly first responders and UK ambulance personnel; however, there is a large component of private trainers, ex-military consultants and government operatives. The reason for my invitation is a linear recognition of my expertise in antiterrorism and agroterrorism, the former being a subject module of my master’s degree, and the latter something that I had applied and developed from my master’s degree training to my veterinary science degree. Many vets are in the unusual and unacknowledged position of being able to discuss the role that animals and animal products can play in the spread of biological or chemical hazards.

1.2.2 Forensic analysis of hair

I am currently completing the world’s first data collection of hair samples from Pit Bull Type (PBT) animals. This research project aims to identify differences between breeds of dog by qualitative and quantitative measurement of microscopic hair features. It has taken two years and has involved the sampling and measurement of more than 300 hair samples from 50 dogs in the USA, UK, Australia and Ireland. Statistical analysis is currently being conducted on more than 18,000 measurements.

1.2.3 Bitemark analysis

I have been involved in two recent cases involving allegations of dog bites against humans, where I have come up against dentists and plastic surgeons who are able to describe injuries but fail to articulate how the injuries may have occurred.

1.2.4 Teaching and examining

I am preparing to teach and then examine seven more UK-based veterinarians in a postgraduate certificate course in veterinary forensics and law. This is a postgraduate course that was created in 2010 for vets in the UK to learn the skills and importantly, the mindset that accompanies the work of the veterinary forensic scientist. Many of the vets on the postgraduate course work for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). I am also involved in the teaching and delivery of the inaugural Veterinary Forensics course in Brazil, where I am going next year to lecture at a veterinary forensics conference.

1.2.5 Contract research

I am currently conducting some contract research in collaboration with Staffordshire University, which is investigating the effect that electronic collars may have on dog skin. The dog skin has been provided from cadavers to assist with claims that have been made by some end users that the use of these devices can cause burn necrosis on their dog’s skin. The manufacturers claim that the electronic collars don’t cause any type of burning on the dog at all and the preliminary results of this research would support this view. The voltage and amperage involved are too small to cause any detectable damage to the dog skin, even under electron microscope.

Previous contract research has included a review of the chosen methodology used in a large research project involving dog behaviour. Another project assisted in the determination of the provenance of migrating birds through Isotope Ratio Analysis of sampled feathers. A requirement has been identified for rapid determination of the origin of a sick bird in the wake of ongoing worldwide fear about pandemic bird flu.

1.2.6 Expert witness appearance

I have recently completed a particularly onerous court schedule, requiring my presence in a different court (including a Sheriff’s court appearance in Scotland) nearly every week for the last three months. These appearances are as an expert witness in cases involving allegations of animal cruelty or claims of injuries received by humans from animals.

1.2.7 Toxicology and chemical analysis

I am in the process of developing a timeline of exposure to hydrocarbons (kerosene) in a group of horses based on examination of their equine tail hair. The hair is helpful in identifying the time of contamination of a number of horses that were exposed to a hydrocarbon leak into their water source from a neighbouring property. It is possible to construct the timeline using the growth rate of equine tail hair, and involves cutting up the hair into small segments (subsampling the hair) and analysing each small segment. Hair at the end of the tail was produced years ago and the level of hydrocarbons in the tip of the hair (if detected) will indicate an exposure at a time in the past, determined by comparing the exact length of the hair with its growth rate. An increase in hydrocarbons from any subsampled region should provide sufficient information to determine that exposure has occurred at that point in time and a timeline can be established, a source–pathway–receptor (SPR) model now exists and culpability should follow.

1.2.8 Veterinary call-out services

I provide investigative, advisory and forensic services for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA), where I can be called upon to attend to animals that are sick, dead, dying or injured and require veterinary intervention or forensic investigation if an allegation of a crime is being pursued. I am on the board of trustees of the USPCA.

When I’m not working as a forensic vet, I work in clinical practice, where I find emergency medicine particularly satisfying. I also have a fair amount of small and large animal work, including equine, which helps to keep my credentials as an expert witness up to date.

1.2.9 Television and media

I have just completed filming for a one-hour television documentary on the proliferation of puppy farms in Northern Ireland (The Dog Factory).

Previously I have been involved in news slots on the subject of animal hoarders in Northern Ireland. I frequently write articles for various veterinary publications around the world on the topic and various subtopics of veterinary forensics.

1.2.10 Report writing

I have written two reports this week on civil claims. One involves a farm labourer who alleges that he was struck by a dairy bull as he was walking through the milking parlour, and the other involves a dispute between a vet and an owner of a dog that had developed heart complications after ‘anaesthetic and a dental’ – these four words were the sum total of the clinical notes describing the procedure provided by the vet surgery.

1.2.11 Documentary evidence

I have been to premises under police escort and seized documentary evidence that provides a strong probative link between the alleged offender and a crime. Handwriting analysis, document examination and even ink examination can be used to determine whether a crime has been committed in a world dominated by clinical input. A vet can send documentation to a document examiner and then add the document examiner’s report to his or her own court report, in a similar way that a clinical pathology or radiology report can be utilized. Many vets need to be reminded that one of the most common causes of a vet being removed from their professional governing body is miscertification, i.e. signing a document that shouldn’t have been signed.

1.2.12 Blood pattern analysis

I have been able to determine that a stag transported in a trailer suffered injury in transit. This was through the analysis and correct photography of blood patterns in the seized trailer. Blood pattern analysis is, as will be explained, an analysis of the forces that create the blood pattern and not the blood pattern itself.

1.2.13 Bestiality

I have investigated a claim of sexual contact between a teenage boy and a large Dogue de Bordeaux, where the dog had learned sexual behaviour that was not expected from a dog unless it was being used for stud purposes. Radiographs were able to determine that the dog had genetic anomalies that made him an unsuitable stud animal and when faced with this information the boy confessed to contact with the dog.

1.2.14 Ballistics

I have examined and treated numerous cats that have been shot with an air pellet, and I have examined many dogs and dog carcasses that have been injured or killed by shotgun pellets.

1.2.15 DNA analysis and laboratory competenc...