Minimum standards and best practices for the clinical veterinary forensic examination of the suspected abused animal

Abstract

The examination of an animal (live or deceased) for the purposes of determining whether it is a subject of abuse requires analysis by a veterinarian. This document was created to provide minimum standards and best practices for veterinarians when performing clinical veterinary forensic examinations on live animals. The objective of this document is to ensure appropriate steps are taken to identify, document and preserve evidence in animal involved crimes. These include recommendations and minimum standards in the context of legal considerations for personnel, physical examination, ancillary testing and diagnostics, documentation (written and photographic), euthanasia and necropsy considerations, evidence packaging and handling, reports, opinion formation and testimony specific to the examination of live animals encountered in medicolegal cases.

Keywords

• Animal abuse
• Animal cruelty
• Clinical veterinary forensic medicine
• Forensic live animal examination
• Veterinary medicine
• Veterinary medicolegal examination