Practical Veterinary Forensics

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 For Adam and Jade.

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Practical Veterinary Forensics

Edited by

David Bailey

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 CABI is a trading name of CAB International
CABI CABI
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library,
London, UK.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Practical veterinary forensics / David Bailey, editor. -- First edition.
   p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-78064-294-9 (alk. paper)
I. Bailey, David (Forensic veterinary surgeon), editor.
[DNLM: 1. Forensic Medicine--methods. 2. Veterinary Medicine--methods.
3. Animal Welfare--legislation & jurisprudence. SF 769.47]
SF769.47
636.0894--dc23
2015029404
ISBN-13: 978 1 78064 294 9

Commissioning Editor: Caroline Makepeace

Associate Editor: Alexandra Lainsbury
Production Editor: Lauren Povey

Typeset by SPi, Pondicherry, India.

Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY.

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 Contents

Contributors vii

1 Introduction – What is Veterinary Forensics?1

David Bailey

2 Forensic Philosophy12
Karl Harrison and David Bailey
3 Law and Animals24
Deborah Rook and Pippa Swan

4 Forensic Science and Applications to One Health35

Lloyd Reeve-Johnson and David Bailey
5 Evidence Collection and Gathering: The Living Evidence50
David Bailey

6 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair62

Claire Gwinnett

7 Firearms and Ballistics81

Rachel Bolton-King and Johan Schulze

8 Blood and Blood Pattern Analysis118

David Bailey

9 Understanding the Nature of Document Evidence134

Nikolaos Kalantzis

10 Forensic Toxicology146
Ernest Rogers

11 Bitemark Analysis159
David Bailey, Jenny Hamilton-Ible, Lucy Leicester, Louise MacLeod
and Adele Wharton

v

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vi Contents

12 Report Writing175
David Bailey

13 The Human–Animal Interaction189

Pippa Swan

Index 201

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 Contributors

David Bailey, Department of Forensic and Crime Science, Staffordshire University,

Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Rachel Bolton-King, Department of Forensic and Crime Science, Staffordshire University,
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Claire Gwinnett, Department of Forensic and Crime Science, Staffordshire University,
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Jenny Hamilton-Ible, Highcroft Veterinary Group, Bristol, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Karl Harrison, Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Defence Academy UK,
Shrivenham, Wiltshire, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Nikolaos Kalantzis, Chartoularios Laboratory of Questioned Document Studies, Piraeus,
Greece and Department of Forensic and Crime Science, Staffordshire University, Stoke-­
on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Lucy Leicester, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham,
Nottinghamshire, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Louise MacLeod, Hills Veterinary Surgery, London, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Lloyd Reeve-Johnson, Institute of Health and BioMedical Innovation, Queensland Univer-
sity of Technology, Brisbane, Australia and Principal Research Fellow, Translational Research
Institute, Brisbane, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]
Ernest Rogers, American Board of Forensic Medicine, American College of Forensic Exam-
iners Institute, Springfield, Missouri, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Deborah Rook, Northumbria Law School, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Johan Schulze, Veterinary Forensic and Wildlife Services, Germany and Norway. E-mail:
[email protected]
Pippa Swan, Clare Veterinary Group, Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK. E-mail:
[email protected]
Adele Wharton, Saphinia Veterinary Forensics, Bottesford, Nottinghamshire, UK. E-mail:
[email protected]

vii

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www.pdflobby.com
 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]

© CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey) 1

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2 D. Bailey

Live long and prosper. expertise in antiterrorism and agroterrorism,

(Mr Spock, Star Trek, Season 2, the former being a subject module of my
Episode 1, ‘Amok Time’, 1967) master’s degree, and the latter something
that I had applied and developed from my
master’s degree training to my veterinary
1.1 Introduction science degree. Many vets are in the unusual
and unacknowledged position of being able
At the time of writing, one is reminded of to discuss the role that animals and animal
the recent passing (27 February 2015) of products can play in the spread of biological
Leonard Nimoy, who played the character or chemical hazards.
of Spock in the Star Trek films and televi-
sion series. The half-human, half-Vulcan
who preferred fact to emotion is a useful re- 1.2.2 Forensic analysis of hair
minder of the de facto mindset that is re-
quired in the world of veterinary forensics. I am currently completing the world’s first
Being exposed to some of the most challen- data collection of hair samples from Pit Bull
ging crime scenes that involve animals and, Type (PBT) animals. This research project
in many cases, the carcasses of animals, the aims to identify differences between breeds
forensic vet needs a Spock-like skill to filter of dog by qualitative and quantitative
out the emotional impact of what they en- measurement of microscopic hair features.
counter and to be able to articulate, clearly It has taken two years and has involved the
and without emotion, what has occurred. sampling and measurement of more than
This is an important skill to develop if any 300 hair samples from 50 dogs in the USA,
longevity is expected in this field. UK, Australia and Ireland. Statistical analysis
is currently being conducted on more than
18,000 measurements.
1.2 Current Projects

The following section is provided as a refer- 1.2.3 Bitemark analysis

ence for the reader to appreciate the current
workload of a forensic vet and to provide an I have been involved in two recent cases in-
insight into the scale and complexity of the volving allegations of dog bites against hu-
specialism that is veterinary forensics. mans, where I have come up against den-
tists and plastic surgeons who are able to
describe injuries but fail to articulate how
1.2.1 Anti-terrorism the injuries may have occurred.

While constructing this introductory chapter

I am preparing for a talk at the Counter Terror 1.2.4 Teaching and examining
Expo in London, the fourth consecutive year
I have been invited to speak at this event. I am preparing to teach and then examine
The topic for my discussion this year is seven more UK-based veterinarians in a
‘The ability to weaponize biological agents’, postgraduate certificate course in veterinary
and covers the utilization of ‘pig bombs’ as forensics and law. This is a postgraduate
a crude but effective device for spreading course that was created in 2010 for vets in
biological agents. My audience will be the UK to learn the skills and importantly,
mainly first responders and UK ambulance the mindset that accompanies the work of the
personnel; however, there is a large compo- veterinary forensic scientist. Many of the
nent of private trainers, ex-military consult- vets on the postgraduate course work for
ants and government operatives. The reason the Royal Society for the Prevention of
for my invitation is a linear recognition of my Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). I am also

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 Introduction – What is Veterinary Forensics? 3

i­ nvolved in the teaching and delivery of the group of horses based on examination of
inaugural Veterinary Forensics course in their equine tail hair. The hair is helpful in
Brazil, where I am going next year to lecture identifying the time of contamination of a
at a veterinary forensics conference. number of horses that were exposed to a
hydrocarbon leak into their water source
from a neighbouring property. It is possible
1.2.5 Contract research to construct the timeline using the growth
rate of equine tail hair, and involves cutting
I am currently conducting some contract re- up the hair into small segments (subsamp-
search in collaboration with Staffordshire ling the hair) and analysing each small seg-
University, which is investigating the effect ment. Hair at the end of the tail was produced
that electronic collars may have on dog skin. years ago and the level of hydrocarbons in
The dog skin has been provided from cadav- the tip of the hair (if detected) will indicate
ers to assist with claims that have been made an exposure at a time in the past, determined
by some end users that the use of these de- by comparing the exact length of the hair
vices can cause burn necrosis on their dog’s with its growth rate. An increase in hydro-
skin. The manufacturers claim that the elec- carbons from any subsampled region should
tronic collars don’t cause any type of burning provide sufficient information to determine
on the dog at all and the preliminary results that exposure has occurred at that point in
of this research would support this view. The time and a timeline can be established, a
voltage and amperage involved are too small source–pathway–receptor (SPR) model now
to cause any detectable damage to the dog exists and culpability should follow.
skin, even under electron microscope.
Previous contract research has included
a review of the chosen methodology used in 1.2.8 Veterinary call-out services
a large research project involving dog behav-
iour. Another project assisted in the deter-
I provide investigative, advisory and forensic
mination of the provenance of migrating
services for the Police Service of Northern
birds through Isotope Ratio Analysis of sam-
Ireland (PSNI) and the Ulster Society for the
pled feathers. A requirement has been iden-
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA),
tified for rapid determination of the origin of
where I can be called upon to attend to ani-
a sick bird in the wake of ongoing world-
mals that are sick, dead, dying or injured
wide fear about pandemic bird flu.
and require veterinary intervention or fo-
rensic investigation if an allegation of a
1.2.6 Expert witness appearance crime is being pursued. I am on the board of
trustees of the USPCA.
When I’m not working as a forensic vet,
I have recently completed a particularly
I work in clinical practice, where I find
onerous court schedule, requiring my pres-
emergency medicine particularly satisfying.
ence in a different court (including a Sher-
I also have a fair amount of small and large
iff’s court appearance in Scotland) nearly
animal work, including equine, which
every week for the last three months. These
helps to keep my credentials as an expert
appearances are as an expert witness in
witness up to date.
cases involving allegations of animal cruelty
or claims of injuries received by humans
from animals.
1.2.9 Television and media

1.2.7 Toxicology and chemical analysis I have just completed filming for a one-hour
television documentary on the proliferation
I am in the process of developing a timeline of puppy farms in Northern Ireland (The
of exposure to hydrocarbons (kerosene) in a Dog Factory).

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4 D. Bailey

Previously I have been involved in seized trailer. Blood pattern analysis is, as
news slots on the subject of animal hoarders will be explained, an analysis of the forces
in Northern Ireland. I frequently write art- that create the blood pattern and not the
icles for various veterinary publications blood pattern itself.
around the world on the topic and various
subtopics of veterinary forensics.

1.2.13 Bestiality
1.2.10 Report writing
I have investigated a claim of sexual contact
between a teenage boy and a large Dogue de
I have written two reports this week on
Bordeaux, where the dog had learned sex-
civil claims. One involves a farm labourer
ual behaviour that was not expected from a
who alleges that he was struck by a dairy
dog unless it was being used for stud pur-
bull as he was walking through the milking
poses. Radiographs were able to determine
parlour, and the other involves a dispute
that the dog had genetic anomalies that
between a vet and an owner of a dog that
made him an unsuitable stud animal and
had developed heart complications after
when faced with this information the boy
‘anaesthetic and a dental’ – these four words
confessed to contact with the dog.
were the sum total of the clinical notes de-
scribing the procedure provided by the vet
surgery.
1.2.14 Ballistics

1.2.11 Documentary evidence

I have examined and treated numerous cats
that have been shot with an air pellet, and
I have been to premises under police escort I have examined many dogs and dog car-
and seized documentary evidence that pro- casses that have been injured or killed by
vides a strong probative link between the shotgun pellets.
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 1.2.15 DNA analysis and laboratory
world dominated by clinical input. A vet competence
can send documentation to a document
examiner and then add the document exam- I have been involved in a dispute as a de-
iner’s report to his or her own court report, fence expert involving the analysis of more
in a similar way that a clinical pathology or than 300 DNA samples. The Department
radiology report can be utilized. Many vets of Agriculture and Rural Development
need to be reminded that one of the most (DARD) in Northern Ireland had charged a
common causes of a vet being removed from farmer with dishonesty over the pedigree
their professional governing body is miscer- claims he had made relating to his cattle.
tification, i.e. signing a document that DARD had diligently collected hundreds
shouldn’t have been signed. of blood samples from the cattle and sub-
mitted them to an ISO 17025-accredited
laboratory for testing. The laboratory and
1.2.12 Blood pattern analysis DARD, acting as the prosecution provider,
had their substantial accumulation of evi-
I have been able to determine that a stag dence thrown out of court – an example of
transported in a trailer suffered injury in poor sample continuity and how forensics
transit. This was through the analysis and can apply in a robust defence of a seemingly
correct photography of blood patterns in the open-and-shut case.

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 Introduction – What is Veterinary Forensics? 5

1.3 Conceptual Views 1.3.2 A definition of veterinary forensics

1.3.1 Comparison to human forensics While some have commented and written
on the subject of veterinary forensics, it re-
The processing of crime scenes that involve mains poorly defined. Some have used fo-
crimes against humans has become very rensics as a synonym for pathology. Others
specialized. Different expertise exists in the have used forensics as a tool for prosecution
forensic science school, ranging from crime (only) of animal abusers. However, a more
scene processing to analytical techniques accurate definition of veterinary forensics is:
and laboratory compliance. Forensic sci- the application of science to the resolution
ence is still an emerging specialism in the of legal disputes involving animals and ani-
veterinary world and is heavily dependent mal derivatives.
on the human discipline as it navigates its
way to becoming an established discipline
in its own right. The most significant diffe- 1.3.3 Breadth of field
rence between human and veterinary foren-
sics is that in the former the evidence is These ‘veterinary’ disputes usually involve
physical but inanimate, and can consist of animals or animal keepers, yet they may also
drugs, glass fragments, fingerprint images include trade in animal products, as well as
and nearly all other forms of physical evi- professional negligence claims against animal
dence, while in veterinary forensics, the health professionals. A forensic vet will tend
evidence can be living. This small yet sig- to deal with cases involving animal cruelty,
nificant point is a characteristic of veterin- animal trade, injuries received from animals
ary forensics that can’t be replicated, copied and the various legal vagaries involved in the
or learned from our human colleagues. application of science to the resolution of
As veterinarians, we deal with evidence these matters. Forensics as a discipline cares
that gets sick, dies, is already dead or has not for the likely innocence or guilt of the
been killed. Our evidence can become preg- party concerned, and it is surprising that when
nant, improve in body weight or lose body asked to define veterinary forensics, many
condition. The forensic world, according to others see it as a tool for the establishment of
the human forensic scientists, is not de- the prosecution position only. The ability to
signed for living evidence. Forensic analysis use forensics for both prosecution and defence
and interpretation is for samples, not pets. in legal disputes should force each side to
Physical handling and manipulation is for think twice before entering into dispute reso-
forensic data, not restraint and clinical sam- lution via an adversarial legal battle.
ple extraction from an unyielding and unco- When dealing with claims of animal
operative animal. Forensic evidence can be cruelty, a vet is inevitably asked to provide
bagged, labelled and stored on a shelf for comment on any suffering that an animal
18 months prior to trial. Not animals. They may or may not have experienced.
need to eat and live and go to the toilet. They It is an anomalous discovery in the UK
have a need for companionship and they are that there is no currently accepted legal, fo-
evidence that cannot be bagged and tagged rensic or veterinary definition of the word
and placed on a shelf. It is at this point that suffering. This is problematic for a scientific
veterinary forensics cannot rely on the discipline such as forensics that thrives on
human field for guidance, and it is not sur- and utilizes definitions.
prising that post-seizure is the most proba- A vet who is involved in forensics will
tive and evidentially useful period, in terms often encounter human mental health
of how the animal responds to care. It is also issues when dealing with cases, and, al-
the most vulnerable period for the seizing though we are unqualified mental health ex-
authorities, who can unwittingly commit perts, we will all too often be a designated
further offences against the animal by incor- de facto social worker, dealing with alcohol
rect post-seizure storage of living evidence. abuse, mental health issues (e.g. hoarding),

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6 D. Bailey

and on the receiving end of verbal and to the resolution of the dispute that arises
physical abuse. I have attended one court out of the evidence.
where a defendant had to have their false
teeth removed for the duration of proceed-
ings because they chose to bite people who
weren’t on their ‘side’. Another case in- 1.4 Biological Concepts
volved the seizure of 11 dogs from premises
of an owner who had developed gangrene in Charles Darwin has a theory of evolution
his toes. The dogs had eaten part of his foot that still exists in theoretical format and has
without his knowledge and intervention re- failed to be catapulted into a law of biology.
sulted in the seizure of the dogs and the Biology then appears to be the only science
owner having a leg amputated. that has no governing laws. All biological
The reader may quickly realize that one theories start off as hypothesis and then,
should add the term ‘social work and men- through trial and error and experimentation
tal health issues’ to any working definition they become elevated to theory, awaiting
of veterinary forensics, but you will now be the one singular event, experience or ex-
running very close to committing the foren- periment that prevents them from being ce-
sic scientist’s worst error – straying outside mented into a law. Physics, chemistry and
one’s area of expertise. maths have many laws to flaunt at the bio-
This book isn’t the first to attempt to de- logical sciences. Veterinary science, as a
fine veterinary forensics. There is already discipline that is heavily dependent on the
an established a priori expectation that vet- biological processes, has only one law, and
erinary forensics involves pathology or pros- we don’t even exalt it as a law, more of an
ecution (only) of animal abusers, or is a inconvenience – All living things will die.
niche term applied to wildlife crime. There And here we have biological science
is no room in these definitions for the likes competing unfavourably with physics and
of DNA or document analysis, or an under- chemistry and mathematics, which have an
standing of ballistics, and even less interest abundance of laws and rules to establish
in defending those accused of animal abuse. precision and, most importantly, predict-
To have a prosecution-only definition of ability.
any forensic discipline removes 50% of We can predict and plan events with
your potential paid work in this field and physics and chemistry, we can build large
betrays a 100% understanding of the adver- architectural arrangements and send rockets
sarial nature of the judicial system that we beyond our solar system with the laws of
have in the UK, Australia, North America motion, mathematics and engineering, yet
and many Commonwealth countries. with biology we think we understand evo-
lution but we fail to elevate Darwin’s ‘the-
ory’ into a law that cannot be challenged.
Newton and Pascal would laugh at our at-
1.3.4 Getting caught tempts to describe the biological world as
scientific, reliant upon only one theory and
In ancient Sparta, soldiers were encouraged no laws.
to go out and steal. Stealing was not a crime; Biology, it seems, allows us only to look
however, if you were caught, you were back at all our observations, measurement
punished, not for stealing, but for getting or data and describe what has already hap-
caught. pened. All other forensic science discip-
Veterinary forensics is looking at the lines apart from biology allow you to look
people (and their surrounding circum- forward in time and predict. This is an ex-
stances) who have been caught in crimes or pected but poorly broadcast observation in
disputes that involve animals and animal a discipline that seeks to apply science to
derivatives, and it includes the application the law, and wants these observations to be
of our (clinical and cumulative) knowledge beyond reasonable doubt.

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 Introduction – What is Veterinary Forensics? 7

Forensic science is all about the utiliza- the ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ type of answer
tion of the physical sciences with scientific and they require certainty, when all we can
laws to predict outcomes with great accur- provide as biologists is reliability. Vets will
acy, and all of the measuring and analytical often attempt to be 100% certain when being
tools of forensic science use laws and prin- almost sure is all that is sanctioned by bio-
ciples of physics, chemistry or maths – the logical and veterinary sciences, and being
physical sciences that allow structure and unsure is sometimes all that biology provides.
prediction. Biologists can produce a very reliable
‘Animals are made up of atoms, anyway’ range of results that lack the certainty and
is the infamous quote from a court case where singular answers of the other physical sci-
a vet was asked to explain that, despite hav- ences. A ballistic scientist can tell you that
ing never seen a wild Bengal cat, he was the faster a projectile travels the more energy
able to give expert opinion on the matter as it will have, and they can provide a formula
he was a vet and he knew ‘all animal breeds to assist in this prediction (kinetic energy of
and species’. an object):
The reply from the barrister was appro-
Ek=1/2M.V2
priate for the expert:
‘So you claim that veterinary science, then, A vet couldn’t tell you what the resultant in-
is applied chemistry?’ jury will be in the body of the animal that the
projectile hits, yet a ballistic scientist can tell
‘Yes, partly.’ you the exact amount of energy the projectile
‘What part?’ will have on impact if they know the distance
the animal is standing from the projectile-­
‘The chemical part.’
delivering device. The physical sciences
Veterinary science is the study of biological ­predict events with great accuracy and the
systems, which, at the atomic level of all forensic scientists embrace this certainty and
cells, are obedient to the laws of chemistry frontload their analysis, interpretation and
and physics, but when these atoms combine mindset with analytical tools that rely on
together, they coalesce to form cells, organs formulae, laws and predictability. The bio-
and bodies – an emergent system of a living logical and natural sciences reflect on what
thing that is reluctant to yield to any laws, occurred with vague ranges of possible scen-
legal or scientific, except one – death. arios. The projectile could over-penetrate the
Problems become apparent when you animal and cause minimal (or massive) tis-
try to shove a biological sample into one of sue damage; or the energy from the projectile
these analytical devices created by and for could be dumped and captured completely
the rules of physical science. A square-peg- within the animal, resulting in massive tem-
and-round-hole situation has developed. porary and permanent cavity damage – there
These devices are created and skilfully is a range of possible results. Courts dislike
crafted to understand physics or chemistry this. A pathologist can tell you what hap-
or mathematics and they feel contaminated pened to this animal on this occasion, yet a
and dirty with biological samples, and they ballistic scientist can tell you what energy
tend to spit out results that can be measured will be imparted from the projectile to every
and compared to a range of results that are animal, every time. A pathologist, unable to
expected in the biological world. And here post-mortem every animal, every time, is re-
we have the first rule of cross-examination duced to giving a range of possible results
when dealing with biological materials. All based on the post-mortem that he or she
answers in biology require a range of pos- has performed on other animals of different
sible answers except the answer to one height, weight, sex and breed, and the prob-
question: was it dead? lems begin when applying this fuzzy logic
Everything else requires a spectrum of and introducing it to the court.
answers, and the courts dislike this fuzzy ap- DNA analysis is the one analytical
proach to truth determination. Courts want measurement utilized by forensic scientists

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8 D. Bailey

that uses biological samples and yields ac- adulteration. The evidence, according to the
curate results that courts have become com- physical scientists and mathematicians, is
fortable with. This is due to the high utiliza- living. The evidence we provide them with is
tion of probability and the laws of a an intruder into their predictable, formula-­
mathematical arena that can be applied to driven world.
biological samples. The courts don’t like
DNA but they do like the statistics (and the
laws of statistics) that compulsorily accom- 1.5 Know Yourself
pany any reliable DNA result.
Statistics are often used to explain the
This implement called forensics, then, is the
results, then the forensic scientist has to in-
tool and skill necessary to fill that gap be-
terpret the result, and the court will deter-
tween court requirements and veterinary
mine whether the probability offered is be-
capability, and includes an understanding
yond reasonable doubt.
of veterinary science, sociology, psychology
And here a schism develops between
and courtroom procedures, as well as a firm
biological science and physical sciences, be-
grasp of the separation between biological
cause biology is a science but it is different
and physical sciences; along with an in-
to all other physical sciences. Darwin is weak
creased need to understand legal motives de-
when compared to Newton, who has three
rived from the adversarial system and mo-
laws of motions named after him. All Darwin
tives based, in part, on points of fact and
can manage is a theory of evolution. Ballistics
points of law. But perhaps the most important
then is a great descriptor for predicting what
tool to have as a forensic vet is a deep sense of
will happen when you fire a projectile out of
self-awareness, as a basis for self-respect. Once
a weapon. There are equations of maths and
in place, these two elements are the chief prin-
laws of science that allow you to predict how
ciples that open the door to self-confidence,
fast that projectile travels and how much en-
which is a prerequisite in most aspects of
ergy it will have when it impacts its intended
adversarial life, but particularly in the brutal
target. Even blood spatter analysis is less to
world of a competitive judicial system, where,
do with the patterns created by bloodstains
regardless of your level of expertise, aware-
and more to do with an understanding of the
ness and knowledge, and the respect you
forces that created those patterns. Forensic
have for yourself and the court, there is al-
science is geared toward the hard sciences,
ways going to be someone who asks you in
the physical sciences and maths, and not sur-
the most polite, patient, caring and persist-
prisingly the sciences that have laws that are
ently appropriate manner just how sure you
constant and predictable. Biology has no
are. You are perpetually challenged as to your
laws, one single theory and does not lend it-
sense of purpose and entitlement to appear in
self easily to interpretation through forensic
court as an expert. You are challenged by
analysis. We, as forensic scientists, are forced,
many aspects of adversarial life in the court-
through discipline and training, to forensic-
room cross-examination, but the one linger-
ally adapt biological samples, including vet-
ing issue that you are perpetually confronted
erinary evidence, into a process that suits
with is an externally imposed sense of self-
physical science evidence. We will see that
doubt. As long as the doubt is not self-imposed
the judicial and court system is not prepared
then you can feel confident in answering
for this inconvenience: when you consider
truthfully – the rest really is up to the court.
that a seized animal is, in the view of the
court, a piece of evidence, then placing that
evidence in a bag and on a shelf where it can
remain until the trial is problematic. Our evi- 1.6 A Common Thread
dence requires food, air and water, it is often
alive and the physical chemists, analysts and The current status of applied veterinary fo-
mathematicians find this life contaminant as rensics is still heavily reliant upon the
difficult to work with as any other sample human forensic available literature. There

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 Introduction – What is Veterinary Forensics? 9

is a large amount of available research, know- what you can and can’t do, forensics helps
ledge and understanding on ballistics, hair, to determine whether you did or did not do
DNA, blood pattern analysis, documentary it, and the court decides whether you were
evidence, crime scene processing, report caught or not and provides appropriate
writing and courtroom skills that relates to punishment.
human forensics that can be applied to veter-
inary forensics but needs to be understood
and applied as a separate discipline to 1.7 Jones versus Kaney
human ­forensics.
There are similar themes and consist- Jones versus Kaney is a 2011 decision of the
ency of approach that run through each dif- Supreme Court of the UK on whether expert
ferent speciality in forensics and the repeti- witnesses retained by a party in litigation
tion of each should consolidate learning can be sued for professional negligence, or
and understanding of these core elements. whether they have the benefit of immunity
A forensic laboratory may be run by a hair from suit. The case involved a psychologist
analyst who, despite not having any DNA (Kaney), instructed as an expert witness in a
or document analysis experience, can still personal injury claim, who was said to have
oversee a laboratory that performs these func- negligently signed a statement of matters
tions, as there is a common approach to the agreed with the expert instructed by the op-
science of forensic science. Much as a dog posing side, in which she made a number of
and cat vet who has little to do with equines concessions that weakened the claim con-
nevertheless understands that a consult- siderably. As a result, according to the in-
ation (regardless of species) must start with jured claimant (Jones), he had to settle the
a thorough knowledge of the individual an- claim for much less than he would have ob-
imal’s history. tained had his expert not been careless. To
A deep sense of philosophy is incorpor- succeed in the claim, he had to overturn an
ated into the reading of forensic science, earlier Court of Appeal decision, which had
with an understanding of history, personal decided that preparation of a joint statement
value hierarchies and even sociology, and with the other side’s expert was covered by
how these seemingly disparate silos of immunity from suit. Kaney therefore suc-
knowledge combine to provide an emergent ceeded in getting the claim struck out before
property that has an impact upon the under- trial on an application heard by Mr Justice
standing and practice of how forensics is in- Blake in the High Court of Justice.
corporated into our work flow and not the The Supreme Court, by a majority of
other way around. There is an unwritten five to two, decided that expert witnesses
rule that you must know yourself better were not immune in the law of England and
than your area of expertise, and this is a Wales from claims in tort or contract for mat-
natural consequence of having all elements ters connected with their participation in
of your work scrutinized in court by a cross-­ legal proceedings. This reversed a line of au-
examining barrister who knows little about thority dating back 400 years. The case con-
the subject and cares even less. Barristers sidered the narrow issue, namely whether
have a common approach in an adversarial preparation of a joint statement by experts
system – attack the person delivering the was immune from suit, and the wider public
evidence, not the subject matter, so a deep policy issue of whether litigants should be
understanding of both is necessary. able to sue experts, whom they had in-
In modern-day jurisdictions the offence structed, for breach of duty. There was dis-
for all crimes is just as the Spartans inter- cussion about whether removing the im-
preted them – getting caught – and for that munity would have a ‘chilling effect’ on the
you need an understanding of the gathering, willingness of experts to participate in court
presentation and subsequent application of proceedings, although judges on both sides
evidence. This is where forensics becomes a of the decision agreed that there was no em-
speciality. The law provides guidance on pirical evidence on the point.

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10 D. Bailey

A litmus test for an expert is to test in this skill and it is important to have the
whether their view is the same regardless of humility to expose your views to others and
which side (prosecution or defence) has in- allow those views to be corrected. Vets are,
structed them. The expert may start off as an by the nature of their work, unused to pa-
assessor of the facts and evidence presented tient scrutiny. Vets in a clinical setting are
to them, but there are pressures exerted as a held in high esteem by their clients and so
consequence of the adversarial system that are unaccustomed to having their decisions
may bring out a partisan view that didn’t challenged. It is considered unusual to
exist, or worse, that the expert does not question vets’ views or professional deci-
know exists. sions, although this is changing with an ex-
plosion of information available through
the internet; however, a client pre-armed
with more information may not necessarily
1.8 Critical Thinking be more informed.
Critical thinking, as a skill that is differ-
As vets, we are taught and become im- entiated from clinical thinking, allows us to
mersed in the clinical approach to investi- become wiser through listening to all that
gating problems in animals. We examine an can be said against our views by subjecting
animal, listen to its history from the owner, them to the scrutiny of others. It is a crucial
order tests, interpret the results, and then skill to learn, and recognition of the transi-
diagnose and treat the animal. It is such an tion from clinical thinking to critical think-
ingrained process that we don’t even con- ing is an important first step in the mindset
sider that it is the default setting for future change that vets entering the adversarial
exposure to novel situations (including fo- arena would benefit from. It is also a useful
rensics): a trained and learned clinical ap- life skill.
proach that requires an inquisitive and curi- Critical thinking can also be used as a
ous mind. Whenever two vets see an animal strategy relating to statements or court re-
with the same history, presenting signs and ports that others write. Critical thinking is
complaints, there will be two different opin- not considered a philosophy or manage-
ions as to how to treat and what the next step ment style; it is a mechanism of problem
is in the treatment process. This is due in identification rather than rote solution har-
part to the experience and exposure of that vesting and is a key difference between the
vet to that presenting problem. This diver- clinical mindset and the analytical mindset.
gence in opinion between vets has a lot to do Clinical thinkers, especially vets, are forced
with the vying nature of veterinary under- in a clinical consultation setting to provide
graduate selection. Veterinary science is an a solution for each problem they encounter.
ambitious field of study that attracts the Critical thinking allows us to identify the
most intellectually competitive people. problem, not necessarily the solution; to
Critical thinking is a set of skills that focus relentlessly on the cause and progres-
vets in the field of forensics are required to sion of the problem, and to describe the
have when considering the views of others. problem as we see it without the added
This can be problematic when your analysis complication of seeking a solution to it (that
is confined to animal patients; consider- is the court’s role).
ations about them may be replaced by the This critical thinking ability is not a
views of their owners, who are paying you skill that is lacking in most vets; rather, it is
to give them your view. Critical thinking a dormant skill. The vet’s strong scientific
opens up your views and your reasoning to training in the biological sciences assists in
others, and theirs to you. As a result you questioning results, and evidence-based de-
may change your mind or it may remain un- cision making is a strong component of
changed, but it is essential that you are open undergraduate training; but the clinical
to this process. Most vets, in my experience, thinking (‘Let’s find a solution’) of practice
in court and in clinical practice, are lacking replaces it. This clinical thinking is what

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 Introduction – What is Veterinary Forensics? 11

many vets take into court with them and Analysis leads to interpretation, which
they often feel compelled to provide a solu- leads to an inference or a conclusion. There
tion to legal disputes that involve animals, is usually no dispute with the analysis or
where identification of the problem is required evaluation of data (it is snowing in London) −
and is often overlooked. This is a key compo- but where critical thinking comes in is
nent in vet reports and testimony, where ‘Be- to unravel the reasons why we evaluated
cause I say so’ is an argument that resists and a particular piece of data or analysis in
often rejects any attempt at scrutiny. the way we did. In order to do so, we ask
One of the key tenets of critical thinking the person to explain the reasons for their
is the difference between observation and interpretation.
interpretation of events, and then the con- Schools off because of snow.
clusions drawn from those interpretations.
Each aspect must be independent and Or
a distinction needs to be made between London is paralysed because of snow.
them – critical thinking forces us to do this.
The difference between the two headlines
that are describing the same observation is
down to the journalist’s individual inter-
1.8.1 Example pretation of what heavy snowfall means to a
busy metropolis, based on that journalist’s
Heavy snow fall in London might provide experience and interpretation of the facts. It
the following headline: is also possible that the target audience for
‘Capital paralysed by snow’ that paper could affect the interpretation of
the facts and the headline reflects the target
While in another publication the headline audience’s interests.
might read:
‘Day off for 30,000 London schools’

Prior to interpreting that information, we need 1.9 Conclusion

to evaluate it and consequently make infer-
ences from it; inferring requires moving from To be Spock-like in our ability to analyse
a known statement to an unknown statement. data is a useful mindset to maintain in fo-
And all arguments originate from this observa- rensics. To be critical in our ability to inter-
tion. How we interpret information and the pret data is a crucial mindset to nurture in
inferences we draw are going to be based on forensics. Having both aspects in our col-
our own experiences and observations. When lective forensic thought process, and com-
facts are not disputed, then the interpretation bining them with a veterinary clinical
of the facts always is. In the above example, mindset, allows a consistent approach to a
it is snowing, but what this means to different description of a biological science that is by
people is reflected in the disparate headlines. its nature an inconsistent discipline.

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 2 Forensic Philosophy

Karl Harrison1* and David Bailey2*

Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Defence Academy UK,
1

Shrivenham, Wiltshire,UK; 2Department of Forensic and Crime Science,

Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK

2.1 One of Us Cannot Be Wrong: The Structure of Knowledge and Reasoning

in Forensic Science by Karl Harrison 12
2.1.1 Introduction 12
2.1.2 Forensics: a plethora of different sciences 13
2.1.3 The philosophy of science 15
2.1.4 Conclusion 17
2.2 Junk Science by David Bailey 17
2.2.1 Pseudoscience 17
2.2.2 Junk science 17
2.2.3 conclusion bias 17

2.1 One of Us Cannot Be Wrong: produces facts or distinguishes them from

The Structure of Knowledge observations and interpretations.
and Reasoning in Forensic Science A scientifically educated professional,
such as a veterinarian, considering the further
development of their career towards a foren-
Karl Harrison
sic specialism, might find themselves harbour-
ing a curiosity regarding how forensic science
works, how forensic scientists observe sali-
2.1.1 Introduction ent facts, how those scientists construct
­interpretations from said observed facts, and
The purpose of this chapter is to consider how those interpretations might be commu-
how the science in forensics is structured. nicated, either in an academic context or via
Forensics is a crossroads discipline, which court testimony. Such curiosity might cause
encompasses a breadth of skills, from inves- them to seek answers to these questions
tigative scene examination to analytical from either standard synthetic set texts (Lee
chemistry, but despite the vital importance et al., 2001; James et al., 2009; Pepper, 2010),
of establishing conclusive facts in a court of or from articles in widely read peer-reviewed
law, little has been written about how forensics journals (Inman and Rudin, 2002; Crispino

*Corresponding authors: [email protected]; [email protected]

12 © CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey)

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 Forensic Philosophy 13

et al., 2011). In both instances, a reader new archaeology, I worked as a Crime Scene In-
to the field would be forgiven for thinking vestigator and later Scene Manager for two
that forensic science is a discipline solidly UK police forces. This small piece of per-
based on the quantification of the exchange of sonal history is important here for three
material traces, such as cellular DNA (Bond reasons, I believe: first, forensic archaeology
and Hammond, 2008), blood (Sikirzhytskaya is a niche discipline, somewhat removed
et al., 2013), glass (Howes et al., 2014), paint from the central pillars of forensic science,
(Wright et al., 2013) or soil (Woods et al., 2014a,b), biology and chemistry; second, as a science,
or on the development of statistically robust traditional archaeology has a long history
techniques for presenting such evidence in of reflection and conceptualization, which
court. Synthetic texts repeat some of this I will argue later that, taken as a whole, foren-
material, frequently in the form of introduc- sic science does not; third and finally, the
tory discussions of Bayesian statistics (Jackson UK’s Crime Scene Investigators are primarily
and Jackson, 2011). employed by police forces, rather than the
My thesis in this chapter is that, on the (now privately run) forensic service providers.
whole, this literature reflects the core con- While this makes them a part of the wider
cerns of a central bloc of laboratory-based investigative process, it remains a moot point
­forensic biologists, chemists and other scien- whether this role is included within broader
tists focused on trace evidence dynamics, and concepts of forensic science.
that these cited publications are primarily My second confession concerns the third
concerned with the development and refine- point above. Some years ago I wrote a paper
ment of method, rather than advancing or ex- entitled ‘Is crime scene examination science,
plaining the theories and concepts that might and does it matter anyway?’ (Harrison, 2006).
assist the generalist scientist in developing a While this paper drew on the philosophy of
clear and comprehensive understand­ ing of science to consider the nature of crime scene
what their place in forensic science might be. examination and, more specifically, the role
My intention here is to draw attention to the of crime scene investigators, its main purpose
set of circumstances that has brought about the was political, rather than epistemological.
current theoretical framework in which fo- I was motivated to write it because of general
rensic science resides, and consider it in the accounts of ­forensic science that seemed to
light of the discipline’s historical roots, as well gloss over the point of interaction between
as to advance a broader discussion about evidence collection by a CSI and examin-
what might be said to constitute science. In ation by a forensic scientist (cf. Coyle and
providing this discussion, I will also detail White, 2010), and was distressed to talk to
why I think this form of consideration is CSIs content to take a minimal role in the sci-
­particularly important in the development of entific process. I found at the time that the
specialist forensic disciplines such as veterin- models of what constituted science did not
ary science, and in the professional develop- adequately ­encapsulate the forensic process.
ment of individuals within such specialisms. Crispino (2008) took issue with my conclu-
sions, and offered abductivism, discussed
below, as a model of scientific structure that
2.1.2 Forensics: a plethora more comfortably accommodated the process
of different sciences of crime scene examination.
Given the fragmentation to which I have
Before I begin this discussion, I need to make eluded within forensic science, the first
a number of confessions that help to estab- question I’d like to consider is what level of
lish the context within which I have formed coherence as a discipline forensic science
these opinions. Rather than coming out of can be said to possess. In defining this first
biology or chemistry, my reporting discipline question, I have used a commonly ascribed
is forensic archaeology.1 definition of forensic science:
Prior to becoming a forensic archaeologist, Forensic science is science used for the
but subsequent to my training in traditional purpose of the law . . . The recently

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14 K. Harrison and D. Bailey

appointed UK Forensic Science Regulator as refined by Kirk (1953, p. 4) has provided

has further expanded this definition to an overarching theory governing the trans-
‘forensic science is any scientific and mission of trace materials for decades:
technical knowledge that is applied to the
investigation of a crime and the evaluation Wherever he steps, whatever he touches,
of evidence to assist courts in resolving whatever he leaves, even unconsciously,
questions of fact in court’. will serve as silent witness against him. Not
(Rankin, 2010, p. 2) only his fingerprints or his footprints, but
his hair, the fibres from his clothing, the
By the term coherence, I mean the extent to glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the
which a central set of theories or theoretically-­ paint he scratches, the blood or semen he
defined methods have developed, which deposits or collects. All of these and more
identify forensic science to the exclusion of bear mute witness against him. This is
evidence that does not forget.
other, non-forensic science disciplines. It is
perhaps interesting to note that Brian Rankin, If there is a point of coherence borne out of
in providing his introduction to forensic theory, then it must be this: while it re-
practice, regards it as important to specify a mains most pertinent to crime scene exam-
number of different roles in the forensic pro- iners and particularly examiners of trace
cess, separating out forensic scientist from materials, the obvious analogue being that
forensic practitioner and forensic medic, but the actions of a protagonist may be revealed
does not consider what points of distinction by traces left on a host. This can be seen in
define the parameters of these terms. disciplines as diverse as forensic archae-
Central to this consideration is the ob- ology, bitemark analysis or the study of mo-
servation that forensic science is defined by bile telephone cell sites. Locard’s Theory
its context of application, rather than by any gives forensic science coherence about how
­observed or defined boundaries to its subject data is created (i.e. by human action on a
of study. This is in contrast to a great range of subject, host or environment), and it de-
other physical and natural sciences, such as fines our scale of interest (we want wher-
biology, chemistry or crystallography, all of ever possible to discuss actions or traces of
which interact and overlap, but are in some an individual we might be able to name,
sense defined by their theoretically informed identify or characterize in some meaningful
perspective on their subject matter. Perhaps way). What L ­ ocard’s Theory does not do is
the closest analogue to forensic science define a unifying means by which forensic
would be medical science, in that they are scientists might derive knowledge from
defined by their application, but medical sci- this data.
ence has perhaps a tighter focus on human Locard’s Theory can be conceived as
biochemical systems. Criminology, a social sitting at the highest level of theory held in
science interested in concepts of laws versus common by much of forensic science.
social codes and morals, the development of Below this it is possible to identify a range
legal frameworks over time and the nature of methodological theories that essentially
of individual and corporate transgressions provide quality control and guiding prin-
against laws, has been described in terms ciples across a broad range of forensic
that directly parallel the nature of forensic ­disciplines. These lower level theories en-
science: criminology brings together psych- compass strategies of optimal searching or
ologists, psychiatrists, sociologists and his- evidence recovery (Taupin and Cwiklik,
torians of law and crime into what Downes 2011); concepts of primary, secondary and
(1988) described as a ‘rendezvous subject’; it tertiary cross-­contamination (Butler, 2011);
being the subject matter that draws together and improvements to the understanding of
disparate academics, rather than a shared trace evidential transfer between actors on a
framework of knowledge and methods. crime scene (Morgan et al., 2010).
There are areas where coherence can be As the level of thinking continues to
seen to operate across broad swathes of fo- descend towards the application of foren-
rensic science. Locard’s exchange principle, sic practice, this high level coherency

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 Forensic Philosophy 15

­ iminishes. While acquired data is gener-

d 2.1.3 The philosophy of science
ated and tested against hypotheses, the
manner of testing and types of knowledge Philosophy of science recognizes a number
constructed by different forensic discip- of schools of thought regarding structures of
lines is different, as each tends to relate scientific reasoning: deduction, induction
back to a distinct ‘parent’ science. This and abduction (Jackson and Jackson, 2011).
may seem facile, but it is an important Deduction outlines knowledge contained
point to stress, as the growth in popularity within logical statements, but in order to re-
of Bayesian approaches in forensic science tain the integrity of these statements, the
(Taroni et al., 2006), the importance of knowledge they shed light on must already
Daubert criteria in US forensic science be entailed within the structure of the prem-
(Grivas and Komar, 2008) and the develop- ises of the prior statements, thus:
ment of specific guidance for Forensic Ser-
vice Providers ­related to ISO accreditation Forensic evidence is recognized by the
standards (ISO/IEC, 2005) together provide careful attention to detail at crime scenes.
a tension which uncomfortably pulls fo- Forensic scientists pay careful attention to
rensic science towards an agreed mechan- detail at crime scenes.
ism of data interpretation.
That scientific knowledge is in some Therefore
ways more valuable than other forms of Forensic scientists identify forensic
knowledge is a commonly held belief from evidence at crime scenes.
which the philosophy of science sets out its
stall (Bird, 1998; Chalmers, 1999). In this re- This statement makes logical sense, but the
gard, science presented in the courtroom is conclusion cannot give us any further infor-
no different. While ‘normal’ witnesses of fact mation than that which is already entailed
might be asked to comment in court on what in the prior statements. While some forensic
they saw, what happened to them, or on the disciplines may rely heavily on aspects of
character of a defendant, they are generally deductive logic, particularly where they have
limited in their responses to their own ex- a mathematical or geometric aspect to their
periences or perceptions (Wall, 2009). By functioning, such as angle calculation in
contrast, the forensic scientist, while giving blood pattern analysis (Bevel and Gardner,
evidence within their area of expertise, is an 2001), the structure of most ­forensic inter-
expert witness, able to give evidence of opin- pretation is not based upon deduction from
ion based on their findings on examination logically entailed statements.
and their professional experience. As a pro- Induction, by contrast, attempts to de-
fessional expert operating in England and rive scientific knowledge about universal
Wales, such a scientist would be expected to criteria from the careful observation of small-
by familiar with and abide by the Crown er samples of relevant data. Observations are
Prosecution Service’s guidance to experts made via the senses and general patterns can
(ACPO/CPS, 2010). be suggested in the form of hypotheses, and
Forensic scientists are by no means tested via experiment or further observation.
the only experts recognized under this Abductive reasoning combines elements of
system; indeed, the system of classifica- deduction and induction in order to fashion
tion is purposefully flexible to allow the ‘likely explanations’, but it remains unclear
broadest range of professional experience what this process of generation exactly is
to qualify as an expertise. As forensic sci- (Jackson and Jackson, 2011).
ence has continued to develop and become Philosophers of science have noted
ever more specialized, however, the no- limitations with the inductive model that
tion that scientific reasoning might be able are directly pertinent to forensic practice.
to provide a sound basis for expert opin- In the Empiricist view of Locke and Hume
ion in the courtroom has become ever (Carlin, 2009), facts exist as external things
more commonplace. to be observed; they are fundamentally a

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16 K. Harrison and D. Bailey

priori, in that their existence is entirely in- ther than advancing on a more conclusive
dependent from the observer, and precedes truth. Any knowledge supported by such
the act of observation. In the courtroom, the inductive observations only holds true until
forensic scientist will report on and explain the first recorded observation of variance to
observations that form the basis of their the proposed rule; such as the discovery of
­interpretations; such explanations are vital, a group of people possessing similar allelic
as without them, the observed facts alone characteristics that might alter our under-
might appear to be entirely incidental, or standing of the frequency of such character-
even invisible, to an untrained jury. Fur- istics in a large unknown population.
thermore, even when a forensic scientist In direct contrast with this sceptical
explains their observations, these may very view, abductivism (Crispino et al., 2011)
well not be something a jury can see with holds that structured inference to a best es-
their own eyes in a direct fashion; a DNA timate is a satisfactory means of establish-
profile might be rendered as a series of ing scientific knowledge in a forensic con-
numbers representative of allelic character- text; although the notions of structured
istics expressed at particular loci of the enquiry proposed by abductivists are in
DNA molecule, or a trace of petrol detected places so general that it becomes hard to
in a sample of fire scene debris as a series of distinguish between scientific observation
peaks on a chromatogram. Even with seem- and a rigorous, systematic but fundamen-
ingly more obviously intuitive evidence tally non-scientific investigation.
types, such as the presence of toolmarks in Bayes’ Thoerem has enjoyed consider-
the side of a grave revealed on a Crime able attention from forensic scientists and
Scene Investigator’s photograph, the foren- associated academics in the past 10 years
sic scientist may ultimately describe diag- (Taroni et al., 2006), as it offers a means of
nostic features of importance either not providing a quantified probability of the
perceptible to an untrained eye, or not dis- ­occurrence of a given set of circumstances,
tinguishable as being any more valuable based on an assessment of available evi-
than any of the associated background dence. This represents a very powerful tool
‘noise’, whether that noise be formed from for forensic scientists, as it offers a mechan-
other confounding peaks on the chromato- ism for the communication of technical in-
gram, or natural variation in the soil that terpretations to a jury of non-­ scientists.
comprises the grave side. This power is balanced with a set of con-
The philosophical problem that is in- comitant risks according to some critics
trinsic to arguments based on induction is (Kruse, 2013); the prior probabilities that
one regarding the weight of evidence placed define the preliminary calculations of
on inference: to what extent is it possible to Bayes’ Theorem require fundamental scien-
rely on or defend knowledge gained when it tific research in order to establish their
is based on reference to observations taken ­values – such as in the shattering of glass
from a small sample, when ultimately it is from a window pane (Curran et al., 2000).
being asked to apply to a much larger – or But these fundamental researches cannot
even universal – population? Such samples account for the hypervariability of real-life
might be found in the small control DNA scenarios. It is also possible that in attempt-
sample populations from which are derived ing to assist a jury by providing them with a
the specific frequencies of different allelic Likelihood Ratio, the forensic scientist might
characteristics, which in turn form the basis cause them to place more weight on the evi-
of match probabilities stated in court, or a dence, because it appears to offer a quantified,
software library of different accelerants rather than qualified opinion (Anon., 2010).
from which a petrol sample might be identi- There is a further distinction to be
fied. Falsificationism takes a sceptical view drawn between central tenets of Bayes’ The-
of this practice (Rosende, 2009), claiming orem and its application in the context of
that such observations can only establish a forensic science. Bayes’ Theorem offers an
‘hypothetically adequate’ conclusion, ra- alternative means of supporting inferential

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 Forensic Philosophy 17

arguments by turning qualitative observa- parent discipline and into the ‘rendezvous
tions into clearly defined quantified prob- subject’ of forensic science, these discus-
abilities. Forensic scientists, by contrast, have sions are even more important, as they as-
applied Bayes primarily to express quan- sist in providing an overarching framework
tified opinions in court. While ambitious of the discipline for scientists new to the
plans have been mooted to try to broadly field.
quantify common variables (Gee, 1995), this
has not occurred wholesale across forensic
science. 2.2 Junk Science
It should be remembered that these the-
oretical discussions about what constitutes
David Bailey
knowledge and science in a forensic context
rarely impinge directly on the working life Seeing is believing.
of the vast majority of forensic scientists,
but rather present a broader background
against which their methods of examination 2.2.1 Pseudoscience
and parameters of interpretation develop.
Legislative controls on forensic expert opin- Definition:
ion in US courts under the Daubert criteria, Any of various methods, theories, or sys-
and in the UK under Crown Prosecution tems, as astrology, psychokinesis, or clair-
Service Guidance to Experts, as well as the voyance, considered as having no scientific
establishment of the role of the Forensic basis.
Regulator, and the growth in importance
of International Standards (ISO 17020 for
scene examination and ISO 17025 for la-
boratory examination) have all acted to pro- 2.2.2 Junk science
vide a framework for the manner in which
credible forensic science should be seen to Definition:
operate. Faulty scientific information or research,
especially when used to advance special
interests.

2.1.4 Conclusion One would not normally associate declining

quality with increasing demand for a service.
In court, however, in a feature of the adver-
The nature of what constitutes credible sci-
sarial system, what is bad for one side is al-
entific knowledge in forensics cuts across a
most invariably good for the other. Viewed
range of key debates that have a direct effect
from the right side of the aisle, bad expert tes-
on the nature of practice, interpretation and
timony looks excellent and, while the views
dissemination in court: considerations of
of opposing expert witnesses cannot be ex-
what are the distinctions between police in-
cluded from a legal dispute, there are prob-
vestigation, crime scene examination and
lems for experts when they rely upon science
forensic analysis; conceptualization of what
that is just plain wrong. While some examples
features are common and definitive across
provided here are historical, the case study
forensic science; and what constitutes a le-
provided in Appendix 2.1 occurred in Nor-
gitimate balance between qualitative and
thern Ireland as recently as 2007.
quantitative interpretation. There are no
simple answers to these questions, but
awareness of their existence clarifies the
­nature of forensic science to newcomer and 2.2.3 Conclusion bias
established practitioner alike. In specialist
fields such as forensic veterinary science, In 1895 W.C. Röntgen discovered X-rays;
where practitioners move out of a strong eight years later N-rays were identified and

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18 K. Harrison and D. Bailey

were named after the University of Nancy in was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a
France. Their discoverer, Monsieur René mastectomy. She was awarded $50,000 in
Blondlot, was a distinguished French physi- damages from the streetcar service providers,
cist and a member of the French academy of having successfully argued that trauma
sciences. He had detected N-rays by observ- causes cancer. By the time of her court case,
ing their ability to brighten an electric spark this medical theory was almost three centur-
through which they were beamed. More than ies old and about to be debunked as a cause
20 other French physicists soon confirmed of cancer. In 1676, an eminent English sur-
the discovery of N-rays and interest in this geon, Richard Wiseman, had reported two
exciting development even surpassed the interesting cases of cancer. Both patients, he
interest in X-rays. observed ‘thought the cancer came from an
In the 18 months following Blondlot’s accidental bruise’ (Stoll and Crissey, 1962);
announcement, the number of publications Wiseman thought so too and he proceeded
on the newly discovered N-rays proliferated to identify bruises, errors in diet and ‘ill
rapidly. In 1904 the French journal Comptes handling’ (Huber, 1991) as among the causes
Rendus published three papers on X-rays of cancer. By the late 17th century, many
but 54 on N-rays. A century later in 2015, doctors had come to believe that simple
we utilize X-rays in diagnostic imaging; trauma could trigger a malignant tumour in
however, after 1904, no one published any- a human patient.
thing further on N-rays. N-rays do not exist; Yet, by the mid-19th century, the trau-
they have never existed and are remem- matic cancer theory was in decline. Most
bered chiefly for the insights they can pro- physicians were beginning to understand
vide into the fringe sociology of the com- that among the causes of cancer, many as
petitive academic world of research. N-rays there were – simple trauma was not one of
were discovered and subsequently redis- them. Like the discovery of N-rays, it was an-
covered on more than 54 occasions because other hypothesis on its way to the museum of
people wanted to see them. The method- scientific curiosities. Then suddenly and
ology used in the experiments to describe without any scientific reason, there was a
them was flawed; yet so anxious were the rapid shift in attitude among doctors in Ger-
scientists to declare the existence of N-rays many and the US in the late 19th and early
that they chose results over methodology 20th centuries. In 1875 the scientific litera-
(Huber, 1991). ture suggested that one in eight cancers were
In another example, Anita Menarde now caused by trauma. In 1897 nearly half of
had an accident on the morning of 16 May all bone cancers were now caused by trauma
1949. While alighting from a Philadelphia and in 1932 it was determined that two in
streetcar, she was slightly injured as she five brain tumours (40%) were traumatic in
stumbled and later sued the providers of the origin or caused by simply being upset.
streetcar service after developing breast Whereas the N-ray was discovered to
cancer. Immediately after her fall she was not exist by the one, singular correctly iden-
treated at her local hospital for minor tified methodology and test experiment,
scrapes and abrasions to her left ankle, right there was no similar research carried out to
knee and both hands. Upon undressing that disprove a traumatic cause of cancer. In fact
evening she had noticed a discolouration on there were now many scientific references
her right side and breast. She called her designed to demonstrate that a traumatic
doctor about her bruised breast; he exam- cause of cancer could be demonstrated reli-
ined it, found no lumps and prescribed hot ably. So what had changed?
compresses. He examined her periodically In the late 19th century in Germany and
for the next two months – the breast seemed the USA, the laws had changed and G ­ ermany
normal. had introduced the world’s first workers’
At the end of July (ten weeks after her compensation programme. Combined with
accident) she detected a lump in her breast the introduction of health insurance for
at the same place as her earlier bruise. She workers, a race began to determining the

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 Forensic Philosophy 19

cause for the traumatic cause of cancers – called to provide expert witness testimony
any cancers, all cancers, including testicu- and insurance companies bore the brunt of
lar cancer. claims. It is a cardinal rule of science that
Over the next 16 years more than 2000 statistics alone cannot prove causation. It
books and papers on traumatic cancer were is very highly unlikely that a traumatic
published and republished in Germany cause of cancer exists. The research hadn’t
and the USA. A phantom risk existed be- changed, but the law had changed, and so
tween cancer and trauma and, importantly, too did the opinions of those experts who
it couldn’t be proved to be false. When in would in the past have sought compensa-
doubt, the courts favoured the injured: tion for clients apparently stricken by trau-
doctors, medics and researchers were all matic cancer.

Note

1
Forensic archaeology has been variously defined as ‘the potential application of archaeological theory to
scenes of crime’ (Hunter and Cox, 2005, p. 2) and ‘the application of mapping and excavation skills … to
recent death scenes or places where bodies have been disposed’ (Skinner and Sterenberg, 2005, p. 223),
and has been most commonly applied in aspects of search, location, excavation, recovery and interpretation
of human remains concealed by acts of burial.

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Bond, J. and Hammond, C. (2008) The value of DNA material recovered from crime scenes. Journal of Forensic
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Carlin, L. (2009) The Empiricists: A Guide for the Perplexed. Continuum, London, UK.
Chalmers, A.F. (1999) What Is This Thing Called Science? 3rd edn. Open University Press, Maidenhead, UK.
Coyle, T. and White, P. (2010) Crime Scene to Court, 3rd edn. Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK.
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Curran, J.M., Hicks, T.N. and Buckleton, J.S. (2000) Forensic Interpretation of Glass Evidence. CRC Press, Boca
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Howes, L.M., Kirkbride, K.P., Kelty, S.F., Julian, R. and Kemp, N. (2014) The readability of expert reports for
non-scientist report-users: reports of forensic comparison of glass. Forensic Science International 236, 54–66.
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 Forensic Philosophy 21

Appendix 2.1

Research and Library

Services

Northern Ireland Briefing paper 09/07

Assembly

ALPHA NORTESTOSTERONE

BACKGROUND

In 1988 the EU introduced a prohibition on the use of hormonal substances

for animal growth production. Legislation prescribing the measures to
monitor for residues and the actions to be taken on the finding of positive
results was introduced (96/22/EU, 96/23/EU/, 2003/74/EC and 2005/34/EC).
The use of anabolic agents is prohibited for a variety of reasons including
possible adverse human health effects, consumer resistance, negative
effects on animal welfare and the impact of residues in the environment1.

Nortestosterone is a well known anabolic-androgenic steroid. It was first

synthesised in the 1950s and initially it was believed to have no natural
source. However, it was subsequently shown to occur naturally in boars,
stallions, pregnant cows and veal calves1.
Its presence in adult male bovines is currently deemed illegal under EU law.

ALPHA NORTESTOSTERONE IN NORTHERN IRELAND

Occurrences

On two occasions since January 2004 the hormone, nortestosterone, was

identified in bottles, or syringes, on two separate farms in Northern Ireland.

On 10 March 2006 a urine sample was collected from an “On Farm

­ mergency Slaughter” (OFES) steer presented to ABP Newry, and
E
it screened positive for Alpha Nortestosterone at a low level (1.05ppb).

1
Professor Patrick Wall report http://www.dardni.gov.uk/wall_report.pdf

Providing research and information services to the Northern Ireland Assembly

1

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22 K. Harrison and D. Bailey

ALPHA NORTESTOSTERONE Research and Library


Services

In the light of these findings all Official Veterinary Surgeons (OVSs) were
instructed to take samples for hormone testing from OFES animals.

DARD Response

Between April 2006 and March 2007 the Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development (DARD) tested all male OFES cattle presented at meat
plants for growth hormone Alpha Nortestosterone. More than 150 cattle
tested positive for the hormone and were condemned, with the farmer
incurring the financial loss. However, no evidence of illegal administration
was found following on-farm investigations. Scientific evidence now ­supports
the view that the hormone can occur naturally in male cattle2.

The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Michelle Gildernew MP

MLA, met the farmers associated with the cases in June 2007 and said:

“The Department is required by law to remove any male bovine from the
food chain that tests positive for alpha nortestosterone, regardless of
whether evidence of illegal administration has been found, and it is
permitted to do so without incurring legal liability to pay compensation”.

However, in recognition of the fact that farmers have lost animals without
any evidence of wrongdoing on their part, she announced that farmers who
have had OFES male cattle will be offered a goodwill payment3.

The full cost of these payments will be around £80,0004. These payments
cover the value of the cattle removed from the food chain when the farmers
were being investigated by the DARD, and do not take account of loss of
earnings when herd sales were suspended nor a potential loss of reputation.
DARD insists it is under no obligation to offer compensation.

2
Houghton, E., Teale, P. and Dumasia, M.C. (2006) “Studies related to the origin of
C18 neutral steroids isolated from extracts of urine from the male horse” Analytica
Chimica Acta 586: 196-207.
3
Source from Northern Ireland Assembly Oral Answers to Question 11th June,
2007. http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/news-dard/news-dard-070607-cattle-­
harmone-residues.htm
4
“Agri-Business – Cattle farmers to be reimbursed” Irish News 12th June, 2007.

Providing research and information services to the Northern Ireland Assembly

2

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 Forensic Philosophy 23

ALPHA NORTESTOSTERONE Research and Library

Services

Ulster Farmers Union Response

The Ulster Farmers Union has welcomed the way the Minister has dealt with
the issue swiftly after entering office but has urged DARD to deal with each
case on an individual basis. Some farmers who were investigated at an
early stage still have grievances over their treatment and the money
they lost.

Some suffered financially because cattle prices dropped while herd sales
were suspended. They had to pay feed costs for cattle they had been
intending to sell, plus some animals passed the 30-months mark, dropping
in price. No compensation has been offered for any of these costs.

“Our big issue is that it is all too easy for people to jump to the wrong
conclusion. It just goes to prove that science can be wrong. A lot of
people suffered traumatic episodes and stress over the head of this”
Wesley Aston of the Ulster Farmers Union5.

On 11th June 2007, the Minister promised to undertake a review of the

handling of the alpha nortestosterone issue and to consider what lessons
can be learned. The outcome of that review is likely to be made public6 in
autumn 2007.

5
“Poor cows and innocent farmers are pilloried” Belfast Telegraph 15 June 2007.
6
Source from Northern Ireland Assembly Oral Answers to Question 11th June,
2007. http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/news-dard/news-dard-070607-cattle-­
harmone-residues.htm

Providing research and information services to the Northern Ireland Assembly

3

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 3 Law and Animals

Deborah Rook1* and Pippa Swan2*

Northumbria Law School, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK;
1
2
Clare Veterinary Group, Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

3.1 Challenges to the Legal Status of Domestic and Captive Animals

by Deborah Rook 24
3.1.1 The property status of domestic and captive animals 24
3.1.2 Pet custody cases 25
3.1.3 Direct legal challenges to the property status of animals 25
3.1.4 The basis of a challenge to the legal status of animals – autonomy versus
sentiency27
3.1.5 Utilitarianism in practice 27
3.1.6 The concept of unnecessary suffering 28
3.1.6.1 Necessity as a balancing exercise 28
3.1.6.2 Property status and proportionality 30
3.1.7 Conclusion 30
3.2 Unnecessary Suffering by Pippa Swan 31
3.2.1 Introduction 31
3.2.2 A legal definition 31
3.2.3 The legal test 32
3.2.4 Animal suffering 33
3.2.5 Animal killing 33
3.2.6 Conclusion 34

3.1 Challenges to the Legal Status 3.1.1 The property status of domestic
of Domestic and Captive Animals and captive animals

Deborah Rook The law distinguishes between ‘persons’ and

‘things’. Human beings are legal persons and
in consequence enjoy certain fundamental

*Corresponding authors: [email protected]; [email protected]

24 © CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey)

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 Law and Animals 25

rights, such as freedom from torture and applying pure property law to determine
slavery. Domestic and captive animals are the question of a pet’s residency. Since the
legal things and in consequence lack the pet is property, the question of who gets to
capacity to possess legal rights. Legal per- keep the pet will be decided on the same
sonhood is not synonymous with human principles as who gets to keep the family TV
beings; it identifies those entities that are or kitchen table. In some cases the courts
capable of having legal rights. Legal person- have done this, but in other cases the courts
hood can be a more restrictive category than have recognized the unique nature of this
‘humans’ and has sometimes been denied to living and sentient property and have taken
certain humans; for example, slaves, women, other considerations into account. For example,
indigenous peoples. In other instances it in the case of Raymond versus Lachman in
can be a wider category, which allows non- 1999 the appeal court in New York reversed
human entities to enjoy legal personhood. the earlier decision of the trial court, which
For example, a private company is a legal per- had awarded custody of a pet cat to the per-
son and, under English Law, enjoys a right son with the better claim to property title,
to the protection of its property under the the cat’s owner. Instead the appeal court
Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998. The question took into consideration the age and life ex-
that has been asked recently in a number of pectancy of the ten-year-old cat and allowed
courts across the globe is whether a captive it to ‘remain where he has lived, prospered,
animal such as an adult chimpanzee or loved and been loved for the past four years’
orang-utan can be classed as a legal person. (695 N.Y.S.2d 308, 309 (N.Y, App.Div. 1999)).
This is clearly a direct challenge to the cur- This case appears to take into account the
rent legal status of animals. interests of the animal itself and not merely
There are also more indirect challenges the status of the animal as property. Al-
arising in the courts: cases which highlight though the outcome of the case may seem
the fact that the current property status of do- reasonable and just to a layperson, the case
mestic animals is inadequate to resolve cer- has significant implications at law because
tain disputes. Pet custody cases, to decide the of its challenge to the pure property status
residency of a family dog or cat following the of domestic animals. There have been a
breakdown of a relationship between a mar- number of cases since 1999 adopting a simi-
ried or co-habiting couple, are an example of lar approach, and Switzerland has even gone
this. Using pure property law principles to so far as to amend its Civil Code to provide
decide the question of where the dog or cat a test that takes the interests of the animal
lives is often inappropriate. Increasingly civil into account in pet custody cases (Michel and
courts are being asked to recognize dogs and Schneider Kayasseh, 2011).
cats as a unique form of living and sentient
property, different from inanimate property,
and to thereby take the interests of the animal 3.1.3 Direct legal challenges to the
(not just the owners) into account. This also property status of animals
constitutes a challenge to the current legal
status of domestic animals, but it is a more Law, ethics and science are intricately linked
subtle and indirect challenge. in the question of the legal status of animals.
The law reflects, or in some cases helps to
lead, changes in moral thinking about animals.
3.1.2 Pet custody cases Changes in moral thinking can arise from
our greater understanding of animal behav-
Cases to decide the residency of family pets, iour and welfare through scientific discov-
following the breakdown in a couple’s rela- ery. For example, science has given humans
tionship, have been reported in a number of a greater understanding of the cognitive and
countries, including the USA and Israel behavioural characteristics of chimpanzees,
(Rook, 2014). What is so interesting about these which in turn led to concerns over whether
cases is that they highlight the difficulty in the use of great apes in research was ethical.

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26 D. Rook and P. Swan

In 2010 the EU banned the use of great apes in or federal laws) requires the court to grant a
scientific research (Directive 2010/63/EU). writ of habeas corpus. This court order can
Progress in scientific research has led only be given in relation to a legal person
to calls for a change in the legal status of and is not available for a legal thing. We
some animals, such as great apes, from should remember that in law a ‘person’ is
property to persons (Rook, 2009). However, not synonymous with a human being; it is a
others call for caution as the ramifications legal concept, not a biological one. Under
of granting some animals legal personhood English law a private company is a legal
will be significant. Wise (2000) supports a person and enjoys a right to the protection
change in legal status and advocates that of its property under the HRA 1998.
any being with mental abilities adding up The case was rejected at trial, but went
to what he calls ‘practical autonomy’ on appeal to the Supreme Court, Appellate
should be entitled to the basic legal rights Division, which in 2014 also declined to
of bodily integrity and bodily liberty (free- grant a habeas corpus in respect of Tommy.
dom from torture and slavery). A legal thing The Supreme Court adopted a Contractual-
does not enjoy rights so this change would ist approach, which explains rights in terms
involve granting legal personhood to the of a social contract; a person enjoys the
relevant being so that they become a legal benefit of rights in return for submitting to
person. societally imposed responsibilities. Relying
Wise defines practical autonomy as evi- on the work of Cupp, the court held that
dent where a being ‘can desire; and can in- ‘unlike human beings, chimpanzees cannot
tentionally try to fulfil her desires; and pos- bear any legal duties, submit to societal re-
sesses a sense of self-sufficiency to allow sponsibilities or be held legally accountable
her to understand, even dimly, that it is she for their actions’ (Cupp, 2013). This is only
who wants something and it is she who is one interpretation of legal rights and other
trying to get it’ (Wise, 2000). He examines theories do not rely on the reciprocity of
scientific research findings in relation to the rights and responsibilities. The Nonhuman
cognitive abilities of great apes (chimpan- Rights Project is pursuing an appeal to New
zee, bonobo, gorilla and orang-utan) as well York’s highest court – the Court of Appeals.
as Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins and dis- Wise draws hope from historical cases on
covers that they are self-conscious, possess the African slave trade to demonstrate how
some of, or all, the elements required for a judges can make a decision to break the
theory of mind and can solve complex prob- mould and permit the law to adapt to chan-
lems (Wise, 2002). He concludes that these ging moral climates.
animals possess sufficient practical auton- Tilikum is a bull orca whale who was
omy to be entitled to basic legal rights of captured off the East coast of Iceland in
bodily integrity and bodily liberty. Wise has 1983. He was born wild and therefore was not
put his theory into practice and in 2013 the property at birth; however, he became some-
Nonhuman Rights Project (a group founded one’s property when he was captured by
by Wise) filed three lawsuits in the USA in ­humans for the purpose of providing enter-
relation to four captive adult chimpanzees tainment in captivity. Tilikum has lived in
in the hope that the courts will recognize captivity for over 30 years and in 2012, when
the chimpanzees as legal persons. The case living at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida, he
of Nonhuman Rights Project versus Lavery became the subject of a court case. The case
concerns a chimpanzee called Tommy who alleged that five wild-captured orcas, includ-
is privately owned by Mr Lavery and lives ing Tilikum, were being held by SeaWorld in
alone in a cage at a used trailer lot. The Pro- violation of the Thirteenth Amendment to
ject seeks a court order to have him removed the Constitution of the USA, which prohibits
to a sanctuary where chimpanzees live in slavery and involuntary servitude. It was
groups on a number of islands in an artifi- argued that orca whales engage in complex
cial lake. To be able to remove Tommy from social, communicative and cognitive behav-
his owner (who is not in breach of any state iours and that their confinement in unnatural

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 Law and Animals 27

conditions at SeaWorld negatively impacts on Bentham, who advocated the better treat-
their welfare. The court examined the word- ment of animals and wrote: ‘the question is
ing of the Constitution in its historical setting not, Can they reason? Nor, Can they talk?
to ascertain the purpose of those who drafted But, Can they suffer?’ (Burns and Hart,
it. On this basis the court rejected the plain- 1970, p. 283). Like Bentham before him,
tiff’s argument and stated that the Thirteenth Singer is a utilitarian. In simple terms, a
Amendment only applies to humans be- utilitarian makes moral decisions by weigh-
cause ‘slavery’ and ‘involuntary servitude’ are ing the costs of a particular action against
uniquely human activities, which do not apply the benefits or satisfactions, and then takes
to nonhumans (Tilikum, Katina, Corky, Kasat- the option which brings the best balance of
ka and Ulises, five orcas by their Next Friends, total benefits over total costs. The principle
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, of equal consideration is an important con-
Inc. versus Sea World Parks & Entertainment cept for utilitarians. It requires that the
Inc. (2012) 842 F. Supp. 2d.1259). interests of everyone affected by an action
The recent proliferation of cases making are taken into account and given the same
a direct challenge to the current legal status weight as the like interests of any other
of captive animals demonstrates the strength being. This principle of equality prescribes
of feeling driving this debate, and indicates how we should treat each other; it is a moral
that there are interesting times ahead in de- idea, not a factual occurrence. Singer applies
ciding whether an animal can ever be a legal the principle of equal consideration to ani-
person. mals. Just as a person’s IQ is irrelevant to their
moral treatment – we don’t give less consid-
eration to the interests of those with a low
IQ compared to those with a higher IQ –
3.1.4 The basis of a challenge to the legal Singer argues that the cognitive abilities of
status of animals – autonomy versus animals should also be irrelevant to how we
sentiency treat them. It doesn’t matter whether an ani-
mal has complex intellectual abilities or not,
The USA is not the only country in which what matters is whether it can suffer pain.
there have been legal challenges to the Sentiency is a prerequisite to having inter-
property status of animals. There have also ests; if a being suffers, Singer argues that
been significant cases in Brazil, Argentina and ‘there can be no moral justification for refus-
Austria. Interestingly, the cases so far have ing to take any suffering into consideration’.
all been in relation to animals that possess
what Wise calls ‘practical autonomy’ (Wise,
2000). It seems that the complex cognitive 3.1.5 Utilitarianism in practice
abilities of these animals may engender
stronger feelings in humans of the need to Let’s consider a simple practical example to
ensure justice for these intelligent animals. illustrate this theory. Should someone liv-
Wise takes a pragmatic approach and argues ing in the affluent West eat pig meat? This is
that we are more likely to dismantle the a moral decision because the pig is sentient
thick legal wall that separates humans and and has interests that can be harmed by
animals if the animal has practical auton- being raised for meat, killed and eaten. For
omy. For Wise, it is the cognitive abilities of a utilitarian, making the decision of whether
the animal that are crucial. Whereas for or not to eat pig meat involves weighing up
others, sentiency is enough. For Singer it is the costs against the benefits to see if the
the sentiency of the animal, the fact that it benefits outweigh the costs. A difficulty soon
can experience pleasure and pain, which is becomes apparent: which costs and benefits
crucial (Singer, 1995). According to Singer, are considered? The suffering of the pig is
sentiency is sufficient to require a rethink of relevant; there is evidence that pigs suffer
how we treat animals. He develops the work of due to intensive farming practices, transport
the famous 18th-century philosopher, Jeremy and pre-slaughter handling at the abattoir.

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28 D. Rook and P. Swan

But are there wider considerations, such as 3.1.6 The concept of unnecessary suffering
the significant environmental costs of eating
meat highlighted in the United ­Nations’ re- The law faces a dilemma. How to deal with
port, Livestock’s Long Shadow (Steinfeld et al., what Francione calls our ‘moral schizophre-
2006)? Is this a relevant factor to be weighed nia’ (Francione, 2004). On the one hand,
in the balance when someone is deciding humans now recognize the sentiency of ani-
whether or not to eat meat, or is this cost too mals and there is a desire to protect animals
far removed? What are the benefits of eating from pain and suffering. But on the other
the pig? Where there are healthy alterna- hand, humans feel justified to use animals
tives to meat, as in the West, thereby remov- for our own benefit, and as a consequence
ing the need to eat meat for a balanced diet, we accept what Francione calls ‘the institu-
then the benefits appear to be taste and cost; tionalized exploitation’ of millions of ani-
a person enjoys the taste of meat and, where mals; for example, in factory farms, enter-
it is produced by intensive farming methods, tainment and scientific procedures. The law
it is relatively cheap. For Singer the suffer- has developed a clever concept to deal with
ing of the pig in terms of physical pain, this dilemma; a concept whose success is
stress and the frustration of not being able demonstrated by the fact that it spans inter-
to display natural behaviours all outweigh national boundaries. It is the concept of ‘un-
the benefit to the human and consequently necessary suffering’ and it is a pivotal con-
a utilitarian will be likely to decide not to cept in animal protection law across the
eat pig meat. For Singer, the sentiency of world. Many countries have criminalized
the pig is sufficient to require equal consid- cruelty to animals, making it an offence to
eration to be given to the suffering of the cause domestic and captive animals un-
pig as would be given to the suffering of a necessary suffering. The concept of ‘un-
person. Wise, however, would focus on the necessary suffering’ prohibits suffering that
cognitive capacity of the pig and examine is unnecessary but permits necessary suffer-
scientific research findings to ascertain ing. Thus the test of necessity is crucial, as
whether a pig has practical autonomy de- it determines whether an offence has been
serving of the rights to freedom from torture committed. The act of hitting an animal
and slavery. may be an offence if it is unnecessary but a
Singer and Wise have their critics, and legal act if it is necessary; for example, in
one of the arguments against their theories the English case in 1999 in which it was al-
is the idea that humans and animals are dif- leged that Mary Chipperfield (of the then-fa-
ferent and we are justified in treating ani- mous Chipperfield’s Circus) had caused
mals differently and favouring our own cruelty to a camel by hitting it with a broom
kind (Posner, 2004). Imagine seeing a polar handle, the Magistrate said that the force
bear in Alaska about to kill a young seal. If Mary had used was necessary to train the
we had the means to do so, would we inter- camel to perform. Notably, in assessing ne-
vene to save the seal? Most people would cessity the Magistrate was not prepared to
not intervene but would accept it as a nat- consider whether it was necessary for the
ural event. The polar bear must eat the seal camel to perform in a circus in the first
to survive. But what would happen if we place. It was held that no offence was com-
saw a polar bear about to kill a human mitted on the facts because the suffering
child? Now our response is likely to be very caused to the camel was deemed necessary
different. We would intervene to save the to train it to perform.
child, even though polar bears must eat
meat to survive. What accounts for this dif- 3.1.6.1 Necessity as a balancing exercise
ferent response? This scenario illustrates
the extent to which we favour our own In England and Wales, the Animal Welfare
species and will act to prevent harm to
­ Act 2006 governs the offence of cruelty to do-
other humans, even at the expense of animal mestic animals. Under Section 4 a person is
suffering. guilty of the criminal offence of cruelty if their

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 Law and Animals 29

act (or failure to act) causes a protected animal example of the subjectivity involved in assess-
to suffer unnecessarily and he/she knew or ing necessity (HCJ 9232/01, 215 Israeli Su-
ought reasonably to have known that it would preme Court). This case is unusual because,
have that effect. Vets and lawyers both have a in the balancing exercise to decide necessity,
part to play in the concept of unnecessary suf- the interests of the animals ultimately out-
fering; it is for the vet to decide whether suf- weighed those of the humans; in practice this
fering has occurred and it is for the judge to is rare. The case concerned the practice of
determine the question of necessity. Suffering producing foie gras by inserting a tube into
is a prerequisite to the offence; without it the oesophagus of geese and force-feeding
there can be no offence, so the role of the vet them until their livers become abnormally
is crucial. Once suffering has been established large and fatty. The court had to consider
by the vet, there are a number of statutory whether this caused unnecessary suffering.
considerations set out in the Act for the court Interestingly, in reaching its decision the
to consider, such as whether the suffering court was willing to examine the literature on
could reasonably have been avoided or re- the ethical theories applied to our treatment
duced and whether the conduct was that of a of animals, and referred to the work of Singer
reasonably competent and humane person. and Francione. The court weighed in the bal-
These statutory considerations encapsulate a ance the suffering caused to the geese by the
test that had been developed through case law method of force-feeding against the benefit to
under the Protection of Animals Act 1911, humans of a food delicacy. The majority view
which preceded the Animal Welfare Act of the court was that the suffering was not
2006. Case law established that there must be justifiable for a delicacy and therefore the suf-
a legitimate purpose for the act which caused fering outweighed the benefit. The minority
the animal suffering, but a purpose on its own of the court felt that the suffering was neces-
was not sufficient. There must also be propor- sary because of the suffering that any ban on
tionality between the purpose to be achieved foie gras production would cause to the farm-
and the means of achieving it. Proportionality ers who would lose their livelihoods. More
is an important legal concept used in human than 500 t of foie gras was produced in Israel
rights law which involves a balancing exer- every year at that time and hundreds of farm-
cise. In the case of Ford versus Wiley in 1889 ers were dependent on the industry. This is a
a farmer was alleged to have been cruel to his significant case for the promotion of animal
young cattle by cutting off their horns, close to welfare in agriculture. The English courts
the head, with a common saw. It was accepted have been less willing to attach weight to the
by the court that the cattle suffered extreme suffering of the animal. The case of Roberts
and prolonged pain as a result of this proced- versus Ruggerio in 1985 concerned the use of
ure. The farmer justified his actions on the the veal calf crate system. Under this system
basis of cost and convenience. The court ac- of intensive farming, calves were individu-
cepted that there was a legitimate purpose, ally confined in a narrow stall, chained at the
but nevertheless cruelty was established be- neck and denied access to roughage in their
cause the purpose did not justify the means of diet. Roberts was the director of Compassion in
achieving it. The court held that the suffering World Farming, which advocated that the use
was completely disproportionate to the pur- of veal crates caused the animals’ unneces-
pose and the practice was consequently found sary suffering and consequently the farmer
to be cruel and illegal. The problem with the was guilty of the offence of cruelty. The court
concept of ­necessity is that it is subjective; it took the view that it would only consider suf-
is for the court to decide on the respective fering beyond that which is to be expected
weight to attach to the conflicting interests of from the use of the veal crate. It would not
humans and animals. In most cases a court is challenge the use of the veal crate itself, even
likely to give greater weight to the interests of though there was evidence that it caused the
humans. calves suffering, and that alternative pra­ctices
The Israeli case in 2002 of Noah versus were available to produce veal that caused
The Attorney General et al. is an excellent the animals less suffering. Fortunately, the

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30 D. Rook and P. Swan

veal crate has since been banned as being animals can sometimes trump humans; how­
cruel, first in England and Wales, and more ever, this is relatively rare.
recently in Europe.

3.1.6.2 Property status and proportionality 3.1.7 Conclusion

For Francione, the property status of ani-
mals is the root of the problem. He advo- Law, ethics and science are intricately linked in
cates that the concept of unnecessary suffer- the debate surrounding the legal status of do-
ing does not protect animals because the mestic and captive animals, especially in rela-
weighting to be attached to the respective tion to animals with higher cognitive abilities,
interests of the animals and humans has al- such as the great apes. There has been a
ready been predetermined by the property wealth of scientific discovery about the cogni-
status of the animals. He states that: tive and social abilities of great apes since the
pioneering work of Jane Goodall in the 1960s
The property status of animals renders in the Gombe National Park, Tanzania (Good-
meaningless any balancing that is all, 2010). And, since Singer’s groundbreak-
­supposedly required under the humane
ing book, Animal Liberation (Singer, 1995),
treatment principle or animal welfare laws,
because what we really balance are the
there has been an explosion of ethical theories
interests of property owners against the relating to our treatment of animals. The
interests of their animal property. ­recent appearance and growth of legal chal-
(Francione, 2004) lenges in the courts, both direct and indirect,
to the property status of domestic and captive
Therefore, for Francione, the dilemma can animals suggests that it is time for the law to
only be solved by giving animals the right respond and adapt to the developments in
not to be treated as our property. The Israeli science and philosophy. It would seem that
foie gras case shows that the interests of exciting times lie ahead for animal law.

References

Burns, J.H. and Hart, H.L.A. (eds) (1970) Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and
Legislation. Athlone Press, London, UK.
Cupp, R. (2013) Children, chimps and rights: arguments from ‘marginal’ cases. Arizona State Law Journal 45, 1–50.
Francione, G. (2004) Animals – property or persons? In: Sunstein, C. and Nussbaum, M. (eds) Animal Rights.
Oxford University Press, New York, USA, pp. 108–142.
Goodall, J. (2010) In the Shadow of Man, 50th Anniversary of Gombe edn. Mariner Books, New York, USA
(first published in 1971).
Michel, M. and Schneider Kayasseh, E. (2011) The legal situation of animals in Switzerland: two steps forward,
one step back – many steps to go. Journal of Animal Law 7, 1–42.
Posner, R. (2004) Animal rights: legal, philosophical, and pragmatic perspectives. In: Sunstein, C. and
­Nussbaum, M. (eds) Animal Rights. Oxford University Press, New York, USA, pp. 51–77.
Rook, D. (2009) Should great apes have ‘human rights’? Web Journal of Current Legal Issues. Available online
at: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/2816/1/Should%20great%20apes%20have%20human%20rights%20-
%20full%20text.pdf (accessed 2 November 2015).
Rook, D. (2014) Who gets Charlie? The emergence of pet custody disputes in family law: adapting theoretical
tools from Child Law. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 28(2), 177–193.
Singer, P. (1995) Animal Liberation, 2nd edn. Pimlico, London, UK.
Steinfeld, H., Gerber, P., Wassenaar, T., Castel, V., Rosales, M. and de Haan, C. (2006) Livestock’s Long Shadow:
Environmental Issues and Options. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.
Available online at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.htm (accessed 8 ­January 2016).
Wise, S. (2000) Rattling the Cage: Toward Legal Rights for Animals. Perseus Publishing, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Wise, S. (2002) Drawing the Line: Science and the Case for Animal Rights. Perseus Publishing, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, USA.

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 Law and Animals 31

3.2 Unnecessary Suffering has been replaced by one which is capable

of better and more precise definition by the
Pippa Swan courts.
Using the term ‘unnecessary suffering’
rather than ‘cruelty’ to define what consti-
3.2.1 Introduction tutes unacceptable and criminal behaviour
means that two important aspects of the
The term ‘unnecessary suffering’ has long ­offence must be proven. First, it must be
been used to define the legally unacceptable established that an animal has been caused
ways in which animals are treated. Its evo- to suffer by an act, or failure to act, of some-
lution and use in law are described in this body. Unless it can be demonstrated that
chapter. suffering has occurred, then no offence has
been committed. In the UK there are sep-
arate offences to cover circumstances in
3.2.2 A legal definition which animals are likely to suffer unless
steps are taken to improve their situation.
For nearly 200 years in the UK there ex- Second, the issue of necessity must be ad-
isted an offence of cruelty to animals. dressed. Before the UK Animal Welfare Act
When the legislation was first enacted, the of 2006 the ‘necessity’ of any suffering caused
idea that men be prohibited from treating was the subject of some debate within courts.
animals in any way they chose, and that Given the varied and complicated position
any treatment they meted out could be la- of animals within society, what people con-
belled ‘cruel’, had little sympathy in many sider necessary in pursuance of their aims
quarters. By contrast, the correctness of or that which is required by their responsi-
such a prohibition is now widespread. Al- bilities can vary greatly. The result of much
though the relevant legal offence in most legal argument has been distilled into five
jurisdictions has changed to one of ‘caus- main considerations:
ing unnecessary suffering’, many people,
including the media, still refer to this (a) whether the suffering could reasonably
­offence as ‘cruelty to animals’. Some or- have been avoided or reduced;
ganizations with the aim of promoting ani- (b) whether the conduct which caused the
mal welfare still contain the word cruelty suffering was in compliance with [any other
in their title. Cruelty is defined in the Ox- legislation];
(c) whether the conduct which caused the
ford English Dictionary as ‘a cruel act or
suffering was for a legitimate purpose, such
attitude; indifference to another’s suffer-
­
as − (i) the purpose of benefiting the animal,
ing’. In laws relating to animals it has been or (ii) the purpose of protecting a person,
defined in reference to the necessity of any property or another animal;
pain or suffering caused. The Royal Society (d) whether the suffering was proportionate
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and to the purpose of the conduct concerned;
the Royal Commission publication on (e) whether the conduct concerned was in
regulating vivisection in 1876 makes the all the circumstances that of a reasonably
point that under statute ‘man may not cruelly competent and humane person.i
inflict pain − that is, he may not cause un-
necessary pain; for cruelty is the infliction Use of the terms ‘reasonably avoided’, ‘legiti­
of unnecessary pain’ (RSPCA and Royal mate purpose’ and ‘proportionate’ all serve
Commission, 1876). The accusation of to demonstrate the intended meaning of the
cruelty carries with it emotive images and term ‘unnecessary’ when linked to animal
assumptions, both historical and cultural, suffering. A motorist who injures an animal
and is largely subjective, depending on the because it runs out in front of their car could
viewpoint of the accuser. While the con-
cept of cruelty to animals is still widely
used in popular culture, the legal offence i
Animal Welfare Act 2006. Section 4(3).

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32 D. Rook and P. Swan

not reasonably have avoided causing the in- A third type of test has also been used when
jury. Choking a dog who is attacking a child judging defendants, which takes into ac-
would be legitimate to protect the child. count the circumstances of the accused, but
Failing to seek veterinary attention for a ser- compares their actions with that of a reason-
iously sick animal because of concerns able person in the same situation. This is
about fees or euthanasia would not be con- known as an objective test. When using an
sidered the conduct of a reasonably humane objective test a person’s behaviour is judged
person. not by what they know but what they ought
In some cases there will clearly be a to know, using the ‘reasonable’ person as a
balancing act between the intentions of benchmark. Ignorance or extreme beliefs
someone in relation to an animal and the cannot be used as a defence in these situ-
actual outcome. How much chastisement ations, since stupidity or wilful disregard
is acceptable, for example, when trying to for the consequences of one’s actions should
train an animal in desisting from unwanted, not be rewarded by impunity.
potentially dangerous, behaviour? At what The offence of causing unnecessary suf-
point do the initial good intentions of an fering has generally been viewed as one which
animal hoarder become unacceptably lacking requires an objective test. The application
in insight? There also exist certain, somewhat of strict liability would be inappropriate
anomalous, situations, which permit treat- since, as outlined above, the infliction of
ment of animals in one set of circumstances suffering on an animal may in some circum-
and prohibit them in another. Despite a stances be caused by people who are not
specific prohibition on the administration of blameworthy and so would not deserve
poisonous substances to all ‘protected’ verte- prosecution or censure. The use of a sub-
brates, there is lawful authority to poison ani- jective test would potentially make the case
mals which are seen as pests. The humane- extremely difficult to prove, since assump-
ness of the destruction for rats and mice tions would have to be made about the de-
living as ‘pests’, for example, is not required fendant’s knowledge and beliefs and the
to be of the same standard as that required for ­defence could more easily argue that lack of
those living under the control of man. insight or education were relevant mitigat-
ing factors. Any further discussion about
the nature of the test to be applied to of-
3.2.3 The legal test fences of causing animals unnecessary suf-
fering has been clarified in the UK by the
Because a person’s intentions can some- wording of the legislation ‘he knew, or
times be key in deciding how to judge their ought reasonably to have known, that the
actions, the law considers intent in certain act, or failure to act, would have that effect
types of offence. With some offences, such or be likely to do so’.ii In addition, the ex-
as speeding in a car, the motivations or atti- planatory notes issued by the government
tude of the person responsible are irrele- which accompany the Act state that: ‘The
vant. The deed was done and penalties are effect of [paragraph (b) above] is to intro-
issued. This is known as strict liability. In duce an objective mental element. It will
other situations the state of mind of an accused not be necessary to prove that a defendant
is crucial in deciding their culpability, in actually knew his act or failure to act would
law this is known as mens rea (meaning ‘a cause suffering’.iii The word ‘humane’ is
guilty mind’). When proving that someone also used in the legislation and implies that
is guilty of murder, the proof must include some degree of compassion or sensitive
evidence that they knew what they were feeling towards animals is expected when
doing would bring about the death or ser- measuring the behaviour of the ‘reasonable’
ious injury of another person. Since there is person.
no way to measure or directly observe the
state of someone’s mind, this is known as a Animal Welfare Act 2006. Section 4(1)b.
ii

subjective test, since it requires interpret- Explanatory Notes on Animal Welfare Act 2006.
iii

ation and subjective judgement by the court. 2007, p. 4, para 19.

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 Law and Animals 33

3.2.4 Animal suffering assumptions of an animal’s mental state, given

its situation or behaviour, some more sub-
Identifying animal suffering can, at times, jective interpretation for the court, or argu-
be a slippery task and lacking in an overall ment by analogy, is required from an expert
consensus. Again, precise definitions of a witness. This person is usually a veterinary
word can become imprecise when tested against surgeon, but other experts with relevant train-
the reality of animal existence. Human suf- ing or experience may also be qualified to give
fering is incapable of direct observation or an opinion to the court.
measurement, even given our abilities for lan-
Science can never ‘prove’ that an animal is
guage and shared experiences; animal suf-
or is not suffering, because we can never
fering is even more complicated. There really access the private world of another’s
are ­scientific definitions of animal suffer- mind. But what science can be used for is
ing, for example: ‘Suffering should not be the collection of evidence from which to
equated with stress. Suffering occurs when make inferences (much like those made by
the intensity or complexity of stresses the clinician who uses symptoms to make a
­exceeds or exhausts the capacity of the judgement about a disease).
animal to cope, or when the animal is pre- (Mason and Mendl, 1993, p. 312)
vented from taking constructive action’
(Webster, 1994, p. 38). Numerous attempts When considering whether an animal’s
have been made to define and assess the condition or situation has caused it to suffer,
welfare of animals scientifically, and many there is often some discussion about whether
would place suffering at the negative end of severity or duration are instrumental to the
a spectrum of welfare states. When that conclusion. It should be remembered that
line, between poor welfare and suffering, is ‘such criteria do not apply to offences
crossed, however, is still a matter for con- based on causing an animal unnecessary
jecture in each situation. Some scientists suffering, where any unpleasant emotional
have simplified the nature of suffering by response may amount to suffering’. And
just associating it with feelings and emo- that ‘factors such as severity and duration
tional states: ‘a set of negative emotions are taken into account, but in relation to
such as fear, pain and boredom, and rec- the question of necessity rather than suffer-
ognized operationally as states caused by ing’ (Radford, 2001, p. 272). Ultimately, it
negative reinforcers. It may or may not be ac- is for the court to decide, not experts or ad-
companied by subjective experiences similar vocates, whether suffering has occurred
to our own’ (Dawkins, 2008). Similarly, it is and whether that suffering is considered to
‘an unpleasant state of mind that disrupts be unnecessary.
the quality of life. It is the mental state asso-
ciated with unpleasant experiences such as
pain, malaise, distress, injury and emotional
3.2.5 Animal killing
numbness (e.g. extreme boredom)’ (Gregory,
2004, p. 1).
In whichever way suffering in animals is Another important dimension of unnecessary
described, their feelings and emotional state suffering is a specific exemption for killing
are the ultimate issue. That pain, hunger or thirst animals. Provided that animals are destroyed
can cause suffering would rarely be in dispute, in ‘an appropriate and humane manner’,iv
but the law is clear that mental distress will there is no offence caused under animal wel-
also qualify as suffering. When providing in- fare legislation. Because animals have a legal
formation to a court about whether suffering status as property, there may be an offence of
has occurred, there may be demonstrable killing an animal which belongs to someone
physical evidence of a painful condition, else without their permission. But owners
disease or malnutrition. On the basis of the are entitled to kill, or cause to be killed, their
physical evidence, a logical inference of un-
pleasant feelings can be made. Where the
evidence is based on more anthropomorphic iv
Animal Welfare Act 2006. Section 4(4).

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34 D. Rook and P. Swan

own animals, whatever other parties might 3.2.6 Conclusion

perceive to be the potential ‘cruelty’ of the act.
The catchphrase ‘death is not a welfare issue’ Personal interpretations and opinions of
is borne out by the law and it then remains what constitutes unnecessary suffering will
a matter of ethical and physiological debate, vary widely. The aim of the legal process is to
dependent on the situation and method of examine the detail of each case and apply
­killing used. tests as objectively and uniformly as possible.

References

Dawkins, M.S. (2008) The science of animal suffering. Ethology 111(10), 937–945.
Gregory, N. (2004) Physiology and Behaviour of Animal Suffering. Blackwell, Oxford, UK.
Mason, G. and Mendl, M. (1993) Why is there no simple way of measuring animal welfare? Animal Welfare
2, 312.
Radford, M. (2001) Animal Welfare Law in Britain. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
RSPCA and Royal Commission (1876) Vivisection, 2nd edn. Smith, Elder & Co., London, UK. Introduction, p. iii.
Available online at: https://ia600302.us.archive.org/18/items/vivisection00unkngoog/vivisection00unkngoog.
pdf (accessed 8 January 2016).
Webster, J. (1994) Animal Welfare: A Cool Eye towards Eden. Blackwell Science, Oxford, UK.

www.pdflobby.com
 4 Forensic Science and Applications
to One Health

Lloyd Reeve-Johnson1* and David Bailey2*

1
Institute of Health and BioMedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology,
Brisbane, Australia and Principal Research Fellow, Translational Research Institute,
Brisbane, Australia; 2Department of Forensic and Crime Science, Staffordshire
University, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK

4.1 Introduction 35
4.2 The Need for Translational Research and One Health Collaborations 39
4.3 Why Interest in One Health Now? 41
4.4 Macro-economic Issues of the 21st Century Where Animal Health-based
Innovation is Integral to Human Survival 43
4.4.1 Food production and security 43
4.4.2 Energy demands 43
4.4.3 Poverty 43
4.4.4 Zoonotic disease 44
4.4.5 Environmental disaster relief 45
4.4.5.1 Ethical use of animals 46
4.4.6 Mental health 46
4.4.7 Cloning, embryo research and genetic manipulation 46
4.4.8 Toxicology 47
4.4.9 In summary 47
4.5 Core Objectives for Successful One Health Collaborations 47
4.6 Conclusions 48

4.1 Introduction in terms of quality, it does not provide any

criteria to define the term ‘quality’ of evidence.
David Bailey The pyramid in Fig. 4.1 is widely used as an
accepted tool to rank the quality and strength
Currently (in 2015) in the UK there are scien- of evidence used to base clinical decisions
tific databases being constructed and built upon in veterinary science, yet it is a tool
for the use and application of evidence-based that demonstrates caution in the over-use of
veterinary medicine. But while the hierarchy personal experience in the application of
of evidence for evidence-based medicine evidence-based medicine and the construc-
leaves expert opinion as the lowest-ranked tion of an evidence-based medicine tool.

*Corresponding authors: [email protected]; [email protected]

© CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey) 35

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36 L. Reeve-Johnson and D. Bailey

Systematic
reviews

Randomised control trials

Cohort studies

Case reports

Expert opinion

Fig. 4.1. Schematic representation of the ‘hierarchy of evidence’.

In contrast, the use and application of expert predicting what is going to happen in bio-
opinion is the preferred method of dealing logical systems. Evidence-based medicine
with disputes as they arrive and progress will tell you what should happen, but it is
through the judicial process, and the use and precise at telling you exactly what has
reliance of meta-analyses and other higher happened and therefore what you should
‘quality’ indicators are not the preferred tools expect to happen if you follow the same pro-
for use in a legal dispute. The hierarchy cess, conditions and methodology. A scientist
of ‘quality’ of evidence is flipped upside should be able to tell you the outcome under
down in a legal dispute, with professional different processes, dates, times and places
opinion being the preferred tool on top of this based on the available evidence, and the
judicial pyramid of strength and quality of available evidence cannot do this. Only the
evidence. Here is an important difference in scientist can.
the acceptance of forensic science into the Personal opinion can be stress-tested under
scientific world. The higher ‘quality’ indica- examination-in-chief and cross-examination,
tors reserved for non-legal academic dis- and all the randomized controlled trials and
putes are fixed in dried ink and are set like meta-analyses cannot do what an expert can
concrete, unable to answer, bend, yield or do under questioning – that is, to change its
provide answers to that single inevitable mind and deliver a different possible out-
marginal example query that is asked of an come, result, interpretation or conclusion
opposing barrister, that a person can pro- under appropriate adversarial questioning.
cess, analyse and construct the appropriate This is a major difference between evidence-
answer to only under oath. Courts prefer sci- based medicine and evidence-based testimony.
entists, and not science, to answer questions. In evidence-based medicine, one allows
Evidence-based medicine is very good at the findings of the studies and trials to navi-
telling you what would have happened gate our opinion toward a reliable, accepted
and what has happened, but very poor at and verifiable outcome and conclusion. It is

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 Forensic Science and Applications to One Health 37

safe, but sometimes narrow in application. is required before an understanding of

In evidence-based testimony, one reads the translational research can be enjoyed.
appropriate studies, literature and avail- While One Health can be used to de-
able material and provides another layer of scribe a world with no boundaries between
reliability that science despises: we allow species in terms of disease, health and wel-
our interpretation and our own experiences fare, the understanding of the One Health
and application of this material to cover concept requires an understanding of the
areas which may not be presented in the scientific evidence-based medicine process.
available literature. It is not as safe, but has Any potential application of legal issues
a wider application. In the former, you have that can potentially stem from One Health
your opinion handed to you and it is flanked issues require a translation and transition
by descriptors such as ‘best practice’, ‘gold away from how we understand and apply
standard’ and ‘good guidance’, along with science to One Health research and how we
the inevitable inclusion ‘the available evi- again apply this science differently to legal
dence leads us to conclude … ’. In the lat- disputes. The science doesn’t change be-
ter, you seek your own interpretation and tween evidence-based clinical science on
opinion from your own analysis of the the one hand and forensic science on the
available evidence as it applies to the dis- other, but the application and understand-
pute, the material and the questions in ing of how it is applied between clinical sci-
front of you. ence and forensic science does change.
And while the use of the word ‘evidence’ An understanding of science allows us
is being used in both evidence-based medi- the tools to evaluate the scientific use of cer-
cine and evidence-based legal disputes, a tain advances, methods and research. The
translation is required of what the two uses forensic application of science allows us to
of the word ‘evidence’ mean; this translation apply what we know to a legal arena. Trans-
can be summed up visually by inverting the lational science is a descriptor which al-
pyramid of evidence hierarchy. lows us to understand the journey through
Translational research is the term scientific research into legal application,
adapted to explain the difference between when the science has not changed but the
evidence-based medicine and bridging application has. Problems can arise when
the research results between species, patho- one person has the ability or power to evalu-
gens and situations. And while One Health ate all of the available material, and make a
can be used as a descriptor to bridge the decision based on his or her translation and
­research results between human and non-­ interpretation of that material into practice.
human species, the use and application Politicians are usually best placed to make
of forensic science to research of the spe- these decisions, and errors in translation are
cies is also a translational research rela- often seen at this political level. Where
tionship that requires an inverting of there are political factors involved in any
the hierarchy of quality evidence that is scientific process, then the hierarchy pyra-
used in all research. You need to know the mid is not inverted; it may be replaced with
­subject, know it well and provide inter- other non-scientific factors that reinforce
pretation to the relevant questions; and the political stance on a certain scientific ar-
while your opinion is of little value in gument. It is at this level, where scientific
­evidence-based medicine, it is of the high- process is no longer useful and forensic
est value in a legal dispute of evidence-based opinion hierarchies are not required, that
medicine. the scientist in us is allowed to be removed
This translational research requires the from the decision-making process. Thus
hierarchy of ‘quality’ evidence to be flipped there is the emergence and translation of
upside down when making the transition pure science through the forensic applica-
from evidence-based medicine to evidence- tion into a tool of the political process;
based legal disputes. The two are not the understanding this limit of our input is as
same, and an understanding of the concept important as the understanding of how we

www.pdflobby.com
38 L. Reeve-Johnson and D. Bailey

input into decisions and findings as scien- r­andomized study trials and five out of six
tists, and how we alter our application of non-randomized studies had already been
science as legal scientists. contradicted (Young et al., 2008).
Human health care is transforming,
Lloyd Reeve-Johnson largely to seek more cost efficiency. Funding
is increasingly linked to superior societal out-
The majority of the world’s population live comes. Technology is necessary, but not suffi-
in urban or semi-urbanized environments. In cient, and is constantly adapting to the reality
the 21st century, humans tend to perceive of competing for resources and optimizing re-
the world around them as being shaped more source reallocation. The true value of time,
by culture, industry and themselves than knowledge and insight of translational ap-
by natural history. Vital to understanding, proaches to societal goals, including pre-­
controlling or eradicating disease is a sound clinical phases of human health care and the
understanding of the origins, evolution and res- innovation that underpins incremental food
ervoirs of infection, and interactions between production, remains to be fully captured. Ani-
different species and potential pathogens. mals suffer from many of the same chronic
Translational research implies understanding diseases as humans, including heart disease,
the health, husbandry and physiology of dif- cancer, diabetes, asthma and arthritis. Some-
ferent species, as well as the influence of their times a disease entity is recognized in animals
local environment, before findings can be ap- long before it is recognized in humans. The
plied to different situations. This increases concept of comparative medicine was under-
the chances of achieving medical research stood by the ancient Greeks and dissection
outcomes that are sustainable, effective in and studying of animals has long been used to
practical situations, and attuned to the im- understand human diseases (Olsson, 1969).
pact on other species and the environment. Comparative anatomical and physiological
Incorporating a broad perspective of the epi- studies have been responsible for significant
demiology of diseases results in improve- advances in medicine: Banting and Best dis-
ments in research quality and efficiency. covered insulin through such work, and Edward
Consideration of multiple dimensions of Jenner developed the smallpox vaccination
host–pathogen interactions and the physi- based upon observations of cow pox.
ology of health greatly strengthens the object- While translational research considers
ivity of evidence upon which medical deci- issues of bridging research results between
sions are ultimately made. species, pathogens or situations, the macro-­
Research in humans is constrained by per- view of interconnectedness between all
sonal preferences, lifestyle, religion, culture health issues has been branded with titles
and ethical boundaries. These factors limit en- such as World Health, One Medicine, Global
rolment, restrict randomization, ­decrease ex- Health and more recently One Health. Def-
perimental control, confound results and slow initions embrace a common theme of col-
progress in comparison to the experimental laboration between multiple disciplines,
study conditions typical of animal science re- working locally, nationally and globally to
search. Evidence-based medicine has been attain optimal health for people, animals
strongly advocated for many years, yet human and the environment (American Veterinary
studies used to generate medical evidence are Medical Association, 2008). In an era of
undermined by the above factors and rely on specialization, the alarming breadth of this
sample populations that differ from patient ­definition should not detract from the import-
populations in health-status, age, race and ance of communicating collaborative cross-­
multiple other ways, due to unavoidable disciplinary approaches to medical research,
sources of study bias. This was highlighted and of stimulating funding bodies to provide
in a review of 49 of the most-cited papers on necessary incentives for collaboration to
the effectiveness of medical interventions in occur. As illustrated in the list below, the im-
highly visible journals between 1990 and 2004. portance of collaborations has been formally
It was found that by 2005 a quarter of the accepted by many international organizations.

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 Forensic Science and Applications to One Health 39

What remains to be seen is how effectively potential to benefit from health care, nutri-
these collaborations will be organized, which tional and other medical innovations. They
ultimately determines whether they will are also likely to live in closest proximity to
fulfil their potential. animals often to the point of interdepend-
Examples of major organizations which ence for economic, nutritional and health
have formally adopted One Health in their goals. Besides ethical imperatives there are
formal agendas include the following. commercial opportunities to offer health so-
lutions to this population. Empirical meas-
1. USA: American Medical Association,
ures of the behaviour of the world’s poorest
American Veterinary Medical Association,
consumers ‘and their aggregate purchasing
American Academy of Pediatrics, American
power suggest significant opportunities for
Nurses Association, American Association of
market-based approaches to better meet their
Public Health Physicians, American Society
needs, increase their productivity and in-
of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Centers
comes, and empower their entry into the for-
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
mal economy’ (Hammond et al., 2007, p. 3).
United States Department of Agriculture
Besides altruistic motives, eradicating infec-
(USDA), US National Environmental Health
tion among the poorest makes disease trans-
Association (NEHA), and a number of univer-
fer to others less likely. Increasing occurrence
sity centres focused on One Health research.
of viral and bacterial resistance to treatments
2. European Union: Belgium: Institute of
that are only affordable in affluent communi-
Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. Sweden: De-
ties, provides motivation to minimize reser-
partment of Animal Health; The Infection,
voirs of infection elsewhere. Translational
Ecology and Epidemiology Network, Uni-
approaches to health care are highly relevant
versity of Uppsala, founded an inaugural
to many macro-economic challenges of the
Chair in 2012 in Integrative Biology. UK:
future including: food production, poverty,
British Veterinary Association; a new Veter-
disease spread, disaster relief, sustainability,
inary School at the University of Surrey has
affordable health care provision, antimicro-
pledged to differentiate by making One
bial resistance and psychosocial issues.
Health central to their teaching of veterin-
In 2010 global GDP approached US$70
ary students; the Royal Veterinary College
trillion with human health care expenditure
in London and the Royal (Dick) School of
of US$5.95 trillion (pharmaceuticals ac-
Veterinary Studies of Edinburgh University
counted for US$850 billion) and human re-
recently established new academic staff
tail food expenditure $4 trillion. The capital-
positions in One Health. The European As-
ized value of animal health delivery was tiny
sociation for Veterinary Pharmacology and
in comparison at US$20 billion. The point is
Toxicology held its first session on the topic
that animal health is substantially under-
in Amsterdam in 2012.
valued in terms of market capitalization when
3. Other global organizations: The World
the value added to other industries is taken into
Bank, World Health Organization, Food and
account. Animal research has a vastly dispro-
Agriculture Organization, World Organization
portionate influence on other markets. It is
for Animal Health, Global Alliance for Rabies
firmly placed at the meeting point of two
Control and The Gates Foundation.
dominant markets: human health and nutri-
tion, and impacts other major markets includ-
ing energy production (see Fig. 4.2). Animals
4.2 The Need for Translational provide: the test-bed for mammalian genetic
Research and One Health Collaborations research into food productivity and repro-
duction; testing of human medical and surgi-
In 2010, the human population surpassed cal innovations; pre-clinical pharmacology
7 billion and is set to reach 9 billion by 2050. and toxicology; and function as sentinels in
Four billion people earn less than US$3000 disease surveillance. Pharmaceutical com-
per year (the majority of the world’s popula- panies ­recoup development costs of products
tion). The world’s poorest have the greatest which fail regulatory scrutiny for human use,

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40 L. Reeve-Johnson and D. Bailey

Human
retail food n
market ha Disease
rp gs sentinels
US$ 4 × 1012 O ru
d Animal
health
market
Genetic Zo
technologies on
os S

Pharmacological
es ur
g
R& ical
D

R&D
Global GDP, 2011
US$ 70 × 1012

Human healthcare market

US$ 5.95 × 1012

Fig. 4.2. Schematic diagram of approximate market sizes and the interrelationship between expenditure on
human health care, human food, animal health care and subsidiary markets.

and commercialize related molecules in ani- of physiology, possible toxic reactions, or dif-
mal health that were developed alongside ferent ways to harness biological systems.
lead candidates for human use. When patent Participants in animal aspects of comparative
protection in humans expires the animal medicine have for many years failed to adopt
health market provides additional patent op- a macro-economic approach to quantify their
portunities against generic competition. There societal impact and ensure this is valued as
is huge value remaining to be captured through effectively as contributions by medical profes-
improving our ability to ‘translate’ animal sionals. This includes knowledge management
physiology to relevant human contexts and and the downstream impact of information
vice versa. Animal models are much more and subsequent technological development.
flexible, scientifically controllable, repeatable, The majority of the world’s population
less costly and results can generally be ob- still lives in close proximity to animals, and
tained much more rapidly with shorter gen- control of zoonotic disease remains vital to
eration times than in human research (Reeve-­ public health. The propensity to travel inter-
Johnson, 1998). nationally extends the risk of pandemic in-
Medical and surgical interventions pion- fection to all communities. Despite this,
eered in animals contribute greatly to the clinical veterinary and medical research have
quality of life and longevity of humans. There remained remarkably independent with sig-
is a traditional ‘linear’ view of pre-clinical nificant lag-time in adopting innovation be-
testing from animals to humans which loses tween professions. The musculoskeletal sys-
sight of the continuum of results relevant to tem is well suited to comparative medicine.
multiple health issues that can be interpreted Information gained from one species can be
across species. No animal is an exact replica translated to others, advancing diagnosis
of another, yet each animal species provides a and treatment.
new window of enlightenment − each a differ- Since the early 1930s, comparative ortho­
ent perspective of an incomplete picture into paedic research has incorporated the One
potential applications for products, adaptation Health concept. Otto Stader, a veterinarian,

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 Forensic Science and Applications to One Health 41

used a comparative medicine approach and for use in animals (Reeve-Johnson, 1999). Given
developed the first form of external skeletal that it was possible to gain elective necropsy
fixation, the Stader splint to stabilize fractures comparisons at each stage of the disease in
in dogs. During the Second World War, Navy these animals to compare clinical and patho-
surgeons improved the treatment of fractures logical measures directly (which clearly could
in sailors by incorporating Stader’s advances. not be done in humans), this highlights the
During the 1940s and 1950s, another veterin- importance of understanding differences in
arian, Jacques Jenny, performed one of the first the way diseases manifest in different spe-
intra-medullary pinning procedures in animals cies. It also raises the question of validity of
and significantly advanced fracture repair strat- a variety of traditional clinical signs used in
egies in horses and humans. In 1966, Sten-Erik humans as prognostic indicators.
Olsson and John L. Marshall, both of whom Changes in antimicrobial resistance pat-
had medical and veterinary medical degrees, terns have been highlighted as a serious threat
founded the first laboratory dedicated to com- to global public health. The World Health
parative orthopaedic research at the Hospital ­Organization raises the possibility of a post-­
for Special Surgery in New York. In the 21st antibiotic era in the 21st century where com-
century, comparative orthopaedic laboratories mon infections and minor injuries are fatal
are located throughout the world and use both (World Health Organization, 2014). This is an
comparative and translational research ap- area of mutual concern to both human and
proaches in an effort to improve diagnostic veterinary health. However, the answer is not
capabilities, enhance preventive and thera- as simple as restricting antibiotic use. Treat-
peutic strategies, and advance the understand- ment and prevention strategies differ between
ing of disease mechanisms. Advances in species and this relates to husbandry as much
fracture fixation, total joint replacement, and as to pathogenesis. Hospital antibiotic use
cartilage repair are examples of how knowledge poses the highest risk of selecting for resistant
flows in both directions, to benefit both human pathogens in human populations. The practi-
and animal health (Cook and Arnoczky, 2009). calities of entire flock medication in feed or
watering systems for animals dismay medics;
however, repeated studies generally fail to show
a link to human health. Although initially
4.3 Why Interest in One Health Now? counter-­intuitive, this is better understood in
the context of strictly enforced antibiotic with-
The cost of human health care coupled with drawal periods before slaughter and food-chain
ageing populations is a major economic entry, competitive exclusion of human patho-
burden to developed countries. Diseases gens by natural flora better suited to the gut of
such as diabetes mellitus and dementia rep- healthy animals, lack of contact on commer-
resent a growing threat, not only to patients, cial farms with typical human pathogens, the
but to our ability to keep human health care lack of viable human pathogens in situations
affordable. A critical role for new medicines that antibiotics are used on farms, and even the
will be prevention, treatment and manage- potential for benefit through use due to a de-
ment of diseases suffered by an increasingly crease in bio-burden (e.g. Salmonellae and
ageing population. There are animal models coliform bacteria) that may become patho-
for many ‘human’ diseases. What is often genic if allowed to persist to the time of meat
lacking is relating clinical reference points processing.
and applying these across species. As one Advances in health-oriented telecommu-
example, research into the objectivity of nications, medical imaging, massive database
using traditional clinical signs to measure capacity, memory miniaturization, satellite
disease severity in animals with respiratory technology, and other information systems are
infections showed poor correlation between all fundamentally changing the organization
three species, yet these measures are routinely of health care. These technologies allow doc-
used to justify regulatory approval of new tors to communicate more easily and quickly
antibiotics and other therapeutic products and facilitate multidiscipline collaboration.

www.pdflobby.com
42 L. Reeve-Johnson and D. Bailey

Health care managers can drive systems in unique needs. The capability is already avail-
real time. Consumer awareness about health able in the databases of the largest veterinary
is better than ever before and through the use practices, yet this prototype for much larger
of interactive cable systems, online forums, and more costly human versions has not been
and personal health information systems, this fully leveraged.
can occur easily in remote locations, as occurs The expectation of ‘personalized medi-
with the Telehealth and e-Health initiatives, cine’ is that screening will reveal whether an
such as that run by the Australian College of individual is likely to respond well to a
Rural and Remote Medicine (­ACRRM). Between drug, highlight risk factors and avoid toxic
2000 and 2005 the number of mobile phone side effects. A targeted approach to treatment
subscribers globally grew more than fivefold to can ensure that each patient receives the right
1.4 billion. The greatest growth is now in de- medicine at the right time. One example is
veloping countries. This provides massive op- screening for Human Estrogen Receptor (HER)
portunities for outreach, training and remote display to determine treatment and prognosis
medical access in disadvantaged communities. in the management of breast cancer. Since
Electronic medical records, once devel- molecular diagnostic tests can r­eveal a pa-
oped into national databases, have the ability tient’s susceptibility to disease, they can also
to radically change the way patients interact guide preventive treatment ­before symptoms
with health professionals and provide pa- arise. The emergence of personalized medi-
tients with the ability to engage more fully in cine will shift the focus of medical care from
their own health care. They allow costs to be ‘disease treatment’ to ‘health care management’.
monitored and more cost-efficient ways of Many animal genomes were mapped before
allocating public funding to be derived. Pa- the human genome. The use of genetic mark-
tients can schedule appointments, receive ers to screen populations for risk factors are
reminders or review test results. The explan- being developed. Increasingly, therapeutics
ation of medical terminology can be included, will be guided by predictive evidence from
taking cost out of the system and allowing genetic and other molecular tests. Safety
the savings to be reallocated to areas of need. evaluations will continue to use animal toxi-
This is already in place with current soft- cology as a final screen, and disease models
ware for veterinary patient care which pro- in animals will continue to play a role in the
vides a useful prototype with less concern evaluation of the safety and efficacy of new
on potential privacy issues and an ability to pharmaceuticals in the future.
make refinements before application in human New modes of pharmaceutical research
medicine. Algorithms, predictive modelling to go beyond high throughput screening trial-­
draw on billions of specific health indicators, and-error approaches to molecular design:
outcomes from laboratory data and clinical microorganisms may be genetically modi-
information, and even insurance claim his- fied to carry out specific tasks, lock onto spe-
tory can comprehensively describe an indi- cific receptor sites in the body, or target patho-
vidual patient’s health status. Using the rules gens. Nanotechnology, the science of building
of probability, a computer can weigh the data molecular-scale machines, also holds the
against a patient’s particular needs and help promise of a completely new type of treat-
the clinician determine which treatment ­option ment, from a translational science approach
is most likely to work. Other algorithms take between engineering and medicine. Tiny
sets of rules for how to treat a disease or con- machines with the tools and intelligence to
dition and translate them into formulae de- perform specific tasks are being developed
rived by a peer-reviewed system within each to kill viruses, repair cells, and manufacture
health speciality, which generates a compre- proteins or enzymes.
hensive list of treatment options useful for The biggest immediate impact of health
remote diagnosis and treatment. Using a care innovation is likely to be more effective
computer or handheld device, the physician use of the techniques that we already have.
can use an algorithm to get a treatment plan Improvements in efficiency require integrating
that is based on best practices and the patient’s our understanding across different paradigms

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 Forensic Science and Applications to One Health 43

and the willingness to implement changes The scale of problems that can arise
to current practice. This includes better when an integrated approach is not taken to
pharmaco-vigilance data, leading to changes either biological or chemical contamination
to dosage regimens, manage­ment of external is vast. Many cooked meat factories can pro-
sources of infection, and immune modula- cess in excess of 1000 t of meat each week
tion of patients. There is still much progress (approximately 20 million individual serv-
to be made in refining the use of existing ings). These meat products move rapidly
treatment options. In developing countries, into a very diverse range of products distrib-
many easily solvable health problems require uted internationally, e.g. sandwiches, tinned
improved access to treatment and innovative foods, pizza toppings. In 2008 a product from
ways of providing cheap and locally avail- a cooked meat factory in Canada ­ became
able preventive measures rather than new contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes
technology per se. Approaches that also in- and resulted in 26 deaths (Attaran et al., 2008).
corporate the interdependent health status of The same year in China, contamination of
humans who live in close proximity with ani- dairy products with melamine caused over
mals (including vectors) will have most effect. 300,000 babies to fall ill, with 53,000 being
In human medicine, despite huge budgets, hospitalized, six deaths, and mass product
reducing cost is a major driver for change. In withdrawals in many countries (Wall, 2014).
contrast, veterinary medicine has always
been cost-constrained and has evolved with a
culture of seeking cost-­ efficiency, limiting 4.4.2 Energy demands
diagnostic testing to the essential, and the
ability to demonstrate return on ­investment The only market that exceeds human food
to a full fee-paying clientele (akin to countries sales or health care in size is the consump-
where there is no social security safety net). tion of energy. In 2008 global energy use
There are also differences in diagnostic trad- was 11.29 billion t of oil equivalent, at 7.33
ition, where human medicine prioritizes billion barrels/t. This equates to 82.8 billion
clinical history above the physical examin- barrels (bbl). Multiplied by US$85–100/bbl
ation, while veterinarians have been shown = US$7.0–8.3 trillion, or 10–12% of global
to minimize collateral history-taking from GDP. This is relevant to food production
owners and rely predominantly on physical ­because in 2011 it was reported that 40%
examination of patients to form initial diag- of America’s wheat crop was being used to
noses (Reeve-­Johnson, 2012). There are still provide just 8% of their fuel needs for
huge amounts that each medical discipline ­vehicles (The Economist, 2011, p. 4). The
can learn from the other. European Union has a target of 10% biofuel.
This has a substantial effect by pushing up
the price of food for humans and animal
production. Veterinary drugs used to alter
4.4 Macro-economic Issues of the 21st
fermentation in the rumen have been ap-
Century Where Animal Health-based plied to selectively enhance fermentative
Innovation is Integral to Human Survival ethanol production, decreasing the amount
of wheat diverted to the biofuel market.
4.4.1 Food production and security This market is sustained by the world’s de-
veloped economies, but results in increases
Food and Agricultural Organization figures in the price of food, causing a dispropor-
indicate that total demand for food will rise tionate burden on the world’s poorest.
70% in the 44 years from 2006 to 2050.
Meat demand in particular is predicted to
increase strongly and it is forecast that, by 4.4.3 Poverty
2050, double the current level will need to
be produced (The Economist, 2011, p. 6). Four billion low-income people, the major-
ity of the world’s population, constitute the

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44 L. Reeve-Johnson and D. Bailey

base of the economic pyramid. However, other blood and vector-­borne viral diseases) in-
their aggregate purchasing power suggests volve animal reservoirs of infection. Tangible
significant opportunities for market-based savings in human health costs, human mor-
approaches to better meet their needs, in- bidity and mortality can be attributed directly
crease their productivity and incomes, and to implementation of animal health measures.
to empower their entry into the formal econ- The vector-borne disease accounting for the
omy. Their purchasing power constitutes highest mortality is malaria, thought to kill
US$5 trillion (over 7% of the global econ- over 1.2 million people each year, mostly Afri-
omy (Hammond et al., 2007). They need can children under the age of five. Dengue
cheap food, have the lowest life expectancies fever is also rapidly re-­emerging as a major
and would benefit disproportionately from threat, along with the chikungunya virus
breakthrough innovations in malaria and tu- (CKV), now spreading through the Americas
berculosis prevention. Furthermore, these and Caribbean.
people represent nearly 60% of our popula- Graphic examples of vector-borne vir-
tion and ethically deserve to have better lives uses that have recently ‘jumped’ large dis-
as a consequence of innovations that result tances include West Nile Virus in the USA,
from those with adequate funding, time and African Swine Fever in the European Cau-
facilities to undertake research. Figure 4.3 casus, and Bluetongue in Benelux (Oura,
shows the predominant expenditure of this 2014). A recent report also demonstrated an
sector of our population on food. increase in the altitude of malaria distribu-
This sector of the human population is tion in warmer years (Siraj et al., 2014),
predominantly rural, depends directly on which implies potential for increased malar-
agriculture for their food sources and has a ial infections in the densely populated high-
greater likelihood of living in close proxim- lands of Africa and South America.
ity with animals, sharing their diseases or In 2000 Saudi Arabia experienced an
starving if their animals die. The impact of outbreak of Rift Valley Fever, which not
animal health care is not recognized by for- only resulted in abortions in 60–90% of
mal accounting measures to quantify human infected animals, but it was estimated
­
disease prevention or nutritional benefits to that 40,000 sheep, goats and camels died
the majority of the human population. Al- (­Al-Afaleo and Hussein, 2001). In addition,
though Africa has made the first progress in Rift Valley Fever cases in people, manifest-
early adoption of One Health approaches, ing as unexplained haemorrhagic fever, were
Fig. 4.4 illustrates that the majority of health reported in people living in close proximity
care expenditure by the world’s poorest to affected animals: 883 human cases were
communities at the Base of the Economic reported, resulting in 124 human deaths
Pyramid is in Asia. (Balkhy and Memish, 2003).
The ability to promptly diagnose out-
breaks in animals and humans, understand
4.4.4 Zoonotic disease vector biology and the epidemiology of
pathogen interactions in different environ-
Management in humans tends to fall into the ments, manage water and other environment-­
sphere of human health specialists. General based control measures, as well as treat and
practitioners in human health in developed prevent disease in humans and animals, il-
economies have less daily contact with endo lustrates the need for collaboration of mul-
and ecto parasites than veterinarians in routine tiple disciplines to achieve cost-­ effective,
practice. The expertise in managing popula- sustainable outcomes. This is particularly
tions gained by poultry and swine specialists is important in developing countries, where
especially relevant to containing and prevent- financial and technological hurdles are
ing viral pandemics, and is underutilized out- greatest, and when responding to bioterror-
side the field. The epidemiology of many of the ism, where animals may be early-warning
world’s major diseases (tuberculosis, malaria, sentinels and need to be managed as part of
gastro-enteric infections, influenza virus or containment strategies.

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 Forensic Science and Applications to One Health 45

Estimated BOP market by sector

$5 trillion

ICT TRANSPORTATION
HEALTH

OTHER
WATER

ENERGY

FOOD

HOUSING

WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE

Fig. 4.3. Estimated Base of Economic Pyramid (BOP) market by sector.

4.4.5 Environmental disaster relief s­ upplies of imported food and medical aid;
this has not solved the problems of sustain-
Shortage of food supplies around the world ability. Veterinary insight into animal pro-
causes increasing concern. Adverse cli- duction, zoonotic disease control, animal
matic conditions have brought famine to pathology, sanitation, public health and de-
areas of the world not suited to crop pro- veloping sustainable solutions has not as-
duction. The most sustainable food source sumed a position of leadership. The skills
remains animals converting the sparse imparted by a quality veterinary education
vegetation to protein in the form of meat, closely match the range of skills needed to
milk or eggs. Disaster relief has repeatedly attain sustainable human solutions in these
focused on humanitarian aid, temporary
­ situations.

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46 L. Reeve-Johnson and D. Bailey

BOP spending on health

$ 158.4 billion
$ billions (PPP)
Africa 18.0
Asia 95.5
Eastern Europe 20.9
Latin America 24.0
Each square represents
approximately $500 million

WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE

Fig. 4.4. Base of Economic Pyramid (BOP) spending on health.

4.4.5.1 Ethical use of animals diagnoses, criterion referenced databases

comparable to the Diagnostic and Statistical
The measurement and quantification of pain Manual (DSM) is needed for animals. Veter-
in animals and humans has long presented inary specialists with a good understanding of
problems. Anthropomorphic approaches to human psychology are best placed to do this
animal pain assessment, although widely and this is likely to enhance our understand-
used, are of limited use because human re- ing of human psychology. Many of the senti-
sponses to pain are influenced by the ability nel experiments done in previous centuries
to communicate, dependence on social (e.g. by Skinner on operant conditioning and
groups, learned social behaviour, and have learning, or imprinting and attachment theory
variable individual psychological dimen- by Douglas Spalding and Konrad Lorenz, or
sions (Livingston, 2002). Our research indi- Ivan Pavlov with conditioned responses and
cated that 80% of veterinarians diagnose the ethology of aggression and ‘flight or fight’
pain via a clinical examination of the patient survival responses) were done on animals
and titrate treatment accordingly. In con- and still form the basis of our understanding
trast, medical general practitioners relied of human conditions and therapy. Yet, veter-
95% of the time on the patient’s description inary and medical disciplines continue to
of pain in the clinical history and 70% of diverge as each becomes more specialized.
patients with pain lasting over 60 days were
referred for specialist opinion. Less than
10% of veterinary patients were referred for 4.4.7 Cloning, embryo research
specialist treatment (Reeve-Johnson, 2012). and genetic manipulation

Therapeutic cloning, reproductive cloning

4.4.6 Mental health and replacement cloning have the potential
to change medical and surgical treatment
There is a large body of often unstructured for hitherto untreatable inherited condi-
and anecdotal literature on animal–human tions as well as acquired ones. Research is
relationships, with claims of improvements usually restricted to animals until the later
of various medical conditions, including stages of development. Food production
neurological rehabilitation or epilepsy (Latter, through increased fecundity, disease resist-
1995). Yet, we understand almost nothing ance, improved growth and production,
of the psychology of animals. Even human represents a fundamental hope for produ-
psychology is one of the more recent med- cing greater amounts of food for the world’s
ical disciplines. To objectivize psychological population at lower cost.

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 Forensic Science and Applications to One Health 47

4.4.8 Toxicology environments, including conflict zones or

poverty-stricken regions with little access to
Toxicology will continue to diversify and, technology, as well as major economies with
regardless of whether from a veterinary or socialized medicine. Our interdependence
medical background, will increasingly in- is greater than ever before. While conflict
volve integrating computational and syn- zones may represent reservoirs of infection
thetic chemistry, proteomics, metabolomics, which lack infrastructure, developed coun-
bioinformatics and molecular epidemiology. tries contribute to bacterial and viral resist-
Toxicogenomics and nanotoxicology will ance to treatment through overuse of medi-
become increasingly mainstream, while en- cines. Global markets, travel and animal
vironmental toxicology will continue to be movement can distribute contamination
an area of increasing concern, to limit the rapidly, while climate changes alter vector
effects of the dwindling natural resources. In habitats, and national boundaries rapidly
forensic toxicology and medical toxicology, become irrelevant. To succeed, One Health
there is great scope for more interprofession- advocates the need to be mindful of a few
al interaction. Animal studies still form the core objectives.
basis of carcinogenicity testing, residue de-
pletion and degradation studies, where con-
ditions can be replicated in ways that could
not be done in humans.
4.5 Core Objectives for Successful
One Health Collaborations

• There should be no hierarchy between

4.4.9 In summary contributors: doctors, veterinarians, en-
gineers, economists and others all meet
One Health is nothing new. Comparative on an equal footing, as specialists in nar-
medicine has been with us from the begin- row fields collaborating to create broad
ning. The sheer breadth of the definition, solutions that are practical and sustain-
however, presents a paradox in an age where able. None should be viewed in the One
the quest for specialization in medical re- Health group as having ownership, as this
search has made us increasingly myopic quickly undermines motivation of others.
with regard to implementation of global so- • One Health agendas should be driven by
lutions. One Health was reinvigorated as a agreed measurable clinical end points.
concept by the threat of pandemic disease at • Business administration, cost manage-
the beginning of the 21st century. Most not- ment and commercialization are vital skill
ably the threat of Avian Influenza HPAI components to ensure sustainability.
H5N1 in 2004, where the potential for up to • The human may be the most valued
50 million human deaths was raised, and species to some, but vectors, patho-
the problem was clearly both a human and gens and climatic conditions have no
animal health issue (Gibbs, 2014). The glo- such pretensions. Knowledge of host–­
bal society in which we live provides greater pathogen interactions within each species
opportunity for pathogen distribution and provides new perspectives, and possi-
health threats than the capacity of the health bilities for comprehensive solutions.
system of any single nation or international • Accurate joint communication endeav-
organization. Efficiency, economics and sus- ours in journals, at conferences, with
tainability of responses strongly suggest news media and with policy makers, is
there is much to be gained from stepping more helpful than segregating research
back from the minutiae of hyper-specialized into ‘human versus animal’ components.
medical research, to consider wider macro­- • Multi-species epidemiological and dis-
economic impact and the practicalities of af- ease transmission studies are more likely
fordable implementation. In practice, global to lead to a sustainable solution than fo-
responses need to be implemented in d ­ iverse cusing on the human component alone.

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48 L. Reeve-Johnson and D. Bailey

• Joint development, evaluation and util- The participants in animal aspects of com-
ization of new diagnostic methods, medi- parative medicine need to adopt an econ-
cines and vaccines will lead to better omist’s approach to quantify the wider
prevention and control of diseases if ap- ­societal value of their activities, and en-
plied across multiple species. sure that these are valued as highly as the
contributions of the medical professions.
This includes knowledge management and
4.6 Conclusions valuing the downstream impact of informa-
tion and technological development. Invest-
The veterinary specialities are in a prime ment needs to be linked to new technology
position to increase collaboration and cross-­ to ensure that health care systems reward
fertilization of knowledge with human superior societal outcomes, not just local
medical and food production sectors. In- service or streamlining existing practice.
deed it is from the veterinary specialities Technology is necessary but is not a suffi-
that impetus must come. They have the cient response – it is only one aspect of a
breadth of knowledge and are accustomed complex society that needs to constantly
to working across species and scientific dis- adapt to the reality of competing for re-
ciplines. The veterinary sector has become sources and optimizing resource realloca-
the poor relation to its human medical tion. Clear data sets and economic analyses
counterpart in terms of research funding are the basis of s­ ecuring ­future funding. The
because of the lack of recognition of the
­ vast majority of funding will always be dedi-
­importance of a much broader approach to cated to human issues. It is vital that those
solving global health problems than focus- from a veterinary or animal science back-
ing on studies designed to extract statistical ground involved in translational research
evidence from subsets of human patients. recognize the true value of their time, know-
Human health care is transforming, ledge, ­insight and career development to so-
largely to seek more cost efficiency. This is a cietal goals beyond the animal health mar-
time of particular importance to ensure that ket, including pre-­clinical phases of human
the perception of the role of veterinary phar- health care and the innovation that under-
macologists, toxicologists and practitioners pins incremental food production, and pro-
is wider than securing the health of ­animals. vide economic justifications to support this.

References

Al-Afaleo, A.I. and Hussein, M.F. (2001) The status of Rift Valley fever in animals in Saudi Arabia: a mini re-
view. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 11, 1513–1520.
American Veterinary Medical Association (2008) One Health: A New Professional Imperative. One Health
Initiative Task Force: final report. Available online at: https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Reports/
Documents/onehealth_final.pdf (accessed 18 September 2015).
Attaran, A., MacDonald, N., Stanbrook, N.B., Sibbald, B.B.J. and Flegel, K. (2008) Listeriosis is the least of it.
Canadian Medical Association Journal 179, 739–740.
Balkhy, H.H. and Memish, Z.A. (2003) Rift valley fever: an uninvited zoonosis on the Arabian Peninsular.
International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents 21, 153–157.
Cook, J.L. and Arnoczky, S.P. (2009) The One Health concept in comparative orthopaedics. One Health
Newsletter Florida Department of Health. Summer 2(3), 11–13. Available online at: http://www.floridahealth.
gov/diseases-and-conditions/diseases-from-animals/one-health-newsletter/_documents/summer2009.
pdf#search="one health concept in comparative orthopaedics" (accessed 13 September 2015).
Economist, The (2011) Plagued by politics. In: The 9 Billion-people Question: A Special Report on Feeding
the World. 26 February, 4–6. Available online at: http://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/special-­
reports-pdfs/18205243.pdf (accessed 13 October 2015).
Gibbs, E.P.J. (2014) The evolution of One Health: a decade of progress and challenges for the future. Veterinary
Record 174(4), 85–91.

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Hammond, A., Kramer, W.J., Tran, J., Katz, R. and Walker, C. (2007) The Next 4 billion: Market Size and Busi-
ness Strategy at the Base of the Pyramid (World Resources Institute). Available online at: http://www.wri.
org/publication/next-4-billion (accessed 18 September 2015).
Latter, L. (1995) Article: Human Pet Bonding. Animal Welfare Society of Southeastern Michigan, Madison
Heights, Michigan, USA.
Livingston, A. (2002) Ethical issues regarding pain in animals. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical
­Association 221, 229–233.
Olsson, S.-E. (1969) Comparative orthopaedics. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research 62, 3–5.
Oura, C. (2014) A One Health approach to the control of zoonotic vectorborne pathogens. Veterinary Record
174(16), 398–402.
Reeve-Johnson, L. (1998) Use of experimentally induced diseases in the development and evaluation of
therapeutic agents. Veterinary Record 142, 638–642.
Reeve-Johnson, L. (1999) The use of experimental infection models to investigate the correlation between
clinical and pathological measures of the severity of respiratory disease in three species. DVMS thesis,
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Reeve-Johnson, L. (2012) The medical consultation: comparing the diagnostic process between human and
veterinary patients. Proceedings of the 12th EAVPT Congress. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Siraj, A.S., Santos-Vega, M., Bouma, M.J., Yadeta, D., Ruiz Carrascal, D. and Pascual, M. (2014) Altitudinal
changes in malaria incidence in highlands of Ethiopia and Colombia. Science 7, 1154–1158.
Wall, P. (2014) One Health and the food chain: maintaining safety in a globalised industry. Veterinary Record
174(8), 189–192.
World Health Organization (2014) Antimicrobial Resistance: Global Report on Surveillance. Available online
at: http://www.who.int/drugresistance/documents/surveillancereport/en (accessed 13 October 2015).
Young, N.S., Ioannidis, J.P.A. and Al-Ubaydli, O. (2008) Why current publication practices may distort science.
PLoS Medicine 5(10), e201. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0050201.

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 5 Evidence Collection and Gathering:
The Living Evidence

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

5.1 Introduction 50
5.2 Animals as Property 51
5.3 Living Evidence 52
5.4 Necessity 53
5.4.1 What is the necessity for this suffering? 53
5.5 What Is a Crime Scene? 53
5.5.1 Arrival on scene 53
5.6 The Five Cardinal Rules for Examining a Crime Scene 54
5.7 PREGS 55
5.7.1 Protect 55
5.7.2 Recording the crime scene – measuring and sketching 56
5.7.2.1 Photography 56
5.7.2.2 Sketching 56
5.7.2.3 Evidence logs 57
5.7.3 Evaluate physical evidence possibilities 59
5.7.4 Gathering of evidence 59
5.7.4.1 Final survey 61
5.7.5 Storage 61
5.7.5.1 Dead animals 61

‘The cat had fleas.’

Prosection Expert from a crime scene. Many principles, theories
‘Prove it.’ and concepts have been copied from our
Defence Expert ­forensic scientist counterparts in the non-
animal lead disciplines and are often suc-
cessfully utilized in the emerging field of
5.1 Introduction veterinary forensics. While the successful
retrieval of evidence from a crime scene is well
There are many texts and much guidance re- documented for almost all items of ­putative
lating to the successful gathering of evidence evidence, there is one aspect of veterinary
­

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

50 © CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey)

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 Evidence Collection and Gathering: The Living Evidence 51

evidence that separates it from all others, are then allowed to go home to await a trial
and this fact is reflected by an absence of lit- and, when required, they provide oral tes-
erature or text material for guidance in this timony as to the nature of the assault, and
area. Veterinary evidence, it would seem, is the court determines, as best it can, what
often living. had actually occurred. If necessary, it will
In a dispute that involves the seizure punish the guilty party with the powers af-
of living animals, this attribute makes it forded to it through the relevant legislation.
difficult for even the most competent au- A living animal can also provide testi-
thority to mount a successful prosecution, mony to the court as evidence, but only as a
and provides the defence with a great deal silent witness. They are property, alive and,
of material with which to mount a success- though able to communicate non-verbally,
ful challenge. Living evidence creates a they cannot speak. The language of forensics
unique set of challenges: it usually belongs becomes their tool for communication, and
to someone else and so is the responsibility the ability to interpret that language is the
of authorities that do not own it. It is often role of the forensic veterinarian. These ani-
the single determinant in any legal dispute mals are seized, examined, photographed
involving living animals – how was it and clinically examined and, instead of being
looked after or examined after it was sent home, they are kennelled, euthanized,
seized? How was it stored prior to trial and taken into possession, signed over or simply
what evidence was retrieved from it after stored until trial, during which period they
seizure? As I have already observed, a liv- can lose or gain weight, become pregnant,
ing animal cannot be sealed in a bag and die, fight or become ill.
placed on a shelf in an evidence locker. It Living evidence needs to be weighed
costs a large sum of money to board and regularly, kept healthy and have its needs
keep a living animal for a prolonged period met while still being the property of the
prior to trial. owner from whom it was seized. In any legal
investigation involving the seizure of living
animals, it is always the storage of these liv-
5.2 Animals as Property ing animals that is the area of most concern.
There is the potential for exposure of a weak
Legally classed as property, there are no fo- chain of custody by the prosecuting author-
rensic protocols for dealing with sick, in- ity, an area of exploitation by the defence
jured or healthy living property that is expert, who is entitled to ask how the evi-
deemed to belong to someone else, to be dence was stored and what condition that
labelled, packaged and stored as evidence evidence is in now.
attributable to allegations of cruelty against A lot of probative and relevant informa-
that owner. While there are protocols for tion that is crucial to a successful prosecution
the storage of evidence and the continuity or defence of a dispute involving living ani-
of evidence and prevention of contamin- mals is often harnessed in the period immedi-
ation of evidence, it has not been estab- ately post-seizure and during storage, when
lished in any jurisdiction what an agreed the living evidence is waiting for trial. It is,
protocol is for the seizing, storage and however, the experience of this author that
examination of living evidence that is when dealing with cases as both a prosecution
classed as property. and defence expert, the area of the storage of
A living human involved as a victim in the living evidence immediately post-seizure
an assault case can provide evidence of the is the evidentially most yielding, and also the
assault through verbal testimony as a witness. aspect least utilized by many seizing author-
Photographs and examinations of injuries ities. There are unlikely to be any references
in a human can be documented, and follow- to the storage of living evidence in the human
ing crimes visited upon human victims it is forensic literature, and this is where the field
normal for the victim to be examined by a of veterinary forensics differentiates itself
medical (or other) specialist. These victims from that of non-­veterinary forensics.

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52 D. Bailey

Animals are unusual in this respect, as prolonged period prior to a court contest.
they have, under the law, the legal status of This difficulty and expense then has an
property that is living. Depending on the impact on the appetite for many author-
jurisdiction and the alleged act, animals ities to investigate, prioritize or enforce
can be classed as property, as evidence or, crimes against animals. While there may
in the case of sexual assault, as a victim. be existing legislation that is appropriate
This victim status of animals that have for resolving disputes involving animals,
been sexually assaulted temporarily ele- it is a lack of ability or motivation to en-
vates their legal classification to that of force the existing legislation that is, in this
personhood status (in some jurisdictions), author’s experience, the weak point in any
and therefore obliges anyone found guilty investigation involving animals and ani-
of committing a sexually motivated act mal derivatives.
against an animal to be placed on a sexual As a rule, when investigating a claim
offenders’ list. A sexual offender must of cruelty to an animal at a crime scene,
commit an offence against a victim, not there must be a demonstration of pain and
property. An animal as property cannot be suffering that has occurred. The goal of the
classed as a victim, so some jurisdictions forensic evidence collector is to present
class animals as persons for the duration of material to a court so that the court may be
the alleged offence, to ensure that a legal equipped with the necessary tools to es-
victim (and a temporary person) has been tablish that pain or suffering had occurred;
created and that sexual offenders against in addition there must also be evidence
animals are appropriately placed on a sex- that indicates that this pain and suffering
ual offenders’ list. Some jurisdictions re- was unnecessary. Therefore there are two
gard any elevation of an animal to person- conditions of unnecessary suffering that
hood status, no matter how temporary, as are required to be satisfied by the Court:
a precedent for giving all animals greater
rights as legal persons. For this reason, 1. a demonstration of the existence of pain
many jurisdictions actively choose to not and/or suffering; and
address the issues of sexual assault against 2. the simultaneous demonstration of the
animals and do not class animals as vic- necessity of that suffering.
tims of any assault, preferring not to class it
as a criminal act. In many countries, there is Evidence can also be used to establish con-
no specific offence of sexual assault of an tact, ownership, negligence or welfare of-
animal, in order to avoid this legal anomaly. fences; however, this chapter will focus on
Those animals that are protected by relevant the general forensic principles of collection
animal-­related legislation against human of living and dead evidence.
sexual contact are legally classed as prop- Vets may be able to provide expert opinion
erty, and so can be bought, sold, owned and to a court as to whether pain or suffering had
traded, creating an anomaly in society’s ex- occurred. Where there are conflicting views on
pectation of what is normal treatment of ani- the occurrence, demonstration or manifestation
mals. An ability of an animal to suffer of pain or suffering in an adversarial system
doesn't change, but the tolerance of that suf- (and there usually are), then the court will
fering by others is what animal welfare and determine, after considering the conflicting
cruelty laws are designed to confront. views, if pain and/or suffering has occurred or,
more realistically, if pain and/or suffering has
been demonstrated to have occurred. Vets are
usually very good at providing an opinion as to
5.3 Living Evidence whether pain and suffering had occurred but
are usually poor at demonstrating that pain and
This issue of living evidence makes it dif- suffering had occurred in any animal. If there is
ficult for seizing authorities to appropri- one word that can replace the word forensics
ate and maintain this property alive for a in this book, it is the word demonstrate.

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 Evidence Collection and Gathering: The Living Evidence 53

5.4 Necessity of this. The most useful piece of evidence in

cases like this is documentary evidence. Re-
Many vets and animal welfare officers seem ceipts, log books, menus, diaries and laptops
to focus only on signs of pain or suffering in can provide more evidence at a crime scene
animals during the investigation of a crime than all pieces of other evidence combined;
scene – they need to slightly adjust their ap- yet they are often overlooked by forensic vets,
proach to look also for evidence that un- who are zealously looking for evidence of
necessary pain or suffering occurred. And animal origin, smell or appearance. Scenes of
while the courts will determine a convic- animal abuse and cruelty often involve
tion on the necessity of the pain and suffer- human mental health issues, and they can be
ing, many attempts at prosecution will fail dangerous places for attending responders.
because the focus has been on the demon- Individuals suspected of animal abuse should
stration of pain only or the demonstration of be regarded as unsafe to accompany un-
suffering only. Animals are not guaranteed attended. At a crime scene involving allega-
an existence free from all pain and suffer- tions of animal abuse, a vet may unwittingly
ing, just unnecessary pain and suffering. become a de facto social worker, engaged in
This unavoidable or avoidable suffering very deep and prolonged discussions with
needs to be approached as an obtainable suspects – this should not be at the expense
piece of evidence, like all evidence which of collecting evidence for court.
can be gathered, collected, stored and re-
leased, and if it isn’t, then it will be the first
question asked by a reasonable defence. 5.5 What Is a Crime Scene?

A crime scene is not defined as a place

5.4.1 What is the necessity for where a crime occurred. A crime scene is a
this suffering? location where evidence of a crime can be
found. It is for the courts to determine
Suffering and cruelty are not synonyms for whether a crime has or has not occurred.
veterinary pathology and, while pathology A crime scene can be declared by a statu-
can assist to determine whether suffering did tory enforcement officer – usually a police
or did not occur, it is the evidence surround- officer or local council officer. A vet or a local
ing the event at the crime scene that can de- charity inspector cannot declare a crime scene.
termine the necessity, or not, of that suffering Allow those with the statutory responsibility
to the satisfaction of the court. Determin- to declare and take charge of a crime scene. As
ation of the necessity for pain and suffering a veterinarian, you are there to advise and as-
is the ultimate issue for the courts to decide. sist: a vet is a small element of a crime scene
A crime scene investigator is looking for investigation and of a subsequent trial involv-
evidence of needless pain and suffering or for ing allegations of animal welfare shortcomings
evidence of the necessity of this pain or suf- or animal cruelty claims.
fering. This evidence can be collected in the Once a crime scene has been declared,
form of photos, dead animals, dying animals, it (and the potential evidence within it)
living animals, gunshot residue, bruising, needs to be protected. Protection may be ne-
blood sample analysis, pathology, hair collec- cessary from the external weather, individ-
tion, blood pattern analysis, bitemark ana- uals inside the crime scene (suspects), po-
lysis and also in the discovery of documenta- lice, other animals or accompanying animal
tion, trophies and, more increasingly, the welfare officers.
habit of individuals to take ‘selfies’ on their
mobile phones, or to video an act of cruelty to
replay to interested onlookers. Evidence can 5.5.1 Arrival on scene
occur and be gathered outside of the singular
specialism of veterinary pathology and a On arriving at a crime scene, a veterinarian
good crime scene examiner needs to be aware should do the following:

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54 D. Bailey

1. Attend and define who is in charge (usu- seeking some type of counselling and sup-
ally the police or local council). port. While some express relief at your
2. Take a note of the time you arrived and visit, others may respond angrily. There are
the names of the people you are speaking to. different ways to deal with each response,
3. Ask whether the suspect has been read but the overriding principle remains the
their rights. same – process the scene as if you intend to
4. Explain who you are, your qualifications prosecute. Outcomes such as seeking coun-
and your aim, and then walk through the selling or voluntarily surrendering animals
scene with police initially to get an over- cannot be imposed by a court and, while
view of the scene. some issues can be resolved by a stern or a
5. Try to speak with the suspect, but be soft tone, it isn’t the social worker approach
aware that they may have a right to remain that makes individual suspects receptive to
silent. changing their questionable animal-keeping
6. Be aware that if any animals are near habits. All scenes should be processed with
death, it is important that you attempt to a view and an intention to prosecute.
save life before you gather evidence. If it is Nearly all of these scenes will fail to make
raining or the suspects are disposing of evi- it to court; it is likely that, with the benefit
dence, then it is for others to prevent this. of legal representation and prior interven-
An attempt to save the animal’s life is a pro- tion by others, pleas will be entered before
fessional obligation and, regardless of how any likely court contest, or the matter will
much evidence is lost or destroyed, it is a be resolved amicably. On the other hand, if
priority for a veterinarian attending at a a crime scene involving animals is pro-
crime scene. cessed with the assistance of a vet who
7. Do not allow an animal to die in order to holds the view that no prosecution is going
preserve evidence. You must treat the animal to follow, then, with the benefit of the de-
and prevent suffering even if this means de- fendant receiving sound legal advice, these
struction of evidence. However, if a suffering crime scenes almost always end up in
animal is part of a crime scene in which a court. Nineteen out of 20 disputes involv-
serious crime has been committed, then you ing the collection or seizure of animals will
may not be allowed to enter to treat that ani- end at the crime scene, but a good forensic
mal. These crime scenes usually involve the examiner will always be prepared to go to
injury and death of humans, with animals as court and gather evidence from all 20 crime
secondary victims who are also a part of the scenes. When you stop approaching all
crime scene. It is an example of necessary crime scenes as places to articulate and rea-
suffering, in order to preserve and avoid con- son your input to a court, then, paradoxic-
tamination of a crime scene that is focused ally, you will find that you will end up in
on a human crime. court on a more frequent basis. A solicitor
8. If it isn’t safe, don’t do it. If the scene for the suspect will become involved and
cannot be controlled, then it is important to questions of a relaxed attitude to crime
state your reasons for leaving and document scene processing and evidence collection
these reasons prior to departure. and gathering become apparent.
9. Your professionalism, approach and
demeanour will determine whether the
­
suspect(s) at the scene will seek to resolve
or to contest any charges or allegations 5.6 The Five Cardinal Rules
made against them. It will also determine for Examining a Crime Scene
whether they choose to fight the matter on
principle, or accept advice and voluntarily I use the mnemonic PREGS when collecting
surrender any animals that concerns have evidence from a crime scene involving liv-
been expressed about. Suspects at scenes of ing animals. The PREGS protocol must be
animal cruelty who show animal welfare applied in a cyclical loop manner when
concerns are often receptive to the idea of dealing with living evidence.

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 Evidence Collection and Gathering: The Living Evidence 55

P. Protect animals are alive; they are also the property

R. Record of their owners and any deterioration in
E. Evaluate their condition after seizure will invite jus-
G. Gather tifiable criticism of the care of the animal
S. Store and the continuity of the evidence in an ad-
versarial legal system. Conversely, any im-
These five steps should be performed in this
provement in their condition could attract
order, as each one has an effect on the con-
criticism of the owner by the courts.
tinuity and viability of the next and/or
preceding step. It is a circular chain for gath-
ering living evidence and non-circular when
dealing with non-living evidence (see Fig. 5.7 PREGS
5.1). When dealing with living animals, the
five aspects of evidence gathering should be 5.7.1 Protect
repeated until the animals are disposed of
post-trial, or a resolution is agreed with the
A crime scene needs to be protected. Evi-
animal owners. During a court contest, the
dence that can be gathered can be transient
chain of custody that has been built around
in nature and may need protection from the
the PREGS protocol may be appropriately
elements or from suspects at the scene. The
stretched to breaking point by an experi-
alleged offenders may be affected by mental
enced defence team. This ability to be
illness or chronic substance abuse, in which
stretched and stress-tested is one of the fea-
case responders at that scene need to take
tures of the adversarial system.
steps to distance or protect themselves. As a
This continuous cycle includes the
vet, it is often your responsibility to protect
weighing of animals, the repeat body condi-
others at that scene from any injury they
tion scoring of animals, blood sampling and
may sustain from animals. You are protect-
analysis, documentation of the treatments
ing animals, evidence and personnel. And
given, and the response to treatment. It is
when you gather evidence and write and
relevant and probative to a court case, as the
sign a report, you need to protect yourself in
the face of scrutiny by an inquisitive, in-
formed and adversarial-by-nature barrister.
Take control of the scene immediately,
particularly if there are living animals. As a
Protect
vet, upon arrival you may be responsible for
the injuries others could sustain from the
animals at the scene. Keep out unauthor-
ized or uninvited personnel and utilize any
Store Record available police to assist with this. Deter-
mine the extent to which the scene has been
protected. Obtain information from person-
nel who have knowledge of the original
condition of the scene.
Initiate a logbook and record those who
Gather Evaluate enter and leave, the names of the personnel
involved, the address and the time. You
may need to take charge of personnel and,
importantly, develop the skill to control
Fig. 5.1. Circular PREGS protocol. It is circular and
personalities at a crime scene who can
linear to reflect that veterinary forensics deals with evoke strong emotional responses in attend-
living evidence and to reinforce that this evidence ees and interested onlookers, in order to ful-
must be protected after it has been seized and can fil your aim of protecting the scene, ani-
yield useful probative material after seizure. mals, evidence and others.

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56 D. Bailey

5.7.2 Recording the crime scene – The photography rule is a rule of threes: as
measuring and sketching there are three approaches used to create an
image of an item of interest (overview, ap-
5.7.2.1 Photography proach and close-up), there are also three
elements to a close-up image:
Photography can accurately record the scene
as it appeared at the time the vet arrived. It 1. A scale.
is the most common piece of evidence, and 2. An evidence descriptor.
is relied upon in animal cruelty investiga- 3. The item of interest.
tions. Many vets make the error of photo- Sketches, videos and still photos all comple-
graphing the animal without attributing an ment and support one another in the preser-
evidence marker in the image and without vation of evidence and one should not be
correlating this image to an evidence log. afraid to produce all three from any crime
Don’t take a photo unless you have a pen scene.
and a piece of paper to log the image and It is common for photographs depicting
create a descriptor in the image. All close-up deceased and/or mutilated animals to draw
images of an animal that would otherwise vigorous objections from the defence. De-
demonstrate injury or cruelty may not be re- fence barristers can successfully argue that
liable if these images cannot be attributed to such grim images are more prejudicial than
a particular animal and a corresponding probative, will probably inflame the jury or
entry in an evidence log, with an accurate court, and are therefore inadmissible.
evidence descriptor within the image. The use of animated movies can be
Each item of interest requires at least used to reconstruct such photos or images,
three images: eliciting a non-emotional response and lead-
1. An overview shot. ing to a decision based on practicalities
2. An approach shot. ­rather than emotion. These movies or vir-
3. A close-up of each individual item of tual reconstructions can also be used to take
evidence. the observer on a virtual tour of the now
digitally sterilized crime scene. In the past
The easiest method is to use numbered I have asked a graphic designer with foren-
placards in each image you take. I was once sic experience to produce digitized images
involved in a dispute that had more than of small children who have been killed or
1000 images taken of equines, that demon- severely injured by dog attacks.
strated overgrown hooves, close-ups of ema- Videos allow a complete and continu-
ciated animals, serious rain scald and mud ous unbroken view of a crime scene. They
fever. Much of this evidence was dismissed, provide panoramic views, but lack defin-
as the defence argued (successfully) that ition, light and dark contrast, positional
the images had no evidence markers and context and the higher resolution that can
no evidence log to match the images with be obtained with still photos.
the horses. Suffering was demonstrated in the
images, but it could not be attributed to the 5.7.2.2 Sketching
very specific charges relating to individual
horses. The evidence was admissible, but did While photos can be digitally altered,
not carry the appropriate weight – the images sketches have three advantages: (i) they
were taken so close to the animal that iden- provide greater width and depth of field of
tification of the animal (or even species) view (a sketch can give an overhead view
was not possible. of a scene inaccessible to video or still pho-
Still photography is one of the four prin- tography); (ii) they can eliminate distortion
cipal means of providing courtroom parti- caused by perspective; and (iii) they can
cipants with visual evidence of what took allow the important features to be shown
place/existed at a crime scene (the others without the unnecessary distraction of
are sketches, videos and animated movies). ­detail.

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 Evidence Collection and Gathering: The Living Evidence 57

The purpose of a sketch is to help to the decision whether or not to do so is dic-

clarify what is relevant at a crime scene. It tated by the evidence that one encounters.
also depicts things that are important at the Any measurement of heights or distances
time it is made. It gives the relative positions should be demonstrated in a report by a sketch
of all items; this can be more useful than a that need not be to scale. When measuring
photograph as it gives basic information items in a scene on a sketch, you should use
about the scene and its contents at a glance, two points of reference from which you have
where a photograph may appear under- or measured. Simply providing information on
overexposed or too cluttered. Importantly, a heights and measurements without a sketch
sketch also depicts the relative positions of to refer to can make interpretation of any
items, and with measurements it can be a scene processing more cumbersome. The two
helpful adjunct to a photographic image. reference points used in a sketch must be dis-
I will sketch at most crime scenes I attend, tinct and permanent. If measuring an indoor
to record an overview and/or fine detail (see crime scene I tend to use walls at 90° to each
Fig. 5.2). other as my fixed point of measurement al-
Initial sketches should be drawn in ink though I have been tasked to investigate in
(not pencil) and include all relevant measure- some Eastern European countries where this
ments. It is acceptable to redraw your sketches isn’t always a reliable assumption.
at a later date, either by hand or computer-aided
design (CAD). 5.7.2.3 Evidence logs
A sketch should include the following:
At the crime scene, an evidence log must
1. Directional orientation – which way is
be kept, recording information such as who
north?
seized the item, a description of the item,
2. Name and signature – print your name
the location of the item, etc. At non-animal
and sign (these form part of your contempor-
crime scenes, a scene manager will be in
aneous notes).
control of the evidence log. In scenes in-
3. Date of scene processing, and possibly
volving animals, the vet may be expected to
the time.
do this. But vets tend to focus and manage
4. Case number (if applicable).
their skills at a crime scene in a vertical man-
5. Relevant labels – these must be appropri-
ner, focusing upon any available evidence of
ate and unambiguous, i.e. the address of the
animal origin, while an evidence log man-
property and which room it is. For vehicles
ager needs to link up all the discrete and in-
this should include number plate informa-
dependent items seized and retrieved from
tion and/or Vehicle Identification Number
a crime scene. Due to the horizontal nature
(VIN code), make, model and colour.
of this management process and the import-
6. Scale (if used); and
ance of the evidence log to the dispute, it is
7. Evidence items – these would normally be
preferable for a person other than the vet to
represented by a number on the sketch in the
assume this role. The forensic vet needs to
relevant position in the room (the number is
focus on the living animals or the evidence
then related to the evidence log – see below).
of animal origin and not initially on crime
Measuring of a crime scene (if required) sat- scene log-book management.
isfies two main needs: Utilizing an evidence log to record the
location measurements of the evidence
1. To allow accurate sketching of the evi-
items means that only the number of the
dence in its found position.
item needs be recorded on the sketch, so
2. To determine critical distances between
avoiding sketch cluttering.
objects.
The evidence log, like the sketch, is part
It is claimed that it is not possible to accur- of your notes made at the scene and there-
ately document a crime scene without meas- fore requires appropriate and unambiguous
uring; however, though I have measured some labels that link it to the sketch and any
crime scenes, I do not measure all of them – photographs taken with evidence markers.

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58 D. Bailey

(a)

(b) Plan view

Front elevation Rear elevation Side elevation Side elevation

Fig. 5.2. A photograph (a) and a sketch (b) of a trailer used to cart a stag for hunting purposes.

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 Evidence Collection and Gathering: The Living Evidence 59

Evidence logs should indicate the that is of animal origin. Documentary evi-
­following: dence is often overlooked at a crime scene
involving animals.
1. Who is there?
• Search the easily accessible areas and
2. The location you are attending.
progress to out-of-view locations. Look
3. What time and date you entered and left,
for hidden items.
who declared the crime scene, and who has
• Evaluate whether evidence appears to
overall responsibility for the scene.
have been moved inadvertently.
4. What evidence you have gathered, link-
• Evaluate whether the scene appears
ing it to the sketch and an itemised legend
contrived.
that links that evidence to the evidence log;
e.g. A. Dead Dog, B. Living Dog – Jack Russell
microchip number 123456. 5.7.4 Gathering of evidence
5. Who is responsible for that evidence and
where is it going?
Evidence gathered needs to be logged in
6. What injuries the animal had at seizure.
your evidence log. Living animals should be
7. What injuries the animal had upon ar-
weighed and body condition scored, and
rival at boarding destination.
checked for a microchip prior to being
8. What was the weight and accurate body
seized. They should be examined by a vet to
condition of the animal.
ensure they are fit for removal and transport.
They need to be examined again after trans-
5.7.3 Evaluate physical evidence port and prior to boarding, to document any
possibilities injuries they may have received during tran-
sit. A seizing authority is always responsible
for a seized animal and it always remains
This evaluation begins upon arrival at the
the property of the owner until this has been
scene and becomes detailed in the prelimin-
relinquished by the owner or surrendered
ary survey stage. Once you have established
by a court direction. Dead animals can be
that aspects of the scene are safe to proceed
packaged in a body bag and frozen and treat-
with, move on to your recording of evidence
ed as an individual crime scene at a later
through sketching and imaging while creat-
post-mortem examination in a different lo-
ing an evidence log. Then stop and evaluate.
cation, where a pathologist may then as-
Consider what evidence is there to be col-
sume responsibility for that crime scene to
lected and examined away from the scene. If
protect, record, evaluate, gather and store.
in doubt, then seize and collect it. Do not
Living animals should not be trans-
start to consider what the defence position
ported together or stored together in order
will be. Focus on your role, which is to pro-
to save costs. They fight and they impreg-
vide the court with evidence to enable it
nate; both of these have happened to evi-
to arrive at a safe decision. This step of the
dence I have seized, which curtails the abil-
protocol is an evaluation of your own per-
ity of the prosecution to successfully prove
sonal safety and the organization of the
a lack of care on the part of the defendant.
scene, which can be quite complex, and lays
The gathering, documenting, subsequent
the groundwork for any subsequent seizure.
storage of evidence and re-evaluation of the
• Ensure that the collection and packaging animal as it remains in storage is the most
materials and equipment are sufficient evidentially yielding period in the chain of
and that a logistical infrastructure is in custody, which non-living items of evidence
place to collect living animals if required. cannot provide. It is also the area of weak-
• Focus first on evidence that could be lost. ness in any prosecution authority and is
Leave the least transient evidence to last. prone to challenge by a defence team who
• Ensure that personnel consider the variety will seek out and discover weaknesses in
of possible evidence, not only evidence this area of your crime scene processing
within the specialism of veterinary science protocol first.

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60 D. Bailey

(a)

(b)

Fig. 5.3. (a) Before: a dog that was euthanized after being bitten by another dog. This image was taken
immediately after euthanasia. (b) After: the same dog after being stored in a sealed plastic bag in warm
conditions. The post-mortem changes in wound appearance were attributed to ante-mortem conditions and
impacted on the ability of the magistrate to reach a reliable conclusion in this dispute.

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 Evidence Collection and Gathering: The Living Evidence 61

5.7.4.1 Final survey crime scene. At suitable intervals following

seizure, animals need to be weighed, exam-
The final survey is another opportunity to re- ined, inspected and blood-sampled. Vets
view all aspects of the PREGS protocol fol- need to ensure that the animals’ needs are
lowed so far. The search should be discussed met and they are not living in conditions
with all remaining personnel and you must that could be worse than those from where
ensure that all documentation, in particular they were removed. The PREGS cycle con-
the evidence log, is correct and complete. tinues at Storage by examining the animals
A photograph of the scene showing the once they have been off-loaded and the Pro-
final condition is necessary to avoid claims of tect element starts again. The conditions of
damage or destruction. Ensure that all seized the new premises must also be recorded and
evidence is secured and alive before leaving evaluation of the animals must occur regu-
the premises. Avoid leaving behind contam- larly, particularly at the start of any board-
inated equipment, and ensure that hiding ing of living evidence. Further evidence,
places or difficult-to-access areas have not such as weight gain or loss, must be gath-
been overlooked. It is a feature of crime scenes ered and this information stored in a relevant
involving animals that some target species log. The PREGS cycle should be repeated
are seized, while others animals of a different until the dispute has ended, including any
species are allowed to remain behind. A claim legal appeals.
that the suspect was causing unnecessary
suffering to the seized animals can be com-
promised if other animals were left under the 5.7.5.1 Dead animals
care of the same owner. Animals that die during evidence storage
or at the crime scene can be taken away
for further examination. They should be
5.7.5 Storage photographed in situ and then placed in a
bag, sealed, labelled, entered into an evi-
Animals being legally classified as property dence log, and taken away and frozen for later
that is living is the largest issue for vets to examination as necessary. There is plenty of
deal with at a crime scene while gathering debate as to what type of bag is appropriate
evidence. These items of evidence need to for dead animals; I have been involved in a
be stored in conditions that are specific only case where the storage of evidence in a dis-
to this field of forensics. pute was central to the evidence presented
Living animals get sick and die – be- (see Fig. 5.3). To avoid any post-mortem
cause they are evidence, all these changes changes occurring in dead animal storage,
need to be documented. The facility where as a result of being placed in sealed plastic
animals are stored must be considered as an bags, I use human body bags to store and
extended and de facto continuation of the transport dead animals to cold storage.

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 6 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair

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

6.1 Introduction 63
6.2 Hair as Evidence 63
6.3 The Use of Animal Hair in Criminal Casework 64
6.4 Recovery, Documentation, Packaging and Storage Methods
for Animal Hair Evidence 64
6.4.1 Recovery of questioned aka target animal hairs 65
6.4.2 Recovery of control aka known hair samples 67
6.4.3 Packaging and storage 67
6.4.4 Documentation of evidence 67
6.5 General Structure of Hair 67
6.5.1 Types of hair 68
6.6 Forensic Animal Hair Analysis 68
6.6.1 Stages of hair analysis 68
6.6.2 Microscopy preparation of animal hairs 70
6.6.2.1 Creating a whole mount 70
6.6.2.2 Scale casts and impressions of the
animal hair surface 70
6.6.2.3 Medulla slides 70
6.6.3 Microscopical analysis of animal hairs 71
6.7 Species Identification from Animal Hair 74
6.7.1 Scale morphology 74
6.7.2 Medulla types 76
6.7.3 Medullary fraction (MF) aka medullary index (MI) 77
6.7.4 Colour banding 77
6.7.5 Root shape 77
6.7.6 Species identification aids 77
6.8 Interpretation of Animal Hair in Casework 77
6.8.1 Conclusions from comparing control and target hairs 77
6.8.2 Transfer and persistence for interpreting animal crimes 78

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

62 © CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey)

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 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair 63

6.1 Introduction 6.2 Hair as Evidence

The use of hair as evidence in criminal Hair can be defined as ‘any of the fine
casework is well established, with hair thread-like strands growing from the skin of
being a common type of trace evidence re- humans, mammals, and some other animals’
trieved from crime scenes (Petraco, 1987; (Oxford Dictionaries, 2014). Composed of
Robertson, 1999). Hairs are readily lost the protein keratin, hairs are generally
from individuals, whether human or ani- stable in nature, hence forensic scientists
mal, and these hairs may be transferred are able to use this type of evidence more
during a crime, helping to link suspects to readily in environments which have de-
scenes, suspects to victims, objects to graded other biological matter (Taupin,
scenes or animals to individuals (to name 2004). Hair evidence has been used in all
but a few possible permutations). Edmond types of criminal cases, including, but not
Locard’s Exchange Principle (Locard, 1930), limited to: murder, sexual assault, burglar-
‘every contact leaves a trace’, explains the ies, abuse cases, arson and terrorist inci-
mechanisms for trace evidence transfer at dents (Robertson, 1999). This breadth of use
crime scenes. It is a fundamental principle is partially due to the ease of transfer of
that whenever objects, people or animals hairs between individuals, individuals and
come in contact with each other, an ex- crime scenes and individuals and objects.
change in material will occur. This in- Hairs transferred to highly important ob-
cludes hairs, fibres, glass, paint and any jects from a crime, e.g. a balaclava identified
other particulate evidence. In the past, ani- as being used in an armed robbery, enables
mal hair was disregarded as forensic evidence the wearer to be identified and linked to
and not frequently analysed in forensic la- the scene.
boratories, but now animal hair is common- Hairs used in the analysis of a criminal
place in forensic hair analysis (Petraco, investigation are defined as either ques-
1987), partly due to development in identi- tioned (aka target) or control samples. Tar-
fication schemes and research outlined in get hairs are the extraneous hairs that have
this chapter. been transferred during contact and are the
This chapter aims to provide to veterin- evidential hairs that will provide informa-
arians, personnel who work in animal wel- tion about the case.
fare (e.g. RSPCA officers), forensic scientists, Hair evidence can provide a large range
police officers and anybody who may be of different information beyond associations
tasked to analyse animal hair for criminal between suspects, victims, places and ob-
casework, an overview of forensic hair ana- jects depending on the type and quantity of
lysis. The focus of this chapter is to provide hair available. Hair evidence can provide
an insight into how animal hair evidence intelligence information in the form of sus-
should be reliably recovered, documented, pect descriptions, i.e. hair colour and type,
analysed and interpreted for criminal cases. as well as information regarding how the
Human hair analysis will not be de- person treats their hair (for example, the
tailed in this chapter, but interpretation use of styling products and dyes) and any
methods used when analysing human hair diseases present in the hair. Examination of
that are also applicable for animal hair will the hair can identify whether it is human or
be introduced. Similarly, textile fibres evi- animal and the body area from which it has
dence will not be focused upon, but as ani- been shed. In the case of human hair, the
mal hair may be defined as a type of ‘fibre’, ethnic origin of the individual the hair has
and are used abundantly in textiles such as been shed from may also be determined.
clothing (Wildman, 1961), many of the If nuclear material is present on the root,
underlying principles of recovery, docu- then the potential for DNA profiling can
mentation and interpretation are compar- allow for a more conclusive identification of
able and will therefore be described where the individual, beyond just microscopical
appropriate. analysis.

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64 C. Gwinnett

Hair evidence is a transient evidence has been transferred from the dog owner’s
and due to this the evidence will transfer and clothes to a victim of a crime during an as-
persist depending on certain factors (discussed sault. The information that can be obtained
in Section 6.8.2 below). By understanding from an animal hair is the same as in human
transfer and persistence, timeframes of when hair, although some information is not ap-
certain contact occurred can help to recon- plicable, such as ethnic origin. Animal hair
struct a crime scene and understand whether analysis in criminal cases primarily focuses
the evidence has been transferred at the time upon the species identification of the animal
of the crime, thus making it evidentially use- it originated from, although identification of
ful. Hair evidence can also provide informa- a particular individual has been carried out.
tion about any drug use of an individual. In terms of animal-related crimes, including
Any damage to the hair can also provide the wildlife crimes, hair analysis can be widely
investigator with information about the used: for example, illegal fighting involving
crime and potential suspect(s); this includes dogs, cockerels or hogs (USA); intentional
heat, decomposition and fungal damage. poisonings; poaching; carting of deer; ritualistic
Hair evidence, like other evidence, has crimes; hit and runs; cruelty cases; badger bait-
limitations. The lack of acknowledgement ing; import/export of endangered animals; and
of these limitations in the past has led to animal products and bush meat. In rare cases,
miscarriages of justice and led to investiga- animal hair may be utilized as the primary
tors overstating the value of the evidence source of evidence, but more commonly it is
(Taupin, 2004). The main limitations include used as corroborative evidence, analysed ini-
the subjectivity involved in the microscop- tially to obtain intelligence information or to
ical analysis of hairs and the intra-variation justify further, more costly analysis (as a
in hair characteristics seen in individuals; screening tool). Following are examples of
this will be discussed later in the chapter. the types of cases that utilize animal hairs as
Knowledge of these limitations does not evidence (Case Studies 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3).
undermine hair evidence, but enables inves-
tigators to correctly interpret it.
6.4 Recovery, Documentation,
Packaging and Storage Methods
6.3 The Use of Animal Hair for Animal Hair Evidence
in Criminal Casework
It is important for anyone attempting to locate
Hair evidence from animals has been used and retrieve animal hair evidence to be aware
successfully in the solving of many human of the three Rs of evidence; Recognition, Re-
crimes; for example, when domestic dog hair cording and Recovery (Robertson and Roux,

Case Study 6.1.

A farmer had a prolonged problem with sheep regularly walked in the area and whose dog
worrying, culminating in one of her livestock had been seen chasing the sheep previously
being killed and mutilated. Veterinary exam- was questioned regarding the case, but re-
inations indicated that the wounds were probably fused to allow control samples to be taken
caused by a dog, but this was not conclusive from his dog for comparison. The information
because of potential interference from scav- gathered in the analysis of the hairs was pre-
engers. Hairs found in the wound of the sented in court in order to obtain sufficient
sheep were retrieved and analysed and identi- control samples and allowed a conclusion
fied as being of canine origin, leading to fur- that the hairs from the wound and the dog
ther investigation, including DNA analysis, of could be associated, linking the dog to the
the hairs. The owner of a local dog that was sheep carcass.

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 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair 65

Case Study 6.2.

Meat from a London market had been seized Before testing of the meat, police wished to as-
by the police as it was suspected to be illegally certain whether it was from an endangered ani-
imported bush meat (described as gorilla mal or legal livestock such as bovine. Hairs
meat). The meat appeared to have been treated taken from the skin were identified as being
(smoked and charred) but hair was still present from sheep origin, thus eliminating the need
on the skin (this is common with bush meat). for further analysis.

Case Study 6.3.

It was suspected that a racehorse was wrongly clean locations on the racehorse, where there is
administered a drug over a lengthy time period; low variability in growth rate and hairs had
however, because the dose terminated one grown to sufficient length to span the suspected
month earlier, removing the opportunity for timeframe of the dosing. Segmental hair ana-
blood and urine tests. Hair can provide infor- lysis was carried out. This is where the hair is cut
mation regarding type of drugs administered into segments and analysed using a suitable
and drug use history, and, although hair is not as technique, such as gas chromatography, to
accurate in determining concentrations of drugs allow the time of administration to be identified
at a particular point in time (e.g. at the time of a by locating the position of the drug along the
crime or just before death), it can provide a pro- hair shaft. The results indicated the presence of
file of drug use over a long time period. Conse- clenbuterol hydrochloride in mane hairs ex-
quently, hairs were obtained from different tending back in time by 8 months.

2010). As evidential animal hairs are not ne- 6.4.1 Recovery of questioned
cessarily easily seen when examining exhibits aka target animal hairs
or animals, they may not be recognized with-
out appropriate search techniques. Systematic Veterinarians and other individuals en-
searching of objects and animals for hair evi- countering live animals, carcasses or other
dence should include looking for areas where objects potentially containing animal hair
hair transfer is most likely to have occurred evidence need to know how to retrieve
during the incident rather than through inno- these transient samples reliably and effi-
cent means, e.g. hairs found in a wound of an ciently before they are lost. The acronym
animal suspected of being involved in dog GIFT (Get It First Time) is a principle that
fighting is more evidentially valuable than if anyone attempting to retrieve evidence
found just on the collar of the dog. To identify should abide by and an appropriate method
whether any hairs found are evidentially valu- must be chosen for the recovery of any
able, information such as whether the animal questioned hairs (Robertson and Roux,
or object could have come in contact with any 2010). The retrieval method used must
other animal should be sought, and if hairs allow all target hairs to be recovered, with-
have been taken from a scene, e.g. trailer or out loss or contamination. The recovery
house, knowledge of animal access since the method chosen depends on a number of
crime is required. Without correct recording of factors: surface type, surface area, presence
any animal hair evidence, then the evidential of debris and whether the hairs are loose or
value may not be fully realized and, in the worst embedded in the surface in which they are
case, may not be admissible in court. Finally, found. Table 6.1 outlines the seven methods
without appropriate recovery methods, poten- that are accepted techniques for the re-
tial hair evidence will be left behind. trieval of hairs.

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 Table 6.1. Methods for the retrieval of animal hairs.
66

Retrieval
Method Description of Use Preferred Surfaces Advantages Disadvantages

Tape lifting Sticky tape is gently placed on the surface, Any dry porous or non-porous Able to capture multiple Hairs must be dissected from the tape to
removing any surface hairs. Tape is then surface, especially useful for hairs at a time and also allow for further examination due to
placed upon an acetate sheet to preserve smaller surface areas, e.g. inside know from which part of the need to encapsulate hair in a
the evidence and allow for searching of pet carrier. an object the hairs have medium of similar refractive index (RI).
(Choudhry, 1988). been retrieved from. This is time-consuming. A new tape,
called Easylift, has been introduced
that removes the need for dissection
(Jackson and Gwinnett, 2013).
Tweezering Use of clean tweezers to remove obvious All surfaces but usually only when Good for when hairs are Time-consuming for large areas.
hair evidence from surfaces. hairs are found in prominent embedded within a
positions, could otherwise be substance or object, e.g.
easily lost and/or when the exact mud or a wound.
location of the hair is required to
be known.
Vacuuming Use of vacuum filters which attach to a Dry, large surface areas, e.g. pet Quick for retrieving large More time-consuming than other methods
vacuum cleaner and use suction to bedding, large pet carriers. amounts of hair. Vacuum when searching for target hairs, as there
remove hairs. filters can be individually is usually a lot of ‘background’ informa-
C. Gwinnett

sealed. tion gathered in the form of debris and

material from the surface itself.
Shaking The object is shaken over a large collection Fabric type objects, e.g. pet rugs. Very quick method for May miss evidence that is stuck in the weave

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funnel and any evidence collected in a retrieving loose of the fabric. Does not allow the exact
Petri dish. evidence. location of the evidence to be identified.
Scraping Use of a scalpel to remove very embedded Any surface which has hairs Enables quick retrieval of May damage hair during removal.
hairs. embedded in it, e.g. painted hairs from situations that
surfaces. other methods would not
be able to remove.
Combing Use of a seeded comb (a comb in which Pelage of an animal. Gently removes surface Sampling a moulting animal may cause
cotton wool has been pressed into the hairs without pulling out problems when trying to identify any
base of the teeth or brush which removes hairs from the animal. target hairs present on the comb.
and retains extraneous target hairs
(McKenna and Sherwin, 1975).
Filtering Uncommon technique involving the use of Samples which are heavily Allows large numbers of Care is required to ensure that the
different solvents to remove debris and contaminated with soil and other hairs to be quickly solvents do not alter the hair evidence
extract hairs from contaminated samples. debris, e.g. buried samples. extracted from soil. in any way.
 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair 67

6.4.2 Recovery of control aka known bags. If the hairs are wet with body fluids
hair samples that are to be analysed for DNA, then the
hairs should be packaged in a paper evi-
Control samples are hairs that have been dence bag and stored in a freezer.
taken as reference hairs from any animal
that could be involved with the crime or
could have transferred hairs to any other 6.4.4 Documentation of evidence
animal, object or person linked to the crime.
The taking of control samples from animals
Normal documentation of evidence applies
is usually undertaken after a police or court
with animal hair, including the need to
request. If possible, 20–30 hairs should be
photograph evidence in situ and fully docu-
taken from different points on the animal,
ment when, where and who obtained it,
ensuring that all hair types have been re-
along with a unique identifying number
trieved and the samples represent the differ-
(Lenertz, 2001). Additional information is
ent lengths and colours present on the pel-
required for animal hair evidence when re-
age. It has been suggested that a total of
trieving control hairs either for comparison
400–500 hairs should be retrieved for com-
to a questioned hair or for a reference col-
parison purposes (Suzanski, 1988). Control
lection. This may include the following:
samples from animals should ideally be
taken from a clean uncontaminated area • Known species and sub-species.
and depending on the purpose of the ana- • Gender.
lysis, for example, whether the hairs are for • Age (Wildman, 1961).
comparison only or for the analysis of the • Any known hair or skin diseases.
presence of drugs, additional consider- • Body area sampled (Wildman, 1961).
ations may be needed. Ideally hairs should • Method of hair removal.
be gently combed from the body, so as to
allow the full hair to be collected (Wildman,
1961), but if this is not possible, hairs can be
removed by cutting them close to the skin. 6.5 General Structure of Hair

Hairs consist of three regions; the root

(proximal end), the shaft, and the tip – also
6.4.3 Packaging and storage known as the shield region in animal hairs
(distal end).
Prior to packaging, certain anti-tampering In addition to this, hairs are composed
and anti-contamination procedures may be of three main types of cell: cuticle, cortical
required. If a tape lift has been created, the and medulla. If a hair is envisaged as a pen-
edges of tape need to be sealed with add- cil, the central graphite column of the pen-
itional tape. The evidence tape also must be cil is the medulla, the wood surrounding
scored with a scalpel so that it marks the the graphite is the cortex, and the paint on
acetate backing, but avoids damaging any the outside is the cuticle. Figure 6.1 dem-
evidence, protecting against fraudulent re- onstrates the basic structure of an animal
placement. The type of evidence bag used hair. Each area provides information about
for hair evidence depends on the police the hair and can contain distinguishing fea-
force and available equipment, but there are tures. The cuticle is made up of overlap-
recognized procedures for the packaging ping scales that usually do not contain pig-
and storing of such evidence. Loose hairs ment (Partin, 2003). The cortex, consisting
should be stored first in a labelled paper of spindle-­shaped cells, makes up the main
wrap, sometimes referred to as ‘drug wraps’ component of the hair, contains pigment
and then placed in a plastic evidence bag. granules and may also include small irregular-­
Tape lifts and vacuum filters should be fully shaped air spaces called cortical fusi and
sealed and also placed in plastic evidence larger solid oval structures called ovoid

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68 C. Gwinnett

Inner cuticle margin Cortical fusi

Pigment granules
Cortex
Ovoid body
Cuticle

Proximal

Medulla

Distal Cuticle scales

Fig. 6.1. Basic structure of an animal hair.

bodies. The medulla is a central core of used. A variety of questions beyond the
shrunken cells with the spaces between the species of the hair may be asked of the fo-
cells filled with air, and whose structure can rensic hair analyst regarding a case, either
vary dramatically in animal hair (Deedrick by the police or in court. These may in-
and Koch, 2004). clude the following:
• Do all species of animal have a com-
bination of unique hair characteris-
6.5.1 Types of hair tics?
• How confident are you that the hair has
The complete covering of hair over a mam- originated from the particular animal in
mal is called the pelage. There are five main question?
hair types that cover a mammal’s body, serv- • How and when did the hair evidence
ing particular functions such as heat preser- transfer to the scene/victim?
vation and sensory aids. Table 6.2 describes • Could the hair have been transferred in-
these five hairs and their general features. nocently?
These questions need further work beyond
the use of analytical techniques and need to
6.6 Forensic Animal
take into account processes such as transfer
Hair Analysis and persistence and commonality of different
characteristics, covered in Section 6.8 below.
Forensic animal hair analysis focuses most
commonly upon species identification, but
may also include comparisons between target
samples and controls, the latter being much 6.6.1 Stages of hair analysis
more difficult. In addition to this, analytical
techniques may be employed to ask specific Analysis of hair evidence usually starts
questions about the hair, e.g. about the presence with general observations about the num-
or absence of drugs. This chapter will concen- ber, condition and position of the hairs
trate on the microscopy of animal hair, as this is found. Analysis will also include some
the most versatile and common technique macroscopic observations, where the hairs

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 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair 69

Table 6.2. Animal hair types.

Hair Type Found? General Characteristics Evidential Value

Vibrissae Nostrils and muzzle Generally coarser than other Low

(whiskers) hairs and are thickest at Limited variations in this hair type
the root end. between species mean limited
value for identification and
comparison (Teerink, 1991).
There are some exceptions,
such as tiger and leopard
vibrissae, which exhibit
differences in cross-sectional
shape (Partin, 2003).
Over-hairs Main pelage Longer than other hairs present on Low, limited value for
the pelage. Generally coarse, identification and comparison.
straight with elongated tips.
Under-hairs Main pelage Usually shorter and finer than Medium
the other hairs and show Can aid species identification, but
uniform thickness from the do not hold the same value as
root to tip ends. guard hairs.
Guard hairs Main pelage Commonly make the bulk of the High
pelage; coarser and longer Have the greatest significance in
than under-hairs but shorter species identification due to the
than over-hairs. interspecies variation present
and the most useful when
undertaking a comparison
between a control and target
hair (Suzanski, 1988).
Bristle Found on the body Generally thick hairs with forked Low
of animals such as tips and with either absent,
domestic and wild narrow or intruding medullas
pigs and boar (Deedrick and Koch, 2004).
Cross-sections are usually
oval, circular or oblong.

are placed upon a contrasting backing to the control and the target sample, to be
allow general features such as colour, viewed at the same time under the same
length, shaft profile and condition to be ob- conditions.
served and can allow samples to be divided Microscopy is debatably the most im-
into smaller groups, e.g. under hairs and portant stage of analysis and its advantages
guard hairs. Shaft profile can sometimes be include the following: being a non-destruc-
particularly useful when identifying spe- tive technique; relative speed (important for
cies; for example, deer hairs have a dis- timeliness of analysis, case throughput and if
tinctive crimped appearance (Deedrick and repeat measurements are needed); and its in-
Koch, 2004). expensiveness, after the initial outlay (very
The next stage of analysis is the use of few consumables). Sample preparation for
high-powered microscopes in the form of a fibres to be used for using brightfield micros-
compound microscope (for the use of copy is very simple, typically involving only
bright field microscopy) or a comparison placing the hair in a mounting medium be-
microscope. Comparison microscopes are tween a glass slide and cover slip.
­particularly popular, as they comprise two In some situations a polarized light
high-powered microscopes connected by a microscope may be used; this allows the same
bridge which allows two samples, i.e. observations as a compound microscope, but

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70 C. Gwinnett

also allows qualitative and quantitative meas- or Meltmount® (RI = 1.539) are required for
urements using plane polarized light and be- microscopical analysis. Refractive Index is
tween crossed polars (where the sample is the measure of the bending of light when
placed between two polaroid films). Although passing from one medium to another. Gener-
not regularly used by animal hair analysts, it ally, mounting mediums are thought to be
does provide additional information about the best when they have a similar RI to the hair
hairs’ optical properties, such as their interfer- (keratin RI = 1.548) so as to allow a clear
ence colours seen under crossed polars. This view of the internal characteristics of the
property has been used in the analysis of hair (­
Petraco, 1987). Wildman (1961) de-
exotic animal hairs (Partin, 2003). scribes the use of liquid paraffin (RI = 1.47)
Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) as a useful mountant, which is somewhat
utilize high-energy electrons to scan the lower in RI than keratin, but allows both the
surface of the hair and may be used after internal features and surface characteristics
compound microscopy to create high reso- to be viewed adequately. If the hair needs to
lution, three-dimensional images at very be removed from the microscope slide and
high magnifications, allowing characteristics mountant, then this is possible by cracking
such as the scale pattern to be more clearly the glass cover slip and applying a few drops
viewed, this can be seen in Bahuguna and of Tissue-Tek® Tissue-Clear®or xylene and
Mukherjee’s (2000) work on identifying then gently removing the loosened hair.
­Tibetan antelope hairs.
Finally, further analytical techniques 6.6.2.2 Scale casts and impressions of
may be utilized if additional information the animal hair surface
is required, such as dye analysis or drug
Prior to mounting on a microscope slide, a
analysis. Common techniques are High Per-
scale cast (or cuticle slide) can be produced
formance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
to allow the outer scale profile to be deter-
and Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) for
mined. To do this, a thin layer of gelatine
extracted dyes, and radioimmunoassays (RIA)
(10%–20%) (Teerink, 1991), polyvinyl acet-
and chromatography techniques, such as Gas
ate, Meltmount® (Petraco, 1987), or clear nail
Chromatography (GC), for the analysis of ex-
polish can be painted on to a microscope
tracted drugs (Gratacos-Cubarsi et al., 2006).
slide in a uniform thickness. The hair sam-
ple can then be placed gently into the sub-
strate, leaving the end of the hair out of cast-
6.6.2 Microscopy preparation
ing material for easier removal, and allowed
of animal hairs
to dry. If PVA is used, an additional slide can
be placed on top of the hair and the slide
Any target samples, or even control samples, gently heated to the melting point of the PVA
which are covered in debris or body fluid must and then allowed to cool before removal of
be cleaned prior to analysis. This can be com- the hair (Wildman, 1961). The hair can be
pleted by gently washing with distilled water rolled if a full impression is required as de-
and a mild detergent if necessary. Organic scribed by Wildman (1954), although this
solvents such as isopropyl alcohol or acetone may damage the shaft and is not always ap-
can be used to remove grease and other sur- propriate, as the shield of the animal hair is
face impurities (Ogle and Mitosinka, 1973). normally slightly flattened in cross-section
If DNA analysis is possible, hairs (Huffman and Wallace, 2012). When the sub-
should initially be mounted in distilled water strate is fully dry, the hair can be carefully
so as to prevent any nuclear DNA being des- removed and the resultant cast can be viewed
troyed by a mounting medium. under a high-power light microscope.

6.6.2.1 Creating a whole mount 6.6.2.3 Medulla slides

Mounting mediums such as Entellan® (Refra­ When the formation of medulla is difficult to
ctive Index (RI) = 1.49–1.51), DPX (RI = 1.52) visualize, a medulla slide may be produced,

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 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair 71

which removes the air present in the me- and interpretation of the evidence. In an in-
dulla to allow for a detailed view of the vestigation, an analyst may be expected to
structure. This is achieved by infiltrating the analyse a few hairs, partial or complete hides,
medulla with xylene or paraffin oil, which an object from a crime scene or a finished
makes it transparent when viewed under a product such as a fur coat or hat (Linacre,
microscope (Teerink, 1991; Linacre, 2009). 2009); therefore analysis methods must be
To do this, the hair is cut at various positions adaptable but still recorded in a robust and
using a razor blade, such that the xylene can reliable manner.
seep into the medulla. This process can take It is also beneficial to provide sketches
up to three hours. To make these permanent, and/or photomicrographs of the hairs.
the oil can be replaced with a medium such Sketches should include all three areas of
as Canada balsam (Teerink, 1991). The pro- the hair (root, shaft and tip) and be large, in
duction of these slides is particularly useful ink, annotated, and signed and dated.
for lightly pigmented hairs, but with some It is logical for an analyst to start at the
highly pigmented hairs, such as some pri- root end, move through to the shaft area
mates and black bears, there must be add- and then to the tip to identify any variation
itional treatment of the cortex to make it in characteristics and to view the whole
transparent. This can be achieved by sub- hair. Each area can provide information
merging dry hairs in hydrogen peroxide and specific to that region; for example, the
a few drops of ammonia solution until the root can provide information about the
desired lightness is achieved (Linacre, 2009). growth stage of the hair, the shaft can pro-
vide information about the pigment and
medulla and the tip can provide informa-
6.6.3 Microscopical analysis tion about damage and whether a fork or
of animal hairs split is present.
For each of the cortex, medulla and cu-
In microscopical analysis of hairs, a balance ticle regions, there are particular observa-
exists between observing the whole hair to tions that are deemed useful for the analysis
identify species and/or any similarities and of hairs; these are listed in Table 6.3.
differences between control and target hairs. Figures 6.2 and 6.3 demonstrate ex-
To achieve this, a systematic approach is re- amples of standard animal hair analysis
quired. Analysis evidence sheets can be used forms and the categories used to describe
that provide a systematic method for noting the observations stated in Table 6.3. Further
down relevant characteristics, sketches and descriptions of the key observations can be
comments using standardized terminology; found in Section 6.7, ‘Species Identification
these analysis sheets simplify comparison from Animal Hair’, below.

Table 6.3. Microscopical observations for the cortex, medulla and cuticle.

Hair Region Characteristic

Cortex Commonly noted: colour/hue, pigment density, pigment distribution, presence/absence of

ovoid bodies.
Additional observations: pigment granule shape, pigment granule size, texture of cortex,
presence/absence of cortical fusi.
Medulla Commonly noted: medulla distribution/type, medulla opacity, Medullary Index (MI)
(Medulla diameter/shaft diameter).
Additional observations: form of the medulla margins (straight, fringed, scalloped)
(Teerink, 1991).
Cuticle Commonly noted: cuticle thickness, scale pattern, scale position in relation to longitudinal
direction of the hair, scale edge shape, distance between scale edges.
Additional observations: distinctness of the inner cuticle margin.

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72 C. Gwinnett

ANIMAL HAIR EXAMINATION – SHEET 1

Case reference:
Page——of
Macroscopic characteristics
Hair
evidence
number
Length
(cm)

Shaft
profile

Colour

Presence
of banding
General description:

Examined by:

Notes by: Day: Date: Time:

Fig. 6.2. Example of a standard animal hair form: Part 1 (macroscopic observations and sketches).

In addition to these observations, the root diameter of the shaft should be measured
growth stage may be noted: this can be cat- in micrometres using a calibrated eye-piece
egorized into anagen (active growth stage scale, and variation along the length of the
with the presence of nuclear material), cata- hair should be noted.
gen (transitional growth stage with limited Depending upon the particular crime,
nuclear material) or telogen (dormant stage and when and where the hair was found,
where hairs are readily shed and no nuclear animal hair evidence may have been subject
material present) (Robertson, 1999). The to external influences such as weathering

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 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair 73

ANIMAL HAIR EXAMINATION – SHEET 2

Case reference:
Page——of
Microscopic characteristics
Hair evidence number
Pigment None
density Light
Medium
Heavy
Pigment Even
distribution Central
Peripheral
One-sided
Medulla None
distribution/ Broken
type (fragmented/interrupted)
Unbroken/continuous
(lattice/aeriform
lattice/simple/vacuolated)
Ladder
(uniserial/multiserial)
Miscellaneous
(globular/stellate/intruding)
Scale edges Smooth
shape Crenate
Rippled
Scalloped
Dentate
Distance Close
between Near
scales Distant
Scale pattern Mosaic (regular/irregular)
Wave
(regular/irregular/single
chevron/double
chevron/streaked)
Petal
(broad/elongate/diamond*)
Transitional

Ovoid bodies (Y/N)

Shaft diameter (μm)
Root shape
Tip shape
Medullary Index (MI) = Medulla
diameter/shaft diameter
Other
Examined by:
Notes by: Day: Date: Time:
* note whether narrow or broad diamond

Fig. 6.3. Example of a standard animal hair form: Part 2 (microscopic observations).

(Chang, 2005), causing change in the mor- cigarette burns, irons or complete burning
phological features, but nevertheless pro- of the hair with accelerants. Hair samples
viding additional information about the found in bedding, discarded collars and at
case. In certain cruelty cases, animals may crime scenes can indicate the temperatures
have been exposed to heat sources such as that hair has been exposed to.

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74 C. Gwinnett

When hairs are exposed to heat, changes related species can show similar characteris-
in colour, swelling and bubbling of the hair tics (Wildman, 1961).
may occur. Research conducted by Pangerl For species and sub-species identifica-
and Igowsky (2007) on human hairs indicated tion, there are five main characteristics:
that variables such as temperature, exposure scale morphology; medulla type; medullary
time, and how the heat is applied to the hair fraction (MF); colour banding; and root shape.
must be considered to fully interpret this The nomenclature for the different charac-
type of damage. Research conducted by Ay- teristics differs between ID keys and guides,
res (1985) identified that colour changes oc- but the following categories for each charac-
curred in hairs when exposed to a hot plate, teristic primarily combines the terminology
but when exposed directly to flame, colour and species examples used by Appleyard
changes were absent; however, the presence (1960), Wildman (1961), Petraco (1987),
of charring and bubbling was observed. Moore (1988), Teerink (1991), Partin (2003),
Work conducted at Staffordshire University Deedrick and Koch (2004) and Linacre (2009).
has shown that it is also possible to identify All examples are for guard hairs unless other-
the presence of accelerants on even a few wise stated.
strands of hairs that have been in close range
of an accelerated fire, using headspace gas
chromatography.
Other environmental factors that cause 6.7.1 Scale morphology
damage to the hair, such as crushing, insect
damage and fungal damage, can alter the ap- Broadly the scale pattern of animal hairs
pearance of the hair, but also potentially pro- can be classified into two main groups: cor-
vides an evidentially useful characteristic. onal (where the scales go around the entire
For example, hair from a decomposing body shaft, completely encircling it); and imbri-
may exhibit a decomposition band, i.e. the cate (where there are multiple scales encirc-
section of hair lying below the skin surface ling the shaft). Further classifications can be
has darkened in colour due to the decompos- made of the scales on the cuticle by observ-
ition process (Linch and Prahlow, 2001). ing four main characteristics.

1. Scale position in relation to the longitu-

dinal axis: this can be categorized as trans-
6.7 Species Identification versal (where the scales are at right angles to
from Animal Hair the longitudinal axis and appear to have a
greater width than length – seen in Fig. 6.4f);
It has been noted by Petraco (1987) and longitudinal (where the scales are aligned
Moore (1988), that with use of their schemes with the length of the hair and are longer
of identification, even inexperienced exam- than they are wide – seen in Fig. 6.4b); or
iners can accurately identify the species of intermediate (where the width of the scales is
an animal from its hair, albeit with use of the same as the length – seen in Fig. 6.4a).
other resources, such as reference materials 2. Shape of the scale margin: this is the
(Moore, 1988). This comment should be taken shape of the distal end of the scale, which
with caution, as it is recognized that animal can be smooth, crenate (shallow and rela-
hair identification is one of the more difficult tively pointed indentations), rippled, frilled,
analyses attempted by forensic scientists scalloped or dentate (pointed, like teeth).
(Wildman, 1961; Moore 1988). Possible ex- 3. Distance between the external margins of
planations for this include: the variation that can the scales: this is usually categorized as close
exist within a species (Moore, 1988); the vari- (as seen in Fig. 6.4g); near (as seen in Fig. 6.4a);
ation in terminology used in species identifica- or distant (as seen in Fig. 6.4b). Sometimes
tion keys; the subjective nature of the analysis (no scale count is also completed, which counts
single characteristic will allow identification of a the number of scales per unit of measure,
species); and the fact that hairs from closely e.g. 40μm (Rosen, 1974).

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 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair 75

(a) (b) (c)

Broad petal – Seal Elongate petal Broad diamond

aka pectinate – Otter petal – Fox,
Badger, Dog
(d) (e) (f)

Narrow diamond Mosaic Regular wave – Bear,

petal – Harvest Mouse Regular – Cat, Dog, Beaver, Bison
European Hedgehog
Irregular – Lion, Cat

(g) (h) (i)

Irregular wave – Orangutan, Streaked – Bank Single chevron – Daubenton’s

Aardvark Vole Bat

(j)

Double chevron – Squirrel,

Rabbit

Fig. 6.4. Animal hair scale patterns.

4. Scale pattern: this describes the overall of animals that exhibit these. In addition to
shape and regularity of the outer scales. Fig- these, a pattern may also be transitional,
ure 6.4 demonstrates the most common pat- which is the presence of more than one pat-
terns seen in animal hair, with some ­examples tern along the length of the hair.

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76 C. Gwinnett

6.7.2 Medulla types further categorized by their structure (and

width, for certain types). Teerink (1991)
The medulla can vary dramatically between also further categorized medulla by the form
species and even subtle differences can be of the medulla margin, i.e. the silhouette of
seen between sub-species. First, medullas the medulla’s edges, as straight, fringed or
can be categorized by their distribution as scalloped. Figure 6.5 demonstrates the most
being unbroken, broken (e.g. interrupted common medulla structures seen in animal
and fragmented which is also seen in human hair, with some examples of animals that
hair), laddered, or miscellaneous; and then exhibit these.

Unbroken
(a) (b) (c)

Amorphous/simple – Lion, Vacuolated/cellular – Red Lattice

Raccoon Fox Wide – Deer, Otter
Fine – Mink, Beaver

Laddered
(d) (e) (f)

Aeriform lattice – Muskrat, Uniserial – Rabbit Multiserial – Rabbit

Chinchilla, Opossum, (under-hairs) (guard hairs)
European Hamster

Miscellaneous
(g) (h) (i)

Stellate Globular – Seal Intruding – Horse

tail hair

Fig. 6.5. Animal hair medulla distributions and structures.

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 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair 77

6.7.3 Medullary fraction (MF) complete guard hair. Moore’s (1988) scheme
aka medullary index (MI) mainly focuses upon animal species com-
monly found in the UK, but also incorporates
The medullary fraction (MF) is the ratio be- other species such as camel and llama. A com-
tween the width of the hair and width of the prehensive atlas of west-European hairs
medulla. The width of both the shaft of the ­developed by Teerink (1991) provides illus-
hair and the medulla are measured in micro- trations and photographs of cross-sections,
metres and can be compared as a quantita- scale casts, medulla slides and mounted sam-
tive characteristic or used to aid identifica- ples of guard and under-hairs from a vast
tion; for example, Peabody et al. (1983) range of animals. Smaller research projects
determined that the medullary fraction analysing particular species or geographical
could be used to reliably distinguish be- area either for casework or other environ-
tween dogs and cats. mental or scientific purpose are also very use-
ful to the hair analyst. Examples of these
types of study include Williams’ (1938) ID of
6.7.4 Colour banding mole and shrew hairs; Hilton and Kutscha’s
(1978) ID of coyote, dog, red fox and bobcat
Pigment distribution in animal hair may not hairs in Maine; Vineis et al.’s (2008) ID of
only differ across the width of the hair, but wild goat and domestic goat hair; and Mayer’s
also quite dramatically along its length. The (1952) examination of Californian mammals.
length, order, colour and number of bands In addition to these works, there are very use-
can help identify different species. For ex- ful online resources that present photomicro-
ample, badger hair can be differentiated graphs of different animal hairs, including
from dog and fox hair primarily by its dis- Deedrick and Koch (2004).
tinct white proximal end, black shaft and These guides are very important for fo-
white tip (Moore, 1988). rensic analysts who may not have come
across certain animal hair types in casework
previously. Some of these keys state differ-
6.7.5 Root shape ent characteristics for the same species type
but this is to be expected, as different
Further to identifying growth stage, animal sub-species will have been sampled for the
hair root bulbs can have particular shapes production of the keys and therefore the use
that are useful in identifying species. Ex- of multiple keys, to identify any variation
amples of this include deer (wine glass), and differences in interpretation, is advised.
horse (elongated), cow (elongated but with The breadth of animal hairs and their
a medulla present in the root portion), dog microscopical characteristics is huge and it
(spade) and cat (‘paint brush’ with the inclu- is advisable for a forensic analyst to have ref-
sion of fibrils) (Moore, 1988; Linacre, 2009). erence samples of a large range of animals for
comparison (Wildman, 1961). Samples may
be obtained from casework, museums, zoos
6.7.6 Species identification aids or commercially produced collections, such
the Arbidar Animal Hair and Fur Collection.
Research into the variation of morphological
characteristics in animal hair, comparisons of
different species and sub-species, and the de-
velopment of identification keys, reference
6.8 Interpretation of Animal Hair
collections and interpretation aids are abun- in Casework
dant. Examples of specific ID schemes in-
clude the following: Stains (1958); Appleyard 6.8.1 Conclusions from comparing control
(1960); Moore (1988); and Petraco (1987). and target hairs
­Petraco’s (1987) scheme includes 25 genera
and was designed to allow quick and effective The interpretation of the characteristics
identification of these genera using only one ­observed between target hairs and control

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78 C. Gwinnett

hairs is different to species identification that although some individuality can be

and must attempt to identify any differ- found in German Shepherds, this does not
ences rather than similarities. Differences apply to all individuals, as some hairs show
due to the hairs being from different ani- fewer characteristics for comparison.
mals can be difficult to distinguish from dif-
ferences due to variation seen across hairs
from the same animal; therefore care must 6.8.2 Transfer and persistence
be taken when interpreting results. for interpreting animal crimes
As stated by Deedrick and Koch (2000,
2004) there are three general conclusions
Understanding the mechanisms of transfer
that can be reached as a result of micro-
and persistence of animal hair is very im-
scopic hair analysis: exclusion; no conclu-
portant for establishing the evidential value
sion; or association. Exclusion indicates that
of any hairs found in animal crimes, and
the target hair has originated from a different
may help to identify time periods within
source to the control (exhibiting significant
which the hairs were likely to have been de-
difference in one or more characteristics);
posited upon the object or individual that
association (where the same microscopical
has been sampled. Animal hair may be trans-
characteristics can be seen between the con-
ferred in a variety of ways: directly from the
trol and the target hairs) indicates that they
animal to an object (for example, to a wooden
have a common source; and no conclusion is
baton used for dog fighting); from animal to
given when neither of these can be stated
an environment (such as its living quarters);
with reliability. In order to come to one of
from an animal to a human; and from an ani-
these conclusions, the analyst must identify
mal to another animal. Transfer of hairs can
any variation seen in the control hairs and
be primary, secondary or even tertiary. Pri-
decide whether the target hair falls within
mary transfer is where the hair has been
this range (Deedrick and Koch, 2004).
transferred from the donor directly to an ob-
When association has been concluded,
ject, suspect or victim; for example, from a
the certainty placed upon this conclusion
dog to a weapon used to cause head injuries
will be affected by the number of hair char-
to the dog. Secondary transfer is where hair
acteristics seen in the target hair that are the
is transferred to an intermediary object/per-
same as the control, the condition of the hair
son/animal before being transferred to the
and the individuality of the hair: the more
object/person/animal that it is found upon;
characteristics and the less common the
for example, a hair being transferred from a
characteristics, the greater the confidence
person to a chair and then a second person
that can be placed upon the conclusion.
sitting on the chair and the hair being trans-
Where possible, knowledge of the
ferred to that individual. Tertiary is the pres-
population should be used to provide statis-
ence of two intermediary objects.
tical evaluation of the evidence; for ex-
The factors which affect the transfer
ample, knowledge of the commonality of
and persistence of fibred and human hairs is
certain characteristics within and across
well documented but much less is known
species. This form of information is very
for animal hairs, especially in regard to ani-
difficult to obtain reliably for animal hair
mal crimes (Boehme et al., 2009). Having
and is usually based upon an expert’s ex-
said that, some factors that affect the num-
perience, although the use of statistics to
ber of hairs transferred from an animal to an
create probabilities for association has been
object will be the same as with human hair
attempted with human hair (Gaudette and
or natural fibres, including the following:
Keeping, 1974; Barnett and Ogle, 1982).
Unfortunately, with animal hair, identi- 1. Length (time) of contact.
fication of an individual animal without 2. Surface area in contact.
DNA analysis is not normally possible. 3. Force of contact.
Studies such as Suzanski (1988), carried out 4. Hair length.
to investigate dog hair from different indi- 5. Recipient surface, e.g. fur of a different
viduals of the same breed, has indicated animal, fabric (Boehme et al., 2009).

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 Forensic Examination of Animal Hair 79

Specifically for animal hairs, the growth stage b. Other surfaces – smoothness, fibre
of hair (seasonal shedding) will also affect and weave type (if fabric) (Dachs et al.,
transfer. 2003).
Persistence of hairs is the length of time 2. Activity since deposition.
a hair will adhere to an object/person/animal 3. Washing/cleaning behaviour of the
after deposition. Knowledge of how long dif- ­animal.
ferent hairs persist on different surfaces can
Research carried out by Boehme et al. (2009)
help identify time of deposition and therefore
on the persistence of animal hairs on dif-
help reconstruct a crime scene. To aid with
ferent fabrics indicated that hair type is not
this, reconstruction experiments can be car-
significant to persistence, a­ lthough rougher
ried out to identify the persistence of particu-
cuticles may affect ­persistence.
lar hairs on particular surfaces.
Factors that could affect the persistence
of animal hairs include:
1. The recipient surface. Acknowledgements
a. Another animal as the recipient surface –
density and length of fur, cleanliness of Thank you to William Bailey for the pro-
fur, position on body. duction of the diagrams.

References

Appleyard, H.M. (1960) Guide to the Identification of Animal Fibres. Wool Industries Research Association,
Leeds, UK.
Ayres, L.M. (1985) Misleading color changes in hair that has been heated but not exposed to flame. In:
­Proceedings of the International Symposium on Forensic Hair Comparisons. 25–27 June, FBI Academy,
Quantico, Virginia. US Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
Bahuguna, A. and Mukherjee, S.K. (2000) Use of SEM to recognise Tibetan antelope (Chiru) hair and blending
in wool products. Science and Justice 40(3), 177–182.
Barnett, P.D. and Ogle, R.R. (1982) Probabilities and human hair comparisons. Journal of Forensic Sciences
27, 272–278.
Boehme, A., Brooks, E., McNaught, I. and Robertson, J. (2009) The persistence of animal hairs in a forensic
context. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences 41(2), 99–112.
Chang, B.S., Hong, W.S., Lee, E., Yeo, S.M., Bang, I.S., Yeo, S.M., Chung, Y.H., Lim, D.S., Mun, G.A., Kim, J.,
Park, S.O. and Shin, D.H. (2005) Ultramicroscopic observations on morphological changes in hair during
25 Years of weathering. Forensic Science International 151, 249–200.
Choudhry, M.Y. (1988) A novel technique for the collection and recovery of foreign fibers in forensic science
casework. Journal of Forensic Sciences 33(1), 249–253.
Dachs, J., McNaught, I.J., and Robertson, J. (2003) The persistence of human scalp hair on clothing fabrics.
Forensic Science International 138, 27–36.
Deedrick, D.W. and Koch, S.L. (2000) Microscopy of hair (Part 1): a practical guide and manual for human hairs.
Forensic Science Communications 2, 3. Available online at: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/lab/forensic-
science-communications/fsc/jan2004/research/2004_01_research01b.htm (accessed 21 September 2015).
Deedrick, D.W. and Koch, S.L. (2004) Microscopy of hair (Part II): a practical guide and manual for animal hairs.
Forensic Science Communications 6, 3. Available online at: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/lab/forensic-
science-communications/fsc/july2004/research/2004_03_research02.htm (accessed 21 September 2015).
Gaudette, B.D. and Keeping, E.S. (1974) An attempt at determining probabilities in human scalp hair comparison.
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Gratacos-Cubarsi, M., Castellari, M., Valero, A. and Garcia-Regueiro, J.A. (2006) Hair analysis for veterinary
drug monitoring in livestock production. Journal of Chromatography 834, 14–25.
Hilton, H. and Kutscha, N.P. (1978) Distinguishing characteristics of the hairs of eastern coyote, domestic dog,
red fox and bobcat in Maine. American Midland Naturalist 100(1), 223–227.
Huffman, J.E. and Wallace, J.R. (2012) Wildlife Forensics: Methods and Applications. Wiley, Chichester, UK.
Jackson, A. and Gwinnett, C. (2013) Easylift: a novel tape lifting system. Interfaces 73, 22–23.
Lenertz, O. (2001) Retaining physical traces and evidence. Problems of Forensic Sciences 46, 68–75.

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Linacre, A. (ed.) (2009) Forensic Science in Wildlife Investigations. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Linch, C.A. and Prahlow, J.A. (2001) Postmortem microscopic changes observed at the human head hair proximal
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Mayer, W.V. (1952) The hair of California mammals with keys to the dorsal guard hairs of California mammals.
American Midland Naturalist 38, 480–512.
McKenna, F.J. and Sherwin, J.C. (1975) A simple and effective method for collecting contact evidence. Journal
of the Forensic Science Society 15, 227.
Moore, J.E. (1988) A key for the identification of animal hairs. Journal of the Forensic Science Society 28,
335–339.
Ogle, R.R. and Mitosinka, G. (1973) A rapid technique for preparing hair cuticular scale casts. Journal of
­Forensic Science 18(1), 82–83.
Oxford Dictionaries (2016) Hair. Available at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/hair
(accessed 16 May 2016).
Pangerl, E. and Igowsky, K. (2007) Changes observed in human head hairs exposed to heat. Trace Evidence
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Presentations%20CD-2/Pangerl.pdf (accessed 21 September 2015).
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­Journal of Forensic Science Society 23, 121–129.
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83–92.
Robertson, J. (1999) Forensic Examination of Hair. Taylor & Francis, London, UK.
Robertson, J. and Roux, C. (2010) Trace evidence: here today, gone tomorrow? Science and Justice 50, 18–22.
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Stains, H.J. (1958) Key to guard hairs of middle Western Furbearers. Journal of Wildlife Management 22, 95–97.
Suzanski, T.W. (1988) Dog hair comparison: a preliminary study. Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal
21, 19–28.
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44(2), 95–100.
Teerink, B.J. (1991) Hair of West-European Mammals: Atlas and Identification Key. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, UK.
Vineis, C., Aluigi, A. and Tonin, C. (2008) Morphological and thermal behaviour of textile fibres from the hair
of domestic and wild goat species. AUTEX Research Journal 8(3), 68–71.
Wildman, A.B. (1954) The Microscopy of Animal Textile Fibres. Wool Industries Research Association, Leeds, UK.
Wildman, A.B. (1961) The identification of animal fibres. Journal of the Forensic Science Society 1, 115–119.
Williams, C.S. (1938) Aids to the identification of mole and shrew hairs with general comments on hair structure
and hair determination. Journal of Wildlife Management 2, 239–249.

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 7 Firearms and Ballistics

Rachel Bolton-King1* and Johan Schulze2*

1
Department of Forensic and Crime Science, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent,
Staffordshire, UK; 2Veterinary Forensic and Wildlife Services, Germany and Norway

7.1 Crime Scene Evidence: Firearms and Ballistics by Rachel Bolton-King 82

7.1.1 Introduction 82
7.1.2 Firearms 82
7.1.2.1 Types of firearm 83
7.1.2.2 Modern firing mechanisms 84
7.1.3 Ammunition 85
7.1.3.1 Composition 85
7.1.3.2 Live cartridges 86
7.1.3.3 Fired cartridge cases and projectiles 86
7.1.4 Internal ballistics 87
7.1.4.1 Primer 87
7.1.4.2 Propellant 87
7.1.4.3 Projectile 88
7.1.4.4 Weapon 88
7.1.4.5 Production of gunshot residue (GSR) 89
7.1.5 Intermediate ballistics 89
7.1.5.1 Propellant particles and gaseous combustion products 89
7.1.5.2 Projectile 90
7.1.5.3 Muzzle attachments 90
7.1.6 External ballistics 91
7.1.6.1 Muzzle velocity and kinetic energy 91
7.1.6.2 Trajectory 92
7.1.6.3 Range 94
7.1.6.4 Accuracy and precision 94
7.1.7 Terminal ballistics 95
7.1.7 Retrieval of fired ammunition components 95
7.1.8.1 Cartridges and fired cartridge cases 95

*Corresponding authors: [email protected]; [email protected]

© CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey) 81

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82 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

7.1.8.2 Fired projectiles and shotgun wadding 96

7.1.8.3 Gunshot residue (GSR) 96
7.1.9 Conclusion 97
7.2 Wound Ballistics by Johan Schulze 99
7.2.1 Introduction 99
7.2.2 Basics of wound ballistics 99
7.2.3 Some specifics of wound ballistics 102
7.2.3.1 Deformation/fragmentation 102
7.2.3.2 Entrance and exit wound 102
7.2.3.3 Shotgun 104
7.2.3.4 Airgun 105
7.2.4 Essential steps of investigating a shot animal 106
7.2.4.1 Before necropsy 106
7.2.4.2 The practical approach 107
7.2.4.3 Recovery of bullets 112
7.2.5 Conclusion 113

7.1 Crime Scene Evidence: Firearms a­ mmunition and ballistics. The focus will
and Ballistics be on the common types of firearm and asso-
ciated ammunition that are utilized by
Rachel Bolton-King ­civilians, which would ultimately be en-
countered in the majority of cases where
veterinarians are involved in forensic investi-
gations. For more in-depth reading into this
7.1.1 Introduction field, recommended reading includes Farrar
and Leeming (1983), Carlucci and Jacobson
Crime scenes involving shooting-related in- (2008), Heard (2008), Haag and Haag (2011),
cidents can contain a raft of forensic evi- Warlow (2011).
dence that may be of benefit to the forensic
veterinarian and criminal investigating team.
The nature of the firearm (Section 7.1.2)
and the ammunition (Section 7.1.3) utilized 7.1.2 Firearms
in the shooting have a critical role to play in
the resulting injury and trauma exhibited The legal definition of a firearm differs slightly
in the body. from the dictionary definition. A firearm is
The term ballistics is defined as the defined by The Firearms (Amendment) Act
study of the motion of projectiles. Ballis- 1988 (UK Parliament, 1988) as ‘a lethal bar-
tics is divided into three main categories: relled weapon of any description from which
internal (Section 7.1.4), external (Section 7.1.6) any shot, bullet or other missile can be dis-
and terminal (Section 7.1.7); however, there charged’; whereas the Oxford English Dic-
is also a fourth category known as inter- tionary (Oxford University Press, 2014) sim-
mediate ballistics (Section 7.1.5). Terminal ply identifies a firearm as different types of
ballistics (Section 7.1.7) covers both inani- gun, i.e. ‘a rifle, pistol or other portable gun’,
mate objects and living organisms; however, thus ‘gun’ is defined as ‘a weapon incorpor-
the study of projectiles through living organ- ating a metal tube from which bullets, shells,
isms is classified as a sub-category of terminal or other missiles are propelled by explosive
ballistics referred to as wound ballistics (see force, typically making a characteristic loud,
Section 7.2). sharp noise’. The mechanism of firing the
The field of firearms and ballistics is projectile (Section 7.1.2.2) is unspecified;
­extensive. This chapter, therefore, aims to however, the legal definition implies that
provide an introductory explanation of the weapon must be capable of killing a
the scientific theory underpinning firearms, living target. The dictionary states that an

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 Firearms and Ballistics 83

explosive force is required; however, the

force may not have to be explosive in order
to be lethal. The legislation around firearm
ownership, transportation and use will vary Muzzle
extensively depending on the region in Chamber
which the crime occurred. Barrel

7.1.2.1 Types of firearm

Trigger
The term handgun is commonly used to de-
scribe any firearm that is capable of being Frame
fired from one hand (AFTE Training and
Standardization Committee, 2007). This Magazine
term includes two types of firearm: revolver
(or revolving pistol) and pistol, although the
sub-machine gun (SMG) may also be con- Fig. 7.1.1. Annotated image of a Sig Sauer P226
sidered in this category. Within the UK, air semi-automatic pistol field stripped into its key
weapons are currently the most common component parts listed from top of the image; slide
firearms utilized in gun crime as these are (containing the ejection port), barrel (with integral
typically legal and unlicensed, but this is chamber), recoil guide spring, frame and magazine
(housed inside the grip of the frame).
closely followed by handguns (Berman,
2012; Smith et al., 2012) due to their small
size, making them easy to conceal from and typically utilizes cartridges measured
other civilians and law enforcement. Air in gauge rather than calibre. Gauge equates
weapons are typically used for recreational to the number of lead balls with the diameter
use, such as target shooting, whereas hand- of the barrel bore, that collectively weigh
guns are typically utilized for self-defence. 1 lb. The calibre is either the internal diam-
The main difference between a pistol eter of the mouth of the cartridge case or the
and a revolver is that a revolver has a cylinder maximum diameter of the projectile (units
containing multiple chambers, each capable may be metric or imperial). For example, a
of housing a single ammunition cartridge, 12-gauge shotgun has a barrel diameter of
and the chamber is therefore separated from 0.729 in. and 12 lead balls of 0.729 in. weigh
the barrel. A pistol has a single chamber that 1 lb. Shotguns are usually single- or double-
houses only one ammunition cartridge and barrelled with the latter having either a
this is integrated into the barrel. A sub- side-by-side or up-and-over barrel align-
machine gun is a shorter-barrelled, light- ment. Shotgun barrels also may contain a
weight machine gun, designed to fire pistol-­ choke at the muzzle end, which can be inte-
sized cartridges in short or long bursts of gral to the barrel or be removable. The choke
fire. Modern handgun barrels are typically aims to force the multiple shot together
rifled with a spiral internal surface profile prior to exiting the barrel and there are vary-
consisting of alternating spiral lands and ing degrees of choke available. To be made
grooves to enhance the ballistic properties of more concealable, criminals are known to
the projectile upon muzzle exit. Figure 7.1.1 cut down and shorten the barrel length,
indicates the key components common to a which will ultimately reduce the velocity,
wide range of firearms. energy and range of the projectile(s) and in-
Rifles also have a single chamber to crease the spread of lead shot fired from the
house one cartridge, but are identified by ammunition due to excessively high pressure
their longer-rifled barrel and are larger (Haag and Haag, 2011) and choke removal.
in overall size than handguns. Rifles are Tasers and stun guns may also be con-
designed to be fired by one individual, but sidered as a firearm in some countries, in-
using two hands. cluding Great Britain. Tasers are designed to
A shotgun is differentiated from hand- fire two barbs from a cartridge, which are
guns and rifles due to the smooth-bore barrel connected to the weapon by wire reaching

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84 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

up to 10.6 m. When the wired barbs make the legal limits for an air weapon to be classi-
contact with or penetrate the upper layer of fied as a firearm are higher than 1 ft lb (Home
the skin (epidermis) the electrical circuit is Office, 2014). Criminal use of air weapons
complete and current is passed through the was on the rise until 2003/2004 (Berman,
target’s tissue to incapacitate. Tasers can be 2012), when legislation aimed to reduce this
used in stun drive mode to cause pain, (Squires, 2014). However, injuries to animals
whereby the cartridge is not used and con- caused by air weapons are still more com-
tact is made directly between the skin and monly observed by veterinarians. To be legal
the electrical device. and unlicensed, air pistols must generate pro-
Other weapons that could be considered jectile muzzle energy less than 6 ft lbs (8.1 J)
relevant within the context of veterinary fo- and less than 12 ft lbs (16.3 J) for air rifles
rensics are bows and crossbows, humane (Home Office, 2014). However, in Northern
killers such as captive-bolt guns (Warlow, Ireland, air weapons firing projectiles with
2011), airsoft weapons and paintball guns. muzzle energy greater than 1 J must be held
However, by the UK legal definition these on a firearms certificate (Northern Ireland
are not firearms and therefore not considered Office, 2005).
within the scope of this chapter. The ammunition is loaded into the
weapon either manually, or automatically
from a magazine or belt of ammunition. Auto-
7.1.2.2 Modern firing mechanisms matic loading (self-loading) uses the energy
created from discharging a previous cart-
Firing mechanisms involve the loading of ridge to reload the next live cartridge of am-
the projectile/ammunition into the weapon munition into the chamber ready to be fired
and the functioning of all the firearm’s in- again. Heard (2008) and Warlow (2011)
ternal components required to propel the discuss the range of firing mechanisms that
projectile out of the barrel. Design and func- enable self-loading of ammunition and
tionality of specific firearms is an extensive ­examples include recoil, blowback and bolt-­
topic, ultimately determined by the firearm action. Principally, there are two overarching
manufacturer. Forensic veterinarians do not automatic firing mechanisms: semi-automatic
need to know the in-depth details of all fir- and fully automatic. Semi-automatic means
ing mechanisms, but need to appreciate that with one pull of the trigger, one cart-
the differences in the key firing mechanisms ridge is fired. With fully automatic, one
and how these influence the ammunition pull of the trigger causes continual firing
selected, the properties of the projectiles and reloading of ammunition until either the
fired and the potential differences that trigger is released, or there is no ammunition
could be expected for wound examination left to fire from the magazine or belt. There
and interpretation. are some firearms designed to fire short
Air weapons are relatively low-powered bursts of ammunition, whereby continual
weapons, which use a high-pressure volume hold of the trigger will fire a small number
of gas, typically atmospheric air or carbon of cartridges (usually three to five); to fire
dioxide, to transfer energy to the projectile further cartridges the trigger will need to
(pellet) and propel it out of the barrel; these be released and pulled again. Modern
weapons therefore do not require ignition of ­pistols such as Browning Hi-Power and Ber-
chemical compounds to generate kinetic etta 92FS are commonly semi-automatic,
energy. Air weapons using atmospheric air whereas SMGs such as MAC-10 and Uzi
typically operate by manually compressing SMG may also have the capability of fully
a spring; pulling the trigger releases the automatic fire and the AK47 assault rifle
spring compressing the air and pushing it may have the additional option of short-
behind the pellet. Alternatively, the pellet is burst fire.
fired utilizing a small jet of compressed gas, For handguns, there are two ways to set
such as carbon dioxide, released from a the trigger and fire the weapon: single-action
small gas canister attached to the weapon and double-action. Single-action requires a
when the trigger is pulled. In most of the UK, manual cocking of the hammer and then a

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 Firearms and Ballistics 85

subsequent pull of the trigger to fire. With ­ esigned first for a specific purpose; the weapon
d
double-action, a longer and heavier pull of is developed later to fire that ammunition. For
the trigger will first cock the hammer and example, Georg Luger developed the 9 × 19
then release the firing pin/striker on to the mm cartridge in 1902 which was later designed
cartridge causing it to discharge. to be fired in the 1908 Luger P08 semi-automatic
For rifles and shotgun, the firing mech- pistol (Jones and Ness, 2009; Bolton-King,
anisms include single-shot, bolt-action (bolt 2012). Thus, a wide range of ammunition with a
is turned to lock the cartridge into the breech variety of specifications has been developed
end of the barrel before firing), self-loading for specific purposes (Table 7.1.1); choosing the
(similar to self-loading pistols) and pump-­ correct ammunition for a specific weapon can
action (breech is linked to the fore-end, which be critical to achieve the intended outcome. To
when pulled back, unlocks the breech and ensure the weapon fires safely and correctly,
ejects the cartridge case; pushing the fore-end the dimension(s) of the ammunition (calibre or
forward loads in a live cartridge from the gauge) must be accurately selected for the fire-
magazine and cocks the weapon). arm in which it is discharged.
Other terms used to describe firearms and
their firing mechanisms include converted
7.1.3.1 Composition
(for example, a blank firing weapon converted
to fire ammunition such as Olympic 38 or Modern ammunition has developed from
Baikal), home-made, concealed (firearms made loading individual components (primer, propel-
to look like other objects such as pen gun), de- lant and projectile) into a self-enclosed cart-
activated (firearms made unable to fire am- ridge system to create a closed environment
munition by machining/removing key compo- for a large amount of gas to be produced and
nents), reactivated (deactivated weapons made allow the gas pressure to rise ­exponentially.
to fire again) and imitation (firearms that look The core components of a cartridge are the
real, but do not fire live ammunition). cartridge case and the projectile. The projectile is
positioned at the mouth of the cartridge case and
they are crimped together to form the cartridge.
7.1.3 Ammunition The base of the cartridge case houses the primer
unit that contains the primer compound. Inside
Like firearms, ammunition has developed the cartridge case, the propellant is confined
over the centuries. However, ammunition is between the primer unit and the projectile.

Table 7.1.1. Common examples of modern ammunition calibres and their intended purpose.

Calibre (in.) Weapon Type (Centre-Fire) Purpose

0.22 Hornet Rifle Small varmint hunting (<200 m)

0.223 Remington Rifle Military standard (long range)
0.303 British Rifle Military standard (long range)
0.357 Magnum Revolver Law enforcement (short range)
0.410 Shotgun Small varmint/game hunting
0.45 Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP) Pistol Close combat, self-defence
0.458 Winchester Magnum Rifle Hunting dangerous game

Calibre (mm)

7.62 NATO Rifle Military standard (long range)

9 × 19 Pistol or sub-machine gun Military standard (short range)

Gauge

20 Shotgun Recommended for hunting novices

12 Shotgun Short range bird hunting

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86 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

The primer (Section 7.1.4.1) and propel- fired from pistols, revolvers, rifles and ma-
lant (Section 7.1.4.2) are both mixtures of chine guns are typically referred to as bullets.
chemical compounds designed to ignite, burn Shotgun ammunition, however, commonly
and provide oxygen to the combustion pro- contain multiple spherical lead pellets known
cess. Priming compounds are typically inor- as shot. However, some shotgun cartridges are
ganic compounds that are explosive and designed to fire a single projectile (slug) from
more exothermic, whereas propellant flakes a rifled-barrel shotgun, commonly used for
are organic in nature, burning slower and beast destruction.
slightly cooler.
There are two main classifications of 7.1.3.2 Live cartridges
modern cartridge: centre-fire and rim-fire.
The difference is due to the location of the Although fired cartridge cases and fired pro-
explosive primer that ignites the cartridge. jectiles (Section 7.1.3.3) are the primary
As the name implies, the centre-fire cartridge types of forensic firearms evidence recovered
has the primer located in the centre of the from crime scenes, the presence of unfired
base, whereas the primer within the rim- (live) cartridges is important to forensic fire-
fire cartridge has it located around the rim. arms examiners. Live cartridges allow an
Projectiles are identified for ammunition examiner to determine exactly the type of
based on the intended functional purpose of ammunition that was used by the firer and
the cartridge and the weapon type the cart- can be used for corroborative intelligence
ridge is designed for. Projectile shape, dimen- and for test firing to assist in the identifica-
sions and material properties affect the tion of a specific weapon.
external (Section 7.1.6) and terminal ballis-
tics (Section 7.1.7) following projectile exit 7.1.3.3 Fired cartridge cases
from the barrel. Typically the softer the ma- and projectiles
terial property of the projectile, the more
easily the projectile will deform on impact Brief examination of fired cartridge cases
with a target, increasing surface area and can provide valuable intelligence to the
increasing the amount of energy that can be forensic practitioners investigating the inci-
transferred into the target material. For ex- dent. Information can include the manufac-
ample, a full metal jacketed (FMJ) projectile turer and calibre of the likely ammunition
is harder than a metal jacketed hollow-point used, and probable identification of the type
(HP) that has an exposed lead cavity at the of weapon, its manufacturer and model, using
projectile nose. The HP will deform and mush- class characteristics transferred during the
room on impact with a target, significantly firing process (for example, the shape and
reducing penetration depth and increasing dimensions of the firing pin impression).
wounding in comparison to an FMJ. This Knowledge of such initial intelligence can
makes the FMJ more suitable for military aid the forensic veterinarian in their exam-
use and the HP more suitable to law enforce- ination of wounds (Section 7.2).
ment and hunting, where only one target The fired ammunition component that
needs to be hit. is more commonly encountered by a forensic
Air weapons do not utilize a cartridge veterinarian is the fired projectile, which
system, as the compressed air supplies the may or may not be located inside the ­injured
force to propel a single lead pellet using com- species. Ideally, the presence of a forensic
parably low gas pressure. More lethal firearms firearms examiner or ballistics expert would
utilizing cartridge-based ammunition create be very beneficial as they can assist with
much higher gas pressures during ignition, wound examination and interpretation
and therefore have greater muzzle velocity, and recover any firearms-related evidence;
muzzle energy, range and penetration depth. however, the overriding purpose of the veter-
However, research has shown that even blank inarian is to preserve life. As a minimum, an
firing weapons can be fatal, due to the gas pres- X-ray of the wound should be undertaken,
sures released (Demirci et al., 2011). Projectiles as some initial visual analysis of the X-ray

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 Firearms and Ballistics 87

images can provide intelligence to the prac- will not explain these concepts in depth,
titioner during their examination. The approxi- but will introduce the various stages that
mate dimension of the base of the projectile comprise the ignition of typical modern
can indicate the calibre of the weapon, and cartridge-based ammunition.
the shape of projectile found may lead to the
type of weapon that discharged it. Also, it is 7.1.4.1 Primer
possible that the projectile may have frag-
mented inside the body; this could be due When the base of the cartridge is struck by
to the design of the ammunition component the firing pin, this creates an impression in
or because the projectile has struck dense the metal base known as the firing pin im-
material within the body; for example, bone. pression. The distortion to the base causes
Retrieval of fired projectiles will be covered the case to strike a metal anvil positioned
in Section 7.1.8. directly beneath, within the primer unit, thus
Although beyond the scope of this chap- creating a spark. The spark detonates the un-
ter, submission of fired cartridge cases and stable, explosive inorganic primer producing
projectiles to the laboratory for examination a flame jet of approximately 2000°C (Heard,
by a firearms examiner can further identify 2008).
the specific weapon that was involved using The primer mixture comprises an
microscopic examination of the individual ­igniter, an oxidizer and a fuel. The igniter is
characteristics engraved and impressed into an explosive chemical compound such as
the fired ammunition component. Individual lead styphenate or tetrazine (in lead-free am-
characteristics are created by unique tool- munition). Barium nitrate is an oxidizer that
marks generated on the surface of the weapon aids flame production by providing oxygen
components during the component manufac- during the reaction, and antimony sulphide
turing process. The toolmarks are randomly is an example of the fuel needed to increase
created due to wear of the tool surface used the temperature and length of the flame.
to manufacture the component and these The flame is forced through one (boxer
toolmarks are transferred to the component primer type) or two (berdan primer type)
during the firing process. As they are random flash holes in the top of the primer unit,
and unique, the individual characteristics can which provides sufficient thermal energy to
be used to identify a specific weapon compo- ignite the propellant flakes housed in the
nent. Even if a firearm is not recovered, exam- main body of the cartridge case.
ination of multiple fired cases or projectiles
can be used to link shooting incidents to- 7.1.4.2 Propellant
gether and identify a single weapon used in
one or more incidents, known as an inferred Propellant is compressed grains of organic
weapon. materials designed to burn at a controlled
rate. In modern smokeless propellant (as op-
posed to black powder), nitrocellulose and/
7.1.4 Internal ballistics or nitroglycerine is the main component.
The shape and dimensions of the grains
Internal ballistics covers all aspects involv- (ballistic size) and presence/absence of mod-
ing the ammunition and firearm from the erators, stabilizers and/or retardant chemicals
moment the firing pin strikes the cartridge within or coated on the grain surface(s) can
to the point at which the projectile exits the control the burning rate of the propellant.
muzzle of the firearm. A range of scientific As the grains combust, they produce a large
concepts underpin internal ballistics, which volume of gas (primarily carbon dioxide
include combustion theory, Piobert’s law of and water vapour), which is sealed inside
burning, the ideal gas law, laws of thermo- the cartridge case and chamber of the firearm.
dynamics, conservation of energy and linear The temperature and pressure builds inside
momentum, and Newton’s laws of physics the cartridge, thereby increasing the burn-
(Carlucci and Jacobson, 2008). This section ing rate of the propellant and resulting in an

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88 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

exponential rate of combustion. The initial The precise velocity of the projectile prior
rate of combustion is also determined by the to exit will vary to some extent from the am-
ratio between propellant volume and case munition manufacturer’s specifications, de-
volume; a greater volume of unfilled space pending on the specifications of the model
in the cartridge case will result in a slower of firearm the ammunition is fired from. For
combustion rate, as the gas has more space example, for a given cartridge, the tighter the
to fill before the pressure can start to rise. fit of the projectile within the barrel bore, the
When the pressure is high enough in the cart- greater the level of friction initially acting
ridge it forces the projectile(s) free from the against the forward motion of the projectile,
cartridge case; this is known as shot start and therefore the lower the muzzle velocity.
(Farrar and Leeming, 1983). If the barrel is longer, then frictional force may
act for longer. There will also be some vari-
7.1.4.3 Projectile ability from cartridge to cartridge due to the
tolerances during ammunition production and
At shot start, the projectile(s) starts to travel how the cartridge seats in the breech of the
down the barrel of the weapon and accelerates weapon.
due to the work done by the high-pressure
gas on the entire surface of the projectile 7.1.4.4 Weapon
base, which increases energy transferred to
the projectile. Due to the increase in space The detonation of the primer, combustion of
behind the projectile, the pressure is still the propellant and friction generated (typic-
rising, but the propellant starts to burn at ally for rifled barrels) between the barrel and
an increasingly slower rate. Peak pressure the projectile will transfer thermal energy
occurs approximately 0.5 ms after cartridge to the metallic firearm components, primarily
ignition and can be in excess of 300 MPa the chamber and barrel. Lawton (2001) indi-
(Warlow, 2011). cates barrel bore temperatures in the region
If the barrel is rifled (see Section 7.1.5.2) of 1100°C, whereas Warlow (2011) suggests
then there will be some friction when the over 2200°C. Contact between firearm com-
projectile engages with the slightly smaller ponents and ammunition, together with
dimension of the barrel bore created by these extreme temperatures, even over such
lands of the barrel rifling. Some gas will es- a short period of time, will cause surface
cape in front of the projectile through the melting and enhanced wear of the weapon
grooves of the rifling as these may be deeper components.
than the maximum diameter of the project- When the propellant combusts, the pres-
ile. If the barrel is smooth bore and multiple sure of the gases does not only act in the
projectiles are fired from the cartridge, as direction of the projectile base, but in all
with a shotgun, some gas may escape by directions around the breech of the weapon.
passing between and around the shot inside As a result, while the projectile remains inside
the barrel. the barrel, the pressure exerted forwards
At the time of peak pressure, the pro- on the projectile is experienced backwards
jectile may have only moved 2 cm. As the on the weapon, known as recoil. Typically, the
projectile accelerates and level of kinetic greater the recoil velocity, the more uncom-
energy overcomes the initial frictional force, fortable the weapon is to fire. The production
an increasing volume will be left behind the of high-pressure gas or recoil energy gener-
projectile and the rate of burning continues ated can be exploited in the weapon design
to reduce as the propellant flakes reduce and be utilized by the firing mechanism to
in size and produce less gaseous products. eject fired cartridge cases after discharge and
Providing sufficient force is maintained as load new cartridges (auto-loading).
the propellant burns, the projectile(s) will pass As the pressure acts in all directions, the
down the barrel to the muzzle exit within muzzle of the weapon will also lift slightly
2 ms from the strike of the firing pin (War- above its point of aim, especially if the
low, 2011). muzzle end of the weapon is unsupported.

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 Firearms and Ballistics 89

Barrel lift will vary depending on the am- 2008) classifies intermediate ballistics as an
munition utilized and will ultimately affect area in its own right. The time and distance
shooting accuracy. This needs to be con- that intermediate ballistics covers will vary,
sidered when sighting the weapon and fir- depending on the type of ammunition used
ing in automatic modes. and the ballistic properties of the projectile.
This section will briefly discuss how the flow
7.1.4.5 Production of gunshot of gaseous combustion products and presence
residue (GSR) of muzzle attachments influence propellant
particles and the motion of the projectile
The inorganic primer and organic propellant upon muzzle exit.
will not completely burn during ignition of
the cartridge. This generates a mixture of 7.1.5.1 Propellant particles and
unburnt, partially burnt and still burning gaseous combustion products
particles, referred to as gunshot residue (GSR)
or firearms discharge residue. GSR will also As previously discussed, high-pressure com-
contain some of the metallic particles pro- bustion products escape the muzzle in front
duced from the wear of the firearm compo- of the projectile due to the high pressure re-
nent surfaces, together with the ammunition lease of gas after shot start, together with a
materials removed by striated contact with column of air that is pushed forwards by the
the weapon components, such as the barrel. moving projectile. When these high-pressure
GSR particles predominantly exit the weapon gases exit the muzzle, a shock wave (precur-
once the projectile has left the muzzle, but sor blast shock) is created just in front of the
some will escape before the projectile(s) exits muzzle, travelling slightly above 340 m/s
and GSR will be carried by the escaping gas- (speed of sound) and meets with the ‘normal’
eous combustion products in gaps between atmosphere. This shock wave generates a
the projectile(s) and bore surface. GSR will sonic bang and radiates out in a spherical
also exit from any opening within the fire- direction away from the muzzle.
arm, such as the ejection port (semi-automatic Precursor bottle shock and the Mach
weapon) or cylinder (revolver). disk also occurs around the muzzle as the
Partially burnt and still burning particles precursor blast shock is trying to travel
are important with respect to intermediate back inside the barrel, against the flow of gas
ballistics (Section 7.1.5), as well as being (­
Carlucci and Jacobson, 2008). The bottle
significant to forensic investigation. In the shock increases as the gas velocity increases;
context of veterinary forensics, presence or as gas velocity reduces the bottle shock will
absence of GSR can assist with determining eventually shrink back inside the barrel.
firing distance between muzzle and the tar- When the projectile exits the muzzle,
get, differentiating between initial entry and the gas seal is broken and a further release of
exit wounds and identification of the type highly pressurized gas is released into the
of ammunition used (Heard, 2008; Brożek-­ atmosphere. A second high-pressure blast wave
Mucha, 2009; Dalby et al., 2010; Haag and is formed, together with further bottle shock
Haag, 2011; Warlow, 2011). and Mach disk. This second blast wave is
higher in pressure than the precursor blast
wave and is initially non-spherical due to
7.1.5 Intermediate ballistics the projectile and flow of combustion gases.
This blast wave accelerates the combus-
Intermediate ballistics is a transitional area tion products forwards, creating a turbulent
covering the moment the projectile exits the column of gas. The column of gas initially
barrel until the projectile is considered to overtakes the projectile, causing a shock wave
be in free flight. Heard (2008) encompasses around the base of the projectile (stern shock),
intermediate ballistics within the scope of which can accelerate the projectile and pro-
wider external ballistics, whereas more spe- duce instability and yawing. The spherical
cialized literature (Carlucci and Jacobson, blast shock is travelling faster and has more

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90 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

energy than the precursor blast shock and the nose to rise or fall above or below the
catches up with it; shock waves lose energy projectile’s line of flight base, which increases
and velocity as they increase in size and the the surface area presented at the projectile
gas molecules dissipate. nose. Such increase in surface area increases
Within the gaseous combustion prod- the air resistance around the projectile, redu-
ucts, still burning propellant particles are also cing projectile velocity and, without a rota-
present. These particles exit from the barrel tional force about the centre of mass, this
in front of the projectile, but are predomin- would cause the bullet to tumble. Tumbling
antly built up behind the projectile. As these would ultimately reduce projectile velocity,
particles pass through high-pressure shock energy, distance (range), accuracy, precision
waves, their temperature and burning rate of fire, but increase damage/wound poten-
increases producing visible light (incan- tial due to an increased surface area upon
descent radiation), known as muzzle flash. contact with the target.
Preflash can occur before the projectile exits To counteract destabilization, the rifling
the muzzle, but primary muzzle flash occurs inside the barrel consists of spiral lands and
at the muzzle of the firearm after projectile grooves. The higher-profile lands on either
exit. Intermediate muzzle flash can occur side of the grooves in the barrel bore are
further from the muzzle. As the gases in the smaller in diameter compared to the max-
bottle shock expand rapidly they cool down imum diameter of the projectile and therefore
and a faint muzzle glow can be seen moving engrave into the surface of the projectile,
away from the muzzle. gripping the projectile and bringing about
Once all the combustion products have rotation as the projectile travels down the
been released from the barrel, there is a void barrel. Upon muzzle exit, the projectile will
in the barrel bore. As the blast shock radiates be rotating at a pre-defined rate. This rota-
out in all directions, the blast wave can then tion helps to re-stabilize the projectile as
recede down the empty barrel along with it travels through the turbulent gas due to
some of the combustion products. If a target gyroscopic nutation and thus, the rate of
is in close proximity to the muzzle upon dis- rifling twist down the barrel is important
charge, it is this vacuum effect which sucks for optimum stabilization of the projectile.
the target material back inside the barrel, Depending on the muzzle velocity of
which can therefore be of forensic significance the projectile, the projectile will either not
when interpreting the shooting incident. reach the blast wave (subsonic projectile),
or overtake the blast shock (supersonic pro-
jectile) and generate a shock wave and
7.1.5.2 Projectile
audible sonic bang from the nose of the pro-
Upon muzzle exit, the projectile is in a tur- jectile. With supersonic projectiles, a further
bulent atmosphere and is therefore not fully shock wave and sonic bang will be created
stabilized. This can have varying degrees of when the base of the projectile subsequently
impact on the projectile, depending on its passes through the blast shock.
shape. For example, cannonballs and shot are
typically spherical and therefore turbulence 7.1.5.3 Muzzle attachments
will affect the object similarly in all directions.
Heard (2008) indicates there are six types
With most other types of projectile, however,
of muzzle attachment for pistols, revolvers,
they are designed to be aerodynamic and
rifles and shotguns:
stable during free flight and may have charac-
teristic features (such as fins) on the surface to 1. sound suppressors.
ensure that the projectile arrives at the target 2. recoil reducers (compensators).
nose first. 3. flash hiders.
Turbulence created by the combustion 4. muzzle counter weights (to reduce muzzle
products initially destabilizes these projectiles, lift).
causing the projectile to yaw slightly (1.5° 5. grenade dischargers.
for a 0.303-in. rifle bullet (Heard, 2008)), i.e. 6. recoil boosters.

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 Firearms and Ballistics 91

Only the first three will be discussed here, 7.1.6.1 Muzzle velocity and kinetic energy
as these have a direct influence on intermedi-
ate ballistics. During internal ballistics, approximately
Sound suppressors are predominantly 30% of the energy created is actually trans-
designed to reduce noise generated from an ferred to the projectile(s) (Warlow, 2011),
expanding gas pressure wave by 18–32 dB predominantly in the form of kinetic energy,
(Heard, 2008). They also act to reduce flash resulting in acceleration of the projectile(s)
and recoil to some extent. Such attachments to a known velocity. Following muzzle exit
lower the energy of the gas by allowing the and a very short distance past the muzzle,
gases to expand within a closed container, the projectile reaches a maximum velocity,
by increasing the volume the gas flows into referred to as muzzle velocity. Muzzle vel-
or by making the gas do mechanical work ocity is pre-determined by the ammunition
(moving a rotor, for example), or by reducing manufacturer; however, as previously ex-
the temperature through absorption. Those plained, fired projectiles may not reach the
suppressors that are built into the barrel can technical specification of muzzle velocity
also reduce the muzzle velocity of the pro- quoted by the ammunition manufacturer.
jectile to less than the speed of sound, Kinetic energy and muzzle velocity are
thereby preventing the supersonic boom of two of three linked factors; the third compo-
firing by bleeding off some gas near the muz- nent that affects muzzle velocity and the
zle of the weapon. kinetic energy is the projectile mass. Kinetic
Recoil reducers (or muzzle brakes) are energy is calculated by squaring the vel-
designed to direct the muzzle gas sideways ocity and then multiplying this by half the
rather than in a primary forwards motion. mass of the projectile. As the mass of the
Gas deflection is obtained by placing one or projectile increases, a greater amount of
more sets of symmetrical ports along the work, force and energy is required to move
sides of the muzzle attachment for gases to the projectile the same amount. Therefore,
escape. for two projectiles of different masses to
Modern flash hiders are usually the sim- have the same muzzle velocity, more kinetic
plest type of muzzle attachment. These energy (and therefore a higher gas pressure)
devices are primarily designed to reduce is required to fire the heavier projectile.
intermediate muzzle flash by dispersing the A projectile with higher mass will ultimately
muzzle gas and breaking up the barrel shock enhance its ‘carrying power’ (Heard, 2008).
and Mach disk. They are usually cone-shaped, When considering terminal ballistics
a tube with odd-numbered slots, or a bar later on, the kinetic energy of the projectile
style (Farrar and Leeming, 1983; Carlucci is of greater importance than the velocity of
and Jacobson, 2008). the projectile, as kinetic energy takes into
account both projectile mass and velocity.
It is also the ability of the projectile design
to transfer energy to the other object that im-
7.1.6 External ballistics pacts on the resulting damage to the object.
As soon as the projectile exits the muz-
External ballistics covers the period of zle, the energy and force acting on the pro-
flight from the point at which the projectile jectile is in the forwards (horizontal) direc-
is stable and behaving within ‘normal’ at- tion away from the muzzle, therefore the
mospheric conditions until the moment it velocity vector has a positive value. Initially
comes into contact with an object. Like this will be the dominant direction of force
internal ballistics, this aspect is very com- acting on the projectile. However, unless
plex and involves extensive mathematical the projectile is fired into a vacuum, there
computation to determine a projectile’s flight will always be forces acting against the pro-
path. This section considers basic concepts jectile in the opposite direction limiting the
that critically underpin this area of applied ­forwards progression, reducing the kinetic
physics. energy and therefore the velocity of the

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92 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

projectile over time. These opposing forces a long, sharp and low-angled nose (spitzer) to
are from the interaction with molecules reduce the cross-sectional surface area ini-
within the atmosphere; the phenomenon is tially presented to the air and may even have
known as air resistance (drag). The forward a slightly angled base (boat-tail) to improve
movement of the projectile compresses the the flow of air particles and reduce turbulence
air molecules in front of it causing areas of from air molecules behind the projectile.
higher pressure which act in all directions The term ballistic coefficient is used to cal-
around the front of the projectile. Minimiz- culate the decline in projectile velocity due
ing the cross-sectional area of the projectile to the air, and takes into account projectile
and making the projectile less angular will mass and diameter (Carlucci and Jacobson,
reduce air resistance. The air molecules then 2008). Typically, the higher the ballistic
flow around the projectile, a small amount coefficient, the better a projectile retains its
of surface (skin) friction is created between velocity over time. Using data provided by
the air molecules and the sides of the pro- Forker (2010), Table 7.1.2 and Fig. 7.1.2
jectile, further reducing the kinetic energy illustrate how the projectile energy changes
and velocity of the projectile. for some common cartridges.
When the air molecules have passed
over the sides of the projectile, they have to
fill in the space left by the base of the project- 7.1.6.2 Trajectory
ile. This again causes high-pressure regions
at the back edges of the projectile and leaves Air resistance is not the only force acting on
a turbulent wake of gas behind the project- the projectile. Acceleration due to gravita-
ile. The shape of the nose and base of the tional pull from the Earth is constantly act-
projectile are therefore critical to limiting ing downwards in the vertical direction on
the effect of air resistance on the kinetic en- the unsupported object at 9.81 ms–2 (Haag
ergy and velocity of the projectile. A more and Haag, 2011). As a result, the natural
aerodynamically shaped projectile will flight path or trajectory will always ultim-
exhibit a slower decline in velocity and ately curve downwards towards the ground
kinetic energy due to air resistance. Aero- (bullet drop), unless the trajectory is prema-
dynamically shaped projectiles will display turely interrupted by an object.

Table 7.1.2. Examples of various cartridges.

Bullet Muzzle Muzzle

Firearm Projectile Weight G1 Ballistic Velocity Velocity
Type Cartridge Manufacturer Type (g) Coefficient (fps) (m/s)

Revolver 0.357 Magnum Sellier and FMJ 158 0.154 1263 385
Bellot
Pistol 0.45 ACP American Eagle FMJ 230 0.178 890 271
(Federal)
9×19 mm Sellier and FMJ 115 0.102 1280 390
Bellot
Rifle 0.22 Hornet Sellier and FMJ 45 0.102 2346 715
Bellot
0.223 Remington American Eagle FMJ 55 0.270 3240 988
(Federal) Boat-tail
0.303 British Sellier and FMJ 180 0.564 2438 743
Bellot
0.458 Winchester Hornady DGX 500 0.295 2260 689
Magnum
7.62 mm NATO American Eagle FMJ 150 0.409 2820 860
(Federal) Boat-tail

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 Firearms and Ballistics 93

(a)
8000

7000

6000
Projectile energy (J)

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Distance from muzzle (m)

0.22 Hornet (FMJ) 0.458 Winchester Magnum (DGX) 0.223 Remington (FMJ Boat-tail)
0.303 British (FMJ) 7.62 mm NATO (FMJ boat-tail)

(b)
800

700
Projectile energy (J)

600

500

400

300

200
0 25 50 75 1000 125 150 175
Distance from muzzle (m)

0.357 Magnum (FMJ) 0.45 ACP (FMJ) 9 × 19 mm (FMJ)

Fig. 7.1.2. Projectile energy changes for some common cartridges.

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94 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

The initial projectile trajectory will be projectiles are most influenced by wave
affected by the muzzle firing angle (angle of drag, and therefore the nose of supersonic
inclination). However, it is typical for the projectiles needs to be designed to minim-
projectile not to exit the muzzle aligned ize drag.
with the bore so it will experience vertical Angle of inclination has a significant role
and lateral jump (Carlucci and Jacobson, in the maximum potential range of fire for a
2008) caused by air resistance. Considering projectile. For a specific projectile fired in a
only the effect of vertical gravitation force vacuum on Earth, the time spent in free flight
on a projectile fired in a vacuum at 45°, for for the same ammunition will be identical, but
example, the trajectory would be a symmet- the maximum range will be obtained when
rical parabolic curve about a peak height. there is as much forwards motion as vertical
In atmospheric conditions, this para- motion. Maximum theoretical range will
bolic curve is no longer symmetrical due to therefore occur at 45° inclination due to the
the effect of air resistance (wave drag, base trajectory’s symmetrical shape; 30° and 60°
drag and skin friction). The forces counter- firing angles will result in identical, but
acting the forward motion of the projectile ­reduced, range of fire compared to 45°.
will cause the projectile not to reach as high Considering the impact of firing angle
vertical distance or as long horizontal dis- alone in atmospheric conditions, maximum
tance (range). The velocity of the projectile range will typically be generated when fired
will reduce over the time of flight at an ex- between 27° and 30° (Carlucci and Jacobson,
ponential rate; therefore, the faster the muz- 2008), although Haag and Haag (2011) indi-
zle velocity of the projectile, the greater the cates 30° to 35° for handgun cartridges. The
velocity lost per unit of time. accent of the projectile to peak height will
Many firearms are discharged at relatively be slightly lower and of less distance com-
low-angle (flat) trajectories over relatively pared to in the vacuum, but the biggest effect
short range; however, when the target is to range occurs during projectile descent to
positioned at a significant range or the pro- ground. Pistol and revolver bullets, when
jectile needs to travel over obstacles in the fired at their optimum departure angle can
line of sight, higher angles of trajectory are reach a maximum range of 1000–2000 m,
employed, exploiting the curved trajectory. whereas rifle bullets can reach between
3000 m and 4000 m (Haag and Haag, 2011).
Shot need to be considered separately.
7.1.6.3 Range Shot are spherical, symmetrical and do not
require stabilization by rotational force.
Maximum effective range of real projectile Spheres are less aerodynamic, and these
trajectories can be difficult to calculate. projectiles are not designed to be fired over
Range is affected by the muzzle velocity, the long distances. Their maximum range in air
mass, shape and cross-sectional area of the has been demonstrated to be 1–3% of the
projectile. Other effects include altitude, range achieved if fired in a vacuum (Chugh,
barometric pressure, crosswind, humidity 1982) compared to approximately 20% for
and temperature. However, to consider the bullets. As there are multiple projectiles,
effects of all these variables is outside the shot spread out over range and can be used
scope of this chapter. more effectively for distance determination
As velocity is calculated by dividing (Çakir et al., 2003; Haag and Haag, 2011).
distance by time, the greater the velocity of
the projectile, the further the projectile will 7.1.6.4 Accuracy and precision
travel in a set period of time. To maximize
range, the aerodynamic shape and geometry The accuracy (closeness to the intended point
of the projectile are critical depending on of impact) and precision (spread around the
projectile muzzle velocity (subsonic or super- intended point of impact) of the projectile
sonic). Subsonic projectiles are most influ- will be affected by the firer, weapon and at-
enced by base drag, whereas supersonic mospheric conditions, including wind speed

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 Firearms and Ballistics 95

and direction, the extent of which is outside bullets) are designed to mushroom at the nose
the scope of this chapter; however, some to increase surface area and increase the
examples are considered. transfer of energy from the projectile to the
The weapon type is important to con- target. The consequence is a greater damage/
sider. Handguns are typically designed for wounding potential. FMJ projectiles, how-
close combat and therefore less accurate and ever, are not designed to deform on impact
precise over distance than rifles. Generally, and therefore do not transfer as much energy
this is due to the shorter barrel and less aero- into the target, ultimately reducing the dam-
dynamic projectiles. By design, shotguns fir- age/wound potential and increasing the depth
ing a number of shot are primarily used for of penetration into the target.
hunting and therefore accuracy and preci- The angle at which the projectile hits
sion are less critical as there are multiple shot the target also affects whether the projectile
that spread out as range of fire increases, and is more likely to penetrate into the target or
therefore the shot are more likely to pene- ricochet, i.e. deflect off the target surface.
trate and strike the animal. For every combination of specific projectile
Firing a brand new weapon from a design and target surface, there will be a
fixed firing position should provide excel- critical angle that determines whether the
lent accuracy and precision. Over time, as projectile penetrates or has the potential to
weapon components such as the barrel suf- ricochet. Generally, the critical angle will be
fer from wear, the tolerance to generate a relatively low (oblique) and the projectile
stable projectile during flight increases typically ricochets off at a comparably
and this has a negative effect on accuracy lower angle (Haag and Haag, 2011).
and precision. Incorrect support, hand- The effect of ricochet and tumbling will
ling and aim of the weapon during firing affect the size and shape of penetrating
(Goonetilleke et al., 2009) will reduce ac- wounds (Section 7.2). Tumbling or instabil-
curacy and lower precision due to recoil ity in a projectile will cause it to yaw. If the
forces, whereas reducing the trigger pull projectile hits an animal in a state of yaw
force required to action the trigger mechan- rather than perpendicular and nose first,
ism and discharge a round can increase the surface area where impact occurs is in-
precision and accuracy. creased and therefore the size of the entry
wound may be increased. Such impact
angle can also transfer energy into the
animal/target more effectively. However,
7.1.7 Terminal ballistics if the projectile is designed to transfer
energy effectively (for example, a hollow-­
Energy and design of the projectile as well point or soft-point) then the energy trans-
as the density, material properties and sur- fer may be less effective as the nose will
face roughness will affect what happens to not be able to perform as designed.
the projectile when it hits a target surface.
Target materials that are less dense and
more malleable than the projectile mater- 7.1.8 Retrieval of fired ammunition
ials are more likely to deform, be pene- components
trated to some extent and absorb more en-
ergy from the projectile, compared to those 7.1.8.1 Cartridges and fired
that are denser and have greater hardness. cartridge cases
Yielding surfaces that deform upon impact
produce greater angles of projectile rico- If you are called to a crime scene of a sus-
chet than unyielding surfaces (Haag and pected shooting, the forensic veterinarian
Haag, 2011). should be aware of the potential for finding
The design of the projectile will have live ammunition as well as fired cartridge
an effect on the potential for ricochet. Some case evidence. Depending on the nature of
projectiles (e.g. soft-point or hollow-point the scene and the location of the incident

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96 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

geographically, there will be a variety of (Wightman et al., 2013) and the thickness
policies governing who recovers this phys- and material properties of their skin will in-
ical evidence. The purpose of this section is fluence the ability for the pellet to pene-
to remind the practitioner that such evidence trate, together with the energy and shape of
has forensic value in inferring the calibre the projectile.
and type of firearm likely to have discharged As previously stated, any fired project-
the cartridge, the number of weapons in- iles recovered should be handled with plas-
volved, and has the potential to link crimes tic tweezers or forceps to prevent damage to
utilizing discharge of the same weapon in the forensic characteristics. Upon recovery
various cases; and microscopic examination of the projectile, this should be washed with
of fired cartridge case evidence can uniquely sterile water to remove biological hazards
identify the firearm that discharged it, if a (different protocols are required for project-
weapon is ultimately recovered. ile retrieval from humans) and air-dried
If unfired ammunition is discovered, before packaging, to prevent any corrosion
the cartridges need to be recovered using of the projectile material surface. Packaging
good practice to minimize contamination, for fired projectiles is ideally in polythene
such as wearing gloves, and should be pack- and plastic containers, i.e. not containing
aged separately to any weapon recovered to cotton wool.
minimize risk and prevent accidental firing. Wadding components within shotgun
Cartridges should be packaged in paper bags, cartridges are ejected from the cartridge along
cardboard boxes or plastic containers (Tilstone with the single slug or multiple shot. This
et al., 2013) lined with non-­abrasive material can travel over 30 m from the muzzle of the
(not cotton wool) to prevent them rolling weapon (Bonfanti and De Kinder, 2013) and,
around during transportation. therefore, finding wadding inside a wound
If fired cartridge cases, shotgun wad- tract or permanent cavity can imply that
ding (typically made of fibre or plastic) and/ the weapon has been discharged at close
or projectiles are observed in the scene sur- range to the target. Recovery and packaging
roundings they should be recovered using of shotgun wadding should be as described
plastic forceps or tweezers, to prevent dam- above for fired projectiles.
age to the evidence surface (Bruce-Chwatt,
2010). Handling items with metal tweezers 7.1.8.3 Gunshot residue (GSR)
of a harder material than the evidence may
cause permanent toolmarks on the evidence GSR can be sampled with commercially
surface, that could damage or impede foren- available GSR collection kits by swabbing
sic examination and interpretation subse- around the area of the wound entry. GSR
quently undertaken by firearms examiners. may be differentiated from other metallic
Fired cartridge cases, like the cartridges residues (Romolo and Margot, 2001; Dalby
themselves, should be packaged as they are et al., 2010; Grima et al., 2012) and can
recovered from the scene in paper bags, sometimes be uniquely identified to a type
cardboard boxes or plastic containers lined of ammunition (Brozek-Mucha and Jankow-
with polythene/non-abrasive material (not icz, 2001); for example, if the composition
cotton wool), with the latter preferably used of the primer is very distinctive. GSR can be
for fired projectiles and wadding. indicative of close range of fire (Ditrich,
2012), as can the presence of stippling, pow-
7.1.8.2 Fired projectiles and der tattooing on the skin and burning of hair
shotgun wadding from burning propellant flakes and hot gases
released from the muzzle of the firearm.
Fired projectiles, such as bullets, pellets (air However, if an air weapon was utilized, such
weapons), slugs or shot (shotgun) may be characteristics will not be present around
present in the animal. Even legal unlicensed an entry wound, even at close proximity, as
air weapons can penetrate animal skin, but there is no combustion of propellant used to
research has shown that the type of animal propel the pellet out of the weapon.

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 Firearms and Ballistics 97

7.1.9 Conclusion computer tomography (CT) and ultrasound,

should be employed at the earliest oppor-
This section aimed to introduce some of tunity. Use of such technologies facilitates
the key scientific principles underpinning the formation of the forensic examination
shooting incidents that may influence strategy by providing visualization of bullet-­
observed wounding in animals. Variations wound channels, projectiles or projectile
in the type of firearm and ammunition (in- fragments, and the presence of fractures and
ternal ballistics) used in the shooting as other damage in the animal prior to invasive
well as environmental conditions and shoot- action.
ing distances (external ballistics), location Firearms evidence collated from both
of impact, composition of the target mater- the crime scene and the injured animal can
ial and design of the projectile upon impact provide vital information and intelligence
(terminal ballistics), for example, may all to those investigating both domestic animal
cause variations in the expected severity of and wildlife crimes. The form and extent of
damage and lethality. By understanding firearms evidence that may be located at a
how these factors may affect wounding, po- crime scene will also vary, depending on
tential forensic veterinarians may have an the firearm, ammunition and ballistic vari-
increased capacity to interpret the manner ables. Correct handling and recovery of
in which injuries have been sustained and such evidence is important for any further
provide further information to the forensic analysis requested to be probative in the
investigative process. case. Demonstration of the breadth of know-
The essential steps in the forensic exam- ledge required to investigate shooting inci-
ination and investigation of a shot animal dents may highlight the need for forensic
were identified, clearly highlighting the veterinarians to get in contact with subject
­requirement for a logical and methodical experts to provide support prior to and dur-
approach supported by extensive documen- ing forensic examinations and any subse-
tation. The approach for animals should be quent investigation. By building a strong
similar to that conducted on humans and all prosecution case, including corroborative
wound ballistics research may be relevant evidence from firearms examiners, investi-
for consideration in application to animal gators are more likely to be able to link
practice. It is vital for external observations crime series and identify those involved in
to be completed before invasive internal the crimes, to ultimately increase the prob-
examination commences, and modern non-­ ability of prosecution and conviction in fo-
invasive imaging technologies, including rensic cases.

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Çakir, I., Çetin, G., Uner, H.B. and Albek, E. (2003) Shot range estimation based on pellet distribution in shots
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Grima, M., Butler, M., Hanson, R. and Mohameden, A.O. (2012) Firework displays as sources of particles
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 Firearms and Ballistics 99

7.2 Wound Ballistics a wound channel caused by a non-deforming,

non-fragmenting rifle bullet. Other types of
Johan Schulze projectiles and weapons will cause other
effects, and some of these are discussed later
in the chapter.
A bullet entering a dense medium, like
7.2.1 Introduction a body (or ballistic gelatine), transfers en-
ergy to the medium into which it penetrates.
A standard rifle projectile like the 308 Win- Wounding mechanisms of stretching, com-
chester travels with a velocity of about 800 pression and shearing are initiated. Par-
m/s (2625 fps). It takes the projectile less than ticles directly struck by, or close to, the pro-
0.5 ms to penetrate the skin and to create a jectile receive a radial accelerative force
wound channel approximately 30 cm (1 ft) causing their temporary displacement per-
long (Braathen et al., 2006). The challenge pendicular to the axis along which the pro-
for the medical investigator is to understand jectile travels. The effect of this radial dis-
the interaction between projectile and body location can be compared with a hard and
that takes place within this time frame and radiating punch originating from the wound
to estimate how the body responds to this. channel. The centrifugal movement of the
He then has to relate this knowledge to his medium lasts until the transmitted energy is
investigation, and if possible formulate an spent or is absorbed by elastic tissues (or
opinion appropriate to answer the demands gel). At this state, about 2–4 ms after the hit,
of the legal system. Interpretations of wound the moving projectile has not only created a
patterns which may be appropriate to human wound channel approximately the diameter
cases may not be directly transferable to ani- of its calibre, but also an additional larger
mal forensic investigation and should be cavity. This cavity, known as the temporary
undertaken with caution. wound channel, collapses immediately as the
I will first discuss some basic wound bal- elasticity of the tissue allows the ­particles to
listics by looking at the interaction between a return towards their original position, hereby
body and a penetrating projectile. Next, some releasing the stored energy. Depending on
specifics not discussed in the first part are the tissue or medium involved, the pulsation
highlighted. Finally, essential steps in exam- away from and towards the permanent wound
ination of an animal which has been shot will channel continues until all transferred en-
be outlined. Readers with a special interest ergy has been translated into friction and
in wound ballistics are referred to literature thermal energy. Naturally, this forceful radial
including Fackler (1987), Di Maio (1999), pulsation causes anatomical and physiological
Brinkmann and Madea (2004), Munro and damage in the living tissue.
Munro (2008) and Kneubuehl et al. (2011). Anatomical damage is mainly crushing
and tearing. Some tissue close to the pass-
ing projectile may also be destroyed by the
7.2.2 Basics of wound ballistics heavy centrifugal acceleration described
above. This central core of the wound chan-
When investigating injuries caused by a pro- nel, originated by the destruction of tissue
jectile, the most important topic is the by the projectile, is called the permanent
wound channel caused by the passage of the wound channel. The permanent wound
projectile through the body. No two wound channel is encircled by the now relocated
channels are alike. Innumerable modifying but previously compressed tissue that had
factors make it impossible to accurately pre- circumscribed the temporary wound chan-
dict the course or form of a particular wound nel. In contrast to the debris related to that
channel. Nevertheless, some important phys- of the permanent wound channel, this latter
ical mechanisms are well established and tissue zone has (at least for the meanwhile)
knowledge of them is crucial when working maintained viability, despite having been
with such injuries. The following describes through forced radial pulsation.

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100 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

Though viability may be maintained, it of energy transmitted per unit distance (Etr)
is obvious that tissue close to the permanent is proportional to the amount of energy the
wound channel, having been stretched and projectile has stored (E) and inversely pro-
compressed considerably more forcibly, is portional to its sectional density (m/A). The
likely to show more severe damage than tis- sectional density is defined as the ratio of
sue that is more distant. An area surround- the mass of the bullet (m) to the cross-­
ing the permanent wound channel, named sectional area of contact between bullet and
the extravasation zone (Fig. 7.2.1), is char- medium (A).
acterized by haemorrhage from lacerated
Etr = E/(m/A)
capillaries. The haemorrhages are caused
more by the stretching of blood vessels, to A bullet travelling perpendicularly to the
which they are very vulnerable, than by their plane of contact (tip-first position) has a
being torn (Kneubuehl et al., 2011). Bones small cross-sectional area. Hence the amount
are far less elastic. The size of a penetration of energy transferred is low compared to the
through a flat bone, like a scapula, can be a same bullet having rotated and thus present-
very close approximation of the calibre of ing a larger cross-sectional area.
the projectile (Karger, 2004). In Fig. 7.2.1 below, the longitudinal
The overall form of the wound channel section in the lower part of the figure covers
is far from homogenous. Its shape is a direct the total length of the wound channel; the
result of the amount of energy transferred two cross-sections in the upper part illus-
from the projectile on its path through the trate the profile of the wound channel at the
tissue. The more energy that is transmitted, levels of the narrow channel (left) and tem-
the harder is the impact and consequently porary cavity (right).
the greater the dimensions of the permanent It is difficult to appreciate a detailed im-
and temporary wound channels. The amount pression of the extent of a wound channel in

Permanent wound channel

Dead tissue

Heavily damaged tissue,

high degree of extravasation
Less damaged tissue,
extravasation less extensive
Stretched but apparently
undamaged tissue
Unaffected, normal tissue

Fig. 7.2.1. Idealized schematic diagram of a wound channel created by the movement of a non-deforming
rifle bullet through tissue (based on Kneubuehl et al. (2011) and Karger (2004)).

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 Firearms and Ballistics 101

a body. Fortunately the physical processes projectile. This effect may be increased con-
involved have been visualized by experi- siderably with passage through heteroge-
ments, mainly through the study of wound neous tissues.
channels in simulants for natural bodies During the last phase of the bullet’s jour-
such as ballistic gelatine and soap (Nicholas ney, particularly the last part of the wound
and Welsch, 2004). channel, the projectile stabilizes itself, tak-
Long and slender rifle bullets striking the ing a position with its longitudinal axis
surface perpendicularly can stabilize them- perpendicular to its direction of movement.
selves in the tip-first position. The exposure In this phase, the projectile has already
of a small cross-sectional area leads to both transferred much of its embedded energy.
permanent and temporary wound channels The kinetic energy transformed in rotation
initially being narrow, termed narrow wound is more and more matched, and finally zer-
channel. While slowing down, however, the oed, by the resisting medium. The projectile
projectile becomes increasingly unstable and moves through the medium, oscillating round
starts to tumble as it proceeds. At this point, its centre of mass. If the off-centred posi-
the narrow wound channel ends and the tioned tip swings faster forward, it meets a
second part of the wound channel begins higher resistance than the opposite base, and
(Fig. 7.2.1). The tumbling motion causes pres- vice versa. Thus a self-adjusting mechanism
entation of parts of the bullet’s side to the stabilizes the projectile until it comes to rest,
medium. The cross-sectional area of contact ending the wound channel.
increases momentarily while the mass of the Projectiles may be found with their tail
projectile, due to the law of inertia, initially towards their direction of travel. They may
ensures the maintenance of its velocity. The also be found slightly withdrawn from the
dramatic increase of transferred energy is end of the wound channel. This phenom-
accordingly reflected in the dimensions of enon is due to residual negative pressure in
the wound channel, which consequently the temporary wound channel that pulls the
expands, often considerably. projectile slightly backwards once its for-
Having lost stability along the longitu- ward movement has ceased.
dinal axis, the projectile rotates around its This description of the formation and
transversal axis. In general the rotation will structure of ballistic wound channels is ne-
first turn the projectile into a position approxi- cessarily simplified, with the discussion
mately 90° to its direction of movement. focusing on a rifle bullet that does not deform,
Because of inertia, however, the projectile may break up or fragment. There are many modi-
continue to rotate to 180°, or even up to 270°, fying variables that can alter this picture,
out of line. At the same time, the bullet is but already certain principles are apparent.
decelerated far more markedly than in the Thus, when considering missile wound in-
narrow wound channel. juries, we may be able to form conclusions
Clearly, more extensive injuries are to or consider different scenarios.
be expected from the tumbling of a long, fast-­
travelling rifle projectile than from a shorter • The capacity of a bullet to cause injuries
and slower handgun bullet. does not primarily depend on its energy
Even in a homogenous medium, the or calibre, but on its ability to transmit
axis of the wound channel is not necessarily its energy to the body while travelling
straight. When not in tip-first position, the through it. If, for example, no exit hole
cross-­sectional area of the bullet is asym- was found and the bullet came to rest in
metric. The sum of the withstanding forces the body, the conclusion must be that all
affecting the projectile is not solely directed of the energy with which the projectile
towards the opposite direction to that of was loaded when reaching the target was
the motion of the bullet. Hence the bullet absorbed by the body. If a long narrow
receives an additional force vectored per- wound channel, in the absence of dam-
pendicularly to its direction of travel. This age to large bones, was demonstrated,
force can be strong enough to change consid- one might suspect a long-distance shot.
erably the previous direction of travel of the With knowledge of the ammunition

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102 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

used and the extent of the injuries, such of the bullet is not necessarily welcome in
conclusions may be justified. this scenario. Exceptions to these require-
• A long narrow wound channel can in- ments may be determined by specific needs.
dicate different things: it might mean, Beaver hunters try to avoid large exit wounds
for instance, that signs of a temporary to maintain the quality of the fur without
cavity will be recognized deeper in the making concessions in terms of animal wel-
body than usual, or that the bullet left the fare. This is achieved by the use of splinter
body before becoming unstable or de- projectiles designed to fragment after impact
formed (see Section 7.2.3.1, ‘Deformation/ (Parker et al., 2006).
fragmentation’). It might be as a result Fragmentation, caused either by the
of a short bullet fired by a handgun or the bullet’s design or by chance, increases the
passage of a full-jacketed rifle bullet overall cross-sectional area, consequently
travelling relatively slowly. increasing the volume of the temporary cav-
• A prominent temporary wound chamber ity. The mass of the original projectile can be
does not necessarily equate to extensive ­reduced considerably (Fackler et al., 1984).
injuries – although this is often the case. The fragments are dispersed away from the
It merely indicates that a significant axis of the main wound channel. Typically,
amount of energy has been transferred the distribution of the fragments is cone-
to the body. If the tissue affected has shaped and can be visualized by imaging
the potential to cope with stretching techniques. On an X-ray image, the configur-
and twisting, the consequences might ation of fragments of a high-velocity rifle pro-
be less severe than might otherwise be jectile resembles a snowstorm. The longer
expected. penetration depth of larger and heavier frag-
ments can be demonstrated, strengthening
the evidential value of imaging techniques
7.2.3 Some specifics of wound ballistics regarding the line of departure. However,
these findings should be verified; for example,
7.2.3.1 Deformation/fragmentation by necropsy. Steady linear embedding of
bullet fragments into tissue does not neces-
The deformation of a projectile travelling sarily occur and individual fragments might
through a body is not necessarily merely an move from the localization into which they
incidental result of being exposed to massive initially settled after the bullet disintegrated.
decelerating forces. Hunting bullets, for ex- ‘Loose’ fragments can follow the force of
ample, are designed to expand directly after gravity, for instance, and be found at the bot-
skin penetration in order to increase the tom of body cavities, often embedded in
cross-sectional area and thereby enhance the blood clots, or can be moved due to vascular
transfer of energy from projectile to animal. embolization. The secondary translocations
In this case, the onset of the temporary cavity of bullet fragments like these must, of course,
might start very early. Due to the rapid in- be differentiated and be recorded as such.
crease of the cross-sectional area of the de- Furthermore, one should bear in mind that
forming bullet at the very beginning of the even slow-travelling projectiles, as shotgun
wound channel, the narrow channel can be pellets, can disrupt upon collision with, for
short or almost absent. The aim of hunting example, bone (Frank, 1986).
bullets is to guarantee the animal’s instant Of course, the penetration depth of frag-
death by maximally injuring vital organs. At mented and non-fragmented projectiles cannot
the same time it is desirable to create an exit be compared.
wound. In case of not succeeding in an in-
stant kill, an exit wound bleeding to the out- 7.2.3.2 Entrance and exit wound
side is almost a prerequisite for retrieving the
injured animal. Hence, despite the ‘mush- Every external inspection of the animal will
rooming’ bullet deformation, the aim is to include a close examination of entrance and
achieve a high penetration depth by maintain- exit wounds. Though these generally are
ing the mass of the projectile, and fragmentation straightforward to distinguish, the assignment

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 Firearms and Ballistics 103

of each wound must be undertaken with (Karger, 2004) or energy dispersive X-ray (Di
care. It is the author’s experience that en- Maio, 1999).
trance wounds in animals seldom show all At the margins of the entry wound, dif-
the features described in standard literature ferent zones merging into each other may be
referring to missile wounds in humans. distinguished. The central penetration is
This may be due to intrinsic differences, caused by the bullet crushing the skin. A cir-
such as differing density of hair coat, or to cular wound results when the angle of im-
the fact that close-distance shots are gener- pact was perpendicular to the surface, while
ally less frequent in animal cases compared an elliptical wound is formed with a low
with human shootings. The skin of dogs, angle of impact. As a consequence of loss of
pigs, sheep and goats are said to react most tissue substance the edges of the wound
similarly to that of man (Schantz, 1979). cannot readily be adapted. Again, tissue
Notwithstanding these possibilities for vari- fragments from the skin are accelerated radi-
ation it remains meaningful to take a generic ally outwards from the central contact zone
approach to describing the possible com- by the impact of the bullet. After having
position of entrance and exit wounds, as the been stretched outwards, the elastic skin re-
wounding mechanisms are the same, regard- coils somewhat, so that the entry wound is
less of species. smaller than the calibre of the bullet. The
The entrance wound can be considered edge and an area only a few millimetres
the first part of the wound channel. Its im- wide around the entry wound form a ring of
portance lies in being the first point of con- discolouration, due to abrasion and possible
tact between the projectile and the body. deposition of gunshot residues. The surface
The entrance wound potentially conveys defect is a consequence of the displacement
valuable information about the angle of im- of debris from crushed tissue, as well as the
pact, characteristics of the bullet and the radial acceleration and stretching of the skin
distance between the animal and the muz- caused by the entering bullet. The margin of
zle of the weapon. If shot from very close distention, an outer reddened ring that
range, singeing of the fur or feathers may be merges into the unaffected skin, is character-
present, but due to the splashing and oozing ized by multiple petechial sub-epithelial
of blood in the wound area it can be very haemorrhages from lacerated capillaries.
difficult to recognize. Again, an asymmetric elliptical shape
The entrance wound may be the object of to these changes around the central perfor-
special interest regarding the occurrence of ation indicates a low angle of impact, with
gunshot residues (GSR). To preserve GSRs, the larger tail pointing towards the shooter.
all handling of the wound area must be re- The extent of the damage (as for the exit
duced to a minimum, and absolutely no wound) does not convey detailed information
cleaning of the wound should be undertaken about the bullet used, but it can indicate the
uncritically (Karger, 2004)! Though autolysis, amount of energy transferred at this point in
moisture, blood and contamination impede the wound channel. There are many factors
GSR analysis, the safest way of submitting an that can modify the configuration of the en-
appropriate sample is to excise a larger skin trance wound from that described above, de-
area around the entrance wound (Di Maio, pending on different underlying physical
1999). The intact wound with its encircling mechanisms. A large irregular star-shaped
skin can then be stored frozen until processed wound might, for example, be seen when
further. In living animals, or if the entrance additional forces transmitted by propellant
wound needs to remain with the body at nec- gases from a close-range shot affect the wound-
ropsy, GSR can be sampled using cotton ing process.
buds. On dry wounds, one can use cotton Skin penetration of an exiting bullet
buds wetted with distilled water, tape-lifts or involves different mechanisms to those de-
use a fine-toothed comb in the hair surround- scribed for the entrance wound. In the major-
ing the wound (MacCrehan et al., 2003). ity of cases, the projectile has lost much of
Examination for GSRs may be performed by, its energy and exposes a larger cross-sectional
for example, scanning electron microscope area when it hits the skin from the inside.

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104 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

Consequently, the tissue is not crushed but and the ammunition cause variation of the
buckled and stretched until the bullet is re- wound pattern. Generally, the shorter the
leased by rupture of the skin. As no tissue distance, the denser will be the injuries of
substance is lost, the edges of the irregular-­ the entrance wound. If directly after leaving
shaped wound can normally be adapted. If, the barrel, the shot sheaf has not spread ra-
meanwhile, the localization of the exit dially, it creates a single prominent circular
wound and the large temporary cavity coin- wound. With rising distances and wider
cide, loss of substance is obvious. spreading of the shot sheaf, the edge of the
wound starts to become undulating (scal-
7.2.3.3 Shotgun loping) or discrete skin perforations caused
by individual pellets are seen immediately
The wound picture created by shotgun pel- peripheral to the central wound. With still
lets is largely determined by the range at which wider spread (or larger distance) the larger
the weapon is fired. However, the design of central wound is not present and instead a
ammunition used and the barrel characteristics wound field composed of many individual
are also important. These three factors deter- pellet perforations is found.
mine how densely clustered is the sheaf of pel- The range estimation is based on the
lets just before reaching the point of impact. wound pattern as long as a central wound is
A pellet sheaf and its ballistic can be apparent, but is based on the dispersion pat-
compared with a herd of cattle that is to be tern of the pellets at longer ranges. Correctly
driven through a river by cowboys. The cow- scaled documentation of a representative
boys determine how densely and how fast wound field, showing all points of impact
the animals move when the herd reaches the within that field, is necessary to compare the
edge of the river. In a widely spread herd, the pattern in question to the test-shot pattern
cows will go separately into the river, thereby fired with the same weapon and ammunition.
slowing down, but still in a group that is The resulting range estimation would presup-
heading in the same direction. If the herd pose that the test field was within the core
stays close together, the first animals entering area of the shot sheaf and that the angle of im-
the water will slow down and, being crowded pact was perpendicular (Karger, 2004).
and pushed by the adjacent animals, will This may illustrate that detailed state-
deviate sideways. ments about shooting distances should only
The wound channel of a close-range shot- be made with caution, and should include a
gun blast may have a larger diameter than statement of the underlying preconditions.
the entrance hole, as the decelerated pellets, Shotgun pellets can be made of many
like the cattle from the example above, are different metal alloys, such as lead, steel,
deviated outwards by pellets clashing from tungsten-bismuth-tin (TBT) and other prin-
behind. The light spherical pellets lose energy cipal constituents. A first impression of what
quickly and, consequently, the penetration material the shotgun pellet is made of can
depth of individual pellets generally declines be achieved by studying the radiological im-
rapidly with increasing range. Nevertheless, ages (see Section 7.2.4.1, ‘Before necropsy’).
the penetration depth can still be consider- However, true and detailed information is
able, markedly disrupting internal organs. based on the recovery of the pellets. Besides
The tissue damage of shotgun wounds, es- studying obvious injuries, one should pay
pecially close-range wounds, can be exten- attention to possible reactions of the sur-
sive. At longer ranges, larger types of shot rounding tissue of each recovered pellet.
(size and weight of pellets) produce more Kraabel et al. (1996) observed a consistent
serious injuries (Ordog et al., 1988). inflammatory response to steel pellets in
It is important to note that the morph- mallard muscle tissue, a reaction possibly
ology of the skin wound allows only a rough triggered by corrosion. TBT pellets induced
estimation of the shooting range. From comparatively mild inflammatory responses.
shooting distances of around 3 m, differing Sterile steel shots surgically implanted
characteristics of the barrel of the shotgun into dogs corroded and resulted in severe

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 Firearms and Ballistics 105

inflammatory responses, sometimes compli- ical differences and absolute differences

cated by bacterial contamination and foreign-­ can be distinct. The skin of birds is, for in-
body reactions (Bartels et al., 1991). stance, generally far thinner than mammal
Species-­specific differences in the responses skin (Vollmerhaus et al., 1992), not to mention
must be taken into account. Tungsten alloy the vast proportional differences between
pellets, for instance, implanted intramuscu- humans and, for example, a budgerigar with
larly into rats, induced growth of aggressive, a body weight of 45 g. Wightman et al. (2013)
rapidly metastasizing high-grade pleomorphic mounted fresh skin samples of different animal
rhabdomyosarcomas in an experimental species on blocks of gelatin to test the effect
study (Kalinich et al., 2005). of the skin on the perforation ability of air-
Sampling of tissue in a state of inflam- gun pellets; chicken skin had no effect, pig
mation or granulation provides an opportun- skin stopped the pellet and cow skin was
ity for approximation of age of the process perforated by the pellets.
(Schulz, 1990; Wohlsein and Reifinger, 2011). Small calibre and light weight of airgun
pellets must not be equated with being in-
7.2.3.4 Airgun nocuous. After discharge, the velocity of the
projectiles decreases rapidly and the sec-
Though air weapons are commonly con- tional density of the pellets is compara-
sidered toys, or at least non-lethal weapons, tively low. There is a need for a high muzzle
projectiles from air-powered guns cause in- velocity to counteract these ballistic disad-
juries and fatalities (Smith, 1985; Bond vantages. Therefore, unless the anatomical
et al., 1996; Campbell-Hewson et al., 1997; structures at the point of impact are very
Milroy et al., 1998). These weapons have delicate, the barrel–target distance must be
been shown to be dangerous devices for hu- relatively short to cause serious injuries
mans and animals, and animals wounded by (Missliwetz, 1987; Kneubuehl et al., 2011).
airguns are relatively frequently presented Nevertheless, the transmitted energy can be
in veterinary clinics (Cooper and Cooper, 2007; significant enough to fracture the upper arm
Anon., 2013). Even pellets fired from a com- bone (Phillips, 1979) or to cause a traumatic
paratively low-powered weapon, such as a cervical spinal cord injury (de la Fuente
ball-bearing gun, can penetrate human skin. et al., 2013) in a cat. Indeed, cone-shaped
Such an injury is reported by Tsui et al. steel pellets are documented to have pene-
(2010). A 15-year-old boy suffered from an trated 1 mm-thick steel plates (Smith, 1985).
infected wound caused by a spherical soft The wound ballistics of air weapon pro-
airgun pellet, 0.2 g in weight and 6 mm in jectiles follows the mechanisms described
diameter, discharged from legal weapons above. However, bruises and other injuries
with muzzle energy not greater than 2 Joule. with­out penetration of the skin may be con-
Other authors (Phillips, 1979; Sinclair et al., sidered a blunt trauma, rather than a gun-
2006; Cooper and Cooper, 2007; Merck, 2007; shot wound. The pathoanatomical findings
Munro and Munro, 2008; de la Fuente et al., may be delicate and may easily remain un-
2013) discuss the ability of airgun pellets, usu- detected, even by the owners of affected
ally .177 calibre (4.5 mm) with a law-regulated animals. In a study of injured urban cats
maximum muzzle velocity of maximal 7.5 and dogs, as many as 16 out of 19 owners
Joule,1 to penetrate human skin or the cor- did not suspect a previous shooting incident
nea of the human eye. Penetration depth in when veterinary examination discovered
ballistic gel close to 8 cm for 5.5 mm pellets their pet to be carrying a small-calibre pro-
fired from 10 m range has been reported by jectile (Keep, 1970). This may be a conse-
Ogunc et al. (2013). As in anthropocentric quence of a small-sized entrance wound, a
forensics (Bond et al., 1996), veterinarians small calibre of the narrow channel and, in
should no longer underestimate the potential many cases, the absence of an exit wound.
for life-threatening injury from these weapons. In this context, radiographic examination is
As stated above, generalization across very valuable, especially for the detection
species is problematic, as both general anatom- of older damage.

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106 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

The picture of the wound channel at potential evidential value in a living animal
necropsy is dominated by the appearance of might be changed by necessary clinical treat-
crushed tissue and only moderate bleeding. ment, secondary healing, or the animal’s
It should be carefully explored along its ­behaviour (licking of the wound, etc.). Car-
total length, especially as some types of air-­ casses change due to autolytic processes.
weapon ammunition are embedded in radio- Necropsy, as clinical treatment, is an evidence-
lucent components (sabot) (Smith, 1985). destroying investigative method. Even when
These might be found as a fragment within circumstances suggest a rapid response, one
the wound channel and must be preserved should consider spending time on documen-
as evidence. tation or preservation of evidence. In any
Airgun pellets and remains must, of case, each step must be carefully considered
course, be preserved using standard routines. to ensure correct procedure.
The secured item can be assigned to the Extensive transfer of information from
respective type of ammunition. For the foren- the crime scene prevents misinterpretation
sic veterinarian, knowledge of the design of observations made in the clinic or the nec-
of the bullet and composition material are ropsy hall. If one does not have the chance
necessary to obtain the best possible picture to attend the crime scene oneself, one should
of the shooting event. In combination with try to collect as much information as possible
anatomical findings – such as location of the by interviewing those involved in the inves-
point of impact, penetration depth and type tigation at the scene. Information on who
of tissue along the wound path – these ballis- might be the most relevant person(s) to talk
tic specifications can help investigators to to might be found on the chain of custody
form an impression of, for instance, the range scheme or from the officer with overall
of the shot (Missliwetz, 1987). By comparing responsibility for the crime scene.
three different types of airgun pellets, Smith Certain general questions need to be ad-
(1985) observed distinct differences in pene- dressed in cases involving the use of weapons:
tration depth in ballistic gel, and a more recent How many shots were fired and from how
British study indicates total penetration depth many weapons? How many victims were there,
of gelatin and different animal organs to be receiving how many hits each? Did crime
around 10–15 cm (Wightman et al., 2013). scene findings (for example, the blood stain
The design of the tip and the material pattern) or the localization of the victims in-
from which the pellet is made may not only dicate a connection to the wound pattern?
be of value for the investigation, but will Questions specific to each body would
have a great influence on the capability of the be: In what position was the body found?
projectile to penetrate tissue (Smith, 1985). What kind of injuries were there and were
there injury-related marks? An example would
be the establishment of consistency between
7.2.4 Essential steps of investigating the body and surface alterations. If an animal
a shot animal was lying on the ground when it received a
coup de grâce, one could expect the exiting
7.2.4.1 Before necropsy bullet to cause damage on the underlying sur-
face. One should be aware of the possibility of
The immediate priority in the investigation a residual projectile when removing the body.
of a surviving shot animal is to administer The missile could be embedded in the ground
appropriate first-aid treatment before pro- or within the fur, or could even have re-entered
cessing potential evidence from the animal the body. The latter event could involve an
or scene. But even in challenging situations, atypical entrance wound on which the un-
a well-structured approach is obligatory for informed veterinary forensic examiner may
all forensic work, a sine qua non for the expend unnecessary time and resources at-
­forensic veterinary investigator! The evidence tempting to form an opinion.
with which we are working has a constantly Preliminary first impression conclusions
changing dynamic character. Alterations of from an adspective on-scene examination

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 Firearms and Ballistics 107

of the body might also initiate other types logists (Flach et al., 2014), resulting in the
of forensic investigations. For instance, a development of the specialism named ‘vir-
star-shaped wound in the head indicating a topsy’, which has shown to be of high value,
short muzzle-to-target distance would prompt especially in wound ballistics.
a recommendation to look for backspatter of Information from the crime scene and
blood and tissue debris on a suspect’s cloth- from imaging provide a solid foundation when
ing or weapon. the forensic veterinarian, whether clinician
Whenever bullet wounds or other trauma or pathologist, approaches the investiga-
are suspected, the animal should be imaged tion of a shot animal. Nevertheless, all these
as soon as possible. Instead of using conven- findings need to be recorded by detailed
tional radiography, one might consider a documentation.
computer tomographic (CT) examination. In
human forensic pathology, imaging techniques 7.2.4.2 The practical approach
such as CT, magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) and 3D surface scanners, resulting in After having gone through the routine of
three-dimensional imaging, are increasingly the external examination, the next step is to
integrated into the investigations, especially focus on the documentation of entrance
within trauma diagnostics. Post-mortem CT and exit wounds. For most cases, the line of
has been shown to be superior to autopsy departure is of special interest. In almost
for depicting fractures and locating project- all cases, it provides a strong indication of
iles or foreign objects (Flach et al., 2014). CT position of the weapon in relation to the
facilities are nowadays widely available and victim. The entrance and exit wounds are
when an animal carcass is sealed in a body the only outer sign of the axis along which
bag the requirements of working in an environ- the projectile moved. The axis needs to be
ment governed by human health standards measured and documented before the in-
can be observed. For detecting non-opaque vasive part of the necropsy, which will
items like soft gun pellets, undetectable on alter the normal relative positioning of the
X-ray images, ultrasonographic examination body, proceeds. An estimation of the line of
is particularly useful (Tsui et al., 2010). ­departure based on the position of the en-
The most outstanding advantage implied trance and exit wound alone must be con-
using 3D-imaging techniques is the creation sidered as preliminary, since the bullet might
of a data set documenting the anatomical pro- have changed its direction within the body
portions within a whole body. This is done (see Section 7.2.2, ‘Basics of wound ballis-
time-effectively and without the need to ma- tics’). Consequently, statements concerning
nipulate the evidence by a destructive this matter should not be made without
method (Flach et al., 2014). Structures with verification.
deviant density, like a wound channel, can be If the animal was hit by several shots, en-
visualized against a variety of denser struc- trance and exit wounds must be aligned. If
tures, such as parenchymal organs and mus- there is doubt, then all possible permutations
cles. Bullets or bullet fragments can be iden- must be considered and documented. It is
tified by their exceptionally high density. The an advantage for the clinicians and patholo-
data set can be re-processed and re-­assessed gist over the radiologist that he can easily
at any time, enabling accurate measurements. manipulate the animal into a variety of dif-
Presentation of complex changes, that court ferent positions to verify a working hypoth-
and jury might otherwise be challenged to esis (see Figs 7.2.6 and 7.2.7). Care must be
understand by verbal description alone, can taken, however, not to place the animal in an
be facilitated. A bullet wound channel, for unnatural body position. This would apply
example, can be more clearly demonstrated when attempts are made to trace a wound
via the clear narrative of CT images (see Box channel on a suspended body in the necropsy
7.2.1., ‘Illegal shooting of wild grey wolf’). room. The body would be stretched and con-
The benefits of 3D imaging has enhanced sequently the tracing risks resulting in an
cooperation between radiologists and patho- ­exaggeratedly acute angle of shot.

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108 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

Box 7.2.1. Illegal shooting of wild grey wolf

By combining the documentation achieved by the use of different methods (necropsy and CT-imaging),
strong and illustrative evidence could be presented to the court.
In August 2011 the shooting of a grey wolf was reported. A claim of legal self-defence during protec-
tion of fenced domestic sheep was made by the defence. Necropsy confirmed that the animal had been
shot. The angle of incidence was estimated to be between 0° and 10° from the front-right side. The findings

Fig. 7.2.2. Overview picture from lateral aspect of grey wolf (Lupus lupus), showing the thorax and
luminal skeleton.

Continued

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 Firearms and Ballistics 109

Box 7.2.1. Continued.

were in contradiction to the statement of the shooter. The prosecution appraised the angle of incidence as
being crucial to the case. Data from the pre-necropsy whole-body computer tomographic examination
was processed with the aim of a best possible demonstration and verification of the wound channel. The
narrow channel through the back muscles could be visualized and its angle to the spinal column was
measured. The result confirmed previous examinations and added valuable material for the courtroom
presentation.
Figures 7.2.2–7.2.5 are from a video presentation made for courtroom demonstration. In Figs 7.2.2
and 7.2.3, there are fractures with loss of bone substance of the caudal four ribs. The wound is funnel-shaped;
there are projectile fragments (bright spots) in the wound area. Each fragment on its own renders imprecise
estimation of the axis of travel of the projectile before fragmentation. In Fig. 7.2.4, the entrance wound is
seen in the upper part of the picture. Before the bullet fractured the 10th rib, it passed three more cranial
ribs and their intercostal spaces. This part of the wound channel is not visible. Figure 7.2.5 shows the narrow
channel between the entrance wound and fracture of the 10th rib. The perforation of the entrance wound
is slightly out of focus and peripheral muscle layers are likely to be located ‘out of axis’, due to their sliding
over the deeper muscles. Thus this outer part of the wound channel is less suitable for the estimation of the
angle of incidence and was consequently discounted when the angle between the narrow channel and
the spine was measured.
The Norwegian Øvre Romerike tingrett (district court) sentenced the shooter to four months’ impris-
onment for shooting a grey wolf in claimed self-defence and thereby deliberately violating the right of
self-defence.

Fig. 7.2.3. Magnification of the image shown in Fig. 7.2.2, now showing caudal thorax and cranial
lumbar vertebrae from mainly posterior aspect.

Continued

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110 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

Box 7.2.1. Continued.

Fig. 7.2.4. Hairless body surface of the same section as in Fig. 7.2.3 and viewed from the same
perspective.

Fig. 7.2.5. Visualization of the narrow channel between the entrance wound and fracture of the 10th
rib, viewed from a precise anterior aspect.

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 Firearms and Ballistics 111

Figs 7.2.6 and 7.2.7 show a wounded represented by the spinal column of the trunk
bear. In Fig. 7.2.7, the probe remains in the is the most appropriate marker for the position
same relationship to the wound as that of the animal. Parts that have a high degree of
shown in Fig. 7.2.6, but now a possible, freedom such as the tail, the distal extremities
near horizontal trajectory of the projectile and the head and neck ­region are consequently
that caused the injury can be appreciated, less reliable than the trunk.
and approximations of the angle of shot and Second, the narrow channel must be long
line of departure can be achieved. enough that its axis can be estimated with a
The first part of the wound channel – the sufficient degree of certainty. Finally, one
narrow wound channel – potentially yields must succeed in elucidating and documenting
the most reliable information regarding the the path of the narrow channel. There are a
angle from which the animal was shot. This number of factors which may confound dem-
portion of the total wound channel may show onstration of the narrow channel. For instance,
the best consistency between the axis on it may not be possible using modern imaging
which the projectile travelled before and after techniques to demonstrate a collapsed wound
hitting the target. In order to utilize this infor- channel; the true axis of the channel might
mation, three conditions must be ensured. not be consistent with the estimated route
First, the narrow channel must be local- documented before the body was opened. At
ized within a part of the body that justifies necropsy, the carcass may be in a state of ad-
conclusions regarding the animal’s position vanced autolysis, softening the tissue around
the moment it was shot. Usually there is a the narrow channel. While investigating the
demand to comment on the general position wound, extreme care must be taken that the
of the animal in relation to the shooter. In instrument is not inadvertently extended be-
this context, the longitudinal axis of the body yond the confines of the narrow channel.

Fig. 7.2.6. A brown bear (Ursus arctos) lying in right lateral position enabling a standard left-sided
procedure. The probe indicates the longitudinal axis of the wound channel. Entrance wound on the left side
of the picture.

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112 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

Fig. 7.2.7. The same animal as in Fig. 7.2.6, now mounted in a close to natural, ventrodorsal position with
vertical forelegs and head and neck bent to the right.

7.2.4.3 Recovery of bullets from the body it should be arranged in a

logical manner nearby. If not succeed-
Bullets or relevant fragments recovered from ing in localizing the projectile, one can
the body must be considered as evidence and re-examine piece by piece by palpation
must be routinely preserved using standard or X-ray.
techniques. They contain valuable informa- • Bullets must not be handled with metal
tion for the case and for the examiner. Submit- forceps or other metallic surgical instru-
ted to a ballistic lab more information can be ments in order to avoid alteration of the
revealed from further examination. Determin- fragile markings on the surface of the
ation of the calibre, distinction between rifle bullet. Sterile single-use forceps are
and handgun, the linking of the projectile to established tools for this procedure,
an individual weapon or type of weapon, though Di Maio (1999) recommends
and/or establishing contact of the bullets with removal of bullets with fingers. Prelim-
intermediate target before entering the body, inary measurements can be taken using
are examples (Brinkmann and Madea, 2004). a plastic vernier caliper.
Some cast-iron rules must be observed • To avoid cross-contamination, clean
in the process of missile recovery (Wobeser, instruments must be used for each piece
1996; Walker and Adrian, 2003; Brinkmann of evidence.
and Madea, 2004). • Bullets should be washed to remove
tissue and blood. The use of fresh run-
• Care must be taken not to cut the bullet ning water will be sufficient in most
while dissecting in the proximity of the cases but, if special washing proced-
projectile. ures need to be followed, temporary
• No tissue must be discarded until the pro- storage at −20°C without washing is
jectile is recovered. If tissue is removed preferable.

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 Firearms and Ballistics 113

• The recovered bullet should be briefly dissecting along the wound track or by more
described by recording general appear- direct ­approach. At all steps of examination,
ance, deformation/non-deformation, ap- one should consider the need to take (prelim-
proximate calibre, full- or semi-jacketed, inary) tests, such as flaming, assessing magnet-
weight, magnetic properties, etc. ism or swabbing, if a local infectious condi-
• The dried bullets should be placed in tion is suspected. Definitive examination of
wadded packaging (Fig. 7.2.8) and paper recovered projectile(s) or fragments should
envelope for storage or submission. be performed at the ballistic lab or at a later
• It is sufficient to recover a representative phase of the investigation.
sample of pellets from shotgun wounds It is necessary to know about the further
(Di Maio, 1999). Redundant pellets may steps of examination regarding each bullet
be used for preliminary tests, such as before it is actually removed. Generally, it is a
testing for magnetism or flame tests. good practice to wash the projectile under
• Fillers (felt wads, plastic cups, plastic fresh running water (Walker and Adrian,
crosspieces, etc.) should be handled in 2003). This ensures that the surface of the
a similar manner to bullets. bullet is cleaned and tissue and blood cannot
harden on it. This procedure is contraindicated
Early information about the projectile(s) that
if the bullet is to be examined for gunshot
are to be recovered is normally based on the
residues, however, or for all kinds of foreign
assessment of radiographs, pictures or other
debris, such as textile fibres, or mineral and
images. If the recovered projectile matches
biological materials (Walker and Adrian, 2003).
the imaged structure, that circumstance
To save residues, which may be fragments or
should be recorded and in due course marked
soft tissue of intermediate targets, the projectile
on the picture. It will differ from case to case,
must undergo special procedures of washing
whether bullet removal is best performed by
and filtration (Nichols and Sens, 1990). Pres-
ervation of traces is possible even with a bul-
let recovered outside the body after completely
traversing the body – a so-called ‘through and
through’ shot. Karger et al. (1996) succeeded
in DNA typing cellular debris sampled from
hollow point and full-metal-jacket bullets
after full penetration of calves, and achieved
successful individualization on the basis of
STR loci in three human cases (Karger et al.,
1997). It is possible also to perform cyto-
logical examinations (Nichols and Sens, 1990;
Karger, 2004). It can be expected that the
amount of gunshot residue obtainable from
semi-­jacketed and hollow-point bullets is lar-
ger than from full-jacket projectiles (Karger
et al., 1996).

7.2.5 Conclusion

The appearance of wounds caused by differ-

ent types of projectiles may range from clear
to chaotic. Nevertheless, all modifications are
a consequence of the impact of forces falling
Fig. 7.2.8. The dried bullets should be placed in under the same laws of physics, a conse-
wadded packaging and paper envelope for storage quence of action and reaction. The know-
or submission. ledge about what a bullet does to the body

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114 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

and what the body does to the bullet is working with animals being fired upon.
crucial for surgeons and pathologists to
­ Hence, being acquainted with the basics of
unscramble – at least parts of – the traumatic wound ballistics is indispensable to high-­
modifications they are confronted with when quality forensic work.

Case Study 7.2.1. Cat shot by air rifle by David Bailey (images courtesy of Adele Wharton)

Figures 7.2.9a and 7.2.9b show an overview with the deformed pellet still visible in the
and close-up view of a cat that had been shot radiograph.
by an air-rifle pellet, with an entry wound It is posited that this animal was lying at rest
mid-abdomen. Figs 7.2.9c and 7.2.9d demon­ when it was shot from a cranial direction. The
strate massive disruption to the left stifle joint, amount of damage done to the stifle joint sug-
gests a close contact discharge.

(a)

(b)

Fig. 7.2.9. The cat shown in (a) to (d) has been shot by an air-rifle pellet.
Continued

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 Firearms and Ballistics 115

Case Study 7.2.1. Continued.

(c)

(d)

Fig. 7.2.9. Continued.

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116 R. Bolton-King and J. Schulze

Note

1
The specific regulation differs widely between countries. In the UK air weapons are, for the time being, regu-
lated by law to below 12 ft lb (16.3 J) for air rifles and below 6 ft lb (8.1 J) for air pistols (Wightman et al., 2013).

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Munro, R. and Munro, H.M.C. (2008) Animal Abuse and Unlawful Killing. Saunders Elsevier, Edinburgh, UK.
Nicholas, N. and Welsch, J. (2004) Ballistic Gelatin. Available online at: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/
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Nichols, C.A. and Sens, M.A. (1990) Recovery and evaluation by cytologic techniques of trace material re-
tained on bullets. The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 11(1), 17–34.
Ogunc, G.I., Ozer, M.T., Eryilmaz, M., Karakus, O. and Uzar, A.I. (2013) The wounding potential and legal
situations of air guns – experimental study. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences 46, 39–52.
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and Acute Care Surgery 28, 624–631.
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 8 Blood and Blood Pattern Analysis

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

8.1   Introduction – Analysis versus Observation 119

8.2  Definition 119
8.3  Blood 119
8.4   Analysis versus Interpretation 120
8.5   Presumptive Screening of Blood 121
8.6   What Is Blood? 122
8.7   Blood Spatter – Overview 122
8.8   Record: Mnemonic – CAPSS 123
8.9   Forces Acting in Blood 124
8.9.1 Cohesion 124
8.9.2 Surface tension 124
8.9.3 Viscosity 124
8.9.4 Adhesion 125
8.10 Forces Acting on Blood 125
8.10.1 Biological forces acting in blood serum 125
8.11 Photography and Analysis 125
8.11.1 Close-up of bloodstains 126
8.12 Blood Patterns 129
8.12.1 Categories of bloodstains 129
8.12.2 Directionality of bloodstains 129
8.12.3 Point of convergence 129
8.12.4 Number of bloodstains required to
make an observation? 129
8.13 Bruises 130
8.14 Qualifications to Give Testimony on Blood Spatter and
Blood Pattern Analysis 131
8.15 Ante-Mortem versus Post-mortem Injury 131

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

118 © CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey)

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 Blood and Blood Pattern Analysis 119

8.1 Introduction – Analysis versus cells will behave in the same manner or
Observation have the same colour, appearance, weight,
hue or oxygen saturation. Some red blood
The Locard principle is used by forensic sci- cells have nuclear (DNA) material, while
entists to explain the transfer of evidence. others (most) don’t. With large variations in
It is not possible, according to ­Locard’s prin- size, shape and chromaticity, blood is too
ciple, to enter an environment and not change difficult to be described in a forensic sense.
it in some manner by either leaving some- Forensic scientists who are experienced
thing behind or taking something with you. at blood pattern analysis, then, don’t de-
Every contact leaves a trace and with blood scribe blood that has been found deposited
there is an initial non-specialist observation outside the body at a crime scene, but instead
that blood spilled at a crime scene is just too they attempt to describe the patterns that
messy and adheres to everything. blood forms which are characteristic of the
‘Why?’ asks the lay observer ‘do you need forces that have created them.
Locard to explain a bloodstained crime scene?’ All blood cells are slightly but suffi-
Crime scene blood pattern analysis is ciently different between species – we know
an observational tool. You can take a blood that one can’t give a dog a blood transfusion
sample from an animal or a crime scene, but from a cat. There are differences between
you cannot take a blood pattern from either. the blood from individuals of the same spe-
You must first record a blood pattern in order cies (blood type) and even blood from
for it to be analysed and interpreted. within the one animal (blood maturity): all
Blood pattern analysis is a highly special- red blood cells are similar, but they are not
ized form of forensic science and consists of the same.
three independent and linked components. Regardless of this variation, there are
some facets that blood can share with other
1. Analysis. blood. All blood cells, regardless of inter-
2. Photography (and documentation). and intra-species variation, will obey the
3. Interpretation. rules and laws of physics, fluid dynamics
and motion. It is these forces that forensic
scientists utilize to describe the creation of
8.2 Definition blood patterns. This chapter is, by necessity,
a bloody lesson in physics and motion. And
Blood pattern analysis means to examine, while there is variation between one red
inspect and record the shape, location and blood cell and its immediate neighbour,
distribution patterns of bloodstains. there is no variation in the type of forces that
The underlying premise upon which will act on any number of red blood cells to
all bloodstain analysis depends is that all produce a bloodstain pattern. The shape
patterns, shape, location and distribution of which the blood pattern will take when
bloodstains are characteristic of the forces blood is deposited on a receptor surface is
that created them. due to the forces of motion, fluid dynamics,
And in this simple descriptor we have friction, surface tension, viscosity, adhe-
the physicists and mathematicians taking sion, cohesion and gravity.
the guesswork out of a biological sample in- The blood leaves a telltale pattern of
vestigation. Blood samples will always vary the forces that created it and this is captured
in appearance, but the forces that create by a camera, a sketch or a video recording.
them are always the same. This is what bloodstain pattern analysis
is: a force pattern analysis, captured by pho-
tography and documentation. This step in
8.3 Blood the process is relatively simple; it is the next,
the same issue that affects all aspects of fo-
Blood is an imprecise medium to examine rensic analysis, which is complicated – the
forensically. No two circulating red blood interpretation.

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120 D. Bailey

8.4 Analysis versus Interpretation of the patterns you record. This is where
there are differences between crime scenes
When presenting bloodstain patterns in involving animals and humans; wherein
court, it isn’t (usually) the analysis that will the latter will always attract a skilled blood
be argued against. In that case, you would pattern analyst, and perhaps a proficient
be (foolishly) arguing against Isaac Newton, forensic photographer, while the former will
Robert Brown, Archimedes and their col- attract whoever happens to be available and
leagues, and, in a legal dispute, the barris- has a good camera.
ters find it easier to argue with you, not Blood shed outside an animal’s body
them, over your interpretation of their laws becomes clotted due to the clotting factors
of physics and motion applied to the blood within and the external temperature of the
pattern analysis. environment it has been deposited in. Depos-
Beginners in this area should focus on ited blood sticks to hair, clothing, furniture
the analysis at the crime scene through ac- and buildings, and is a persistent w ­ itness to a
curate documentation and, in particular, the crime. Blood yields a lot of information, clin-
taking of methodical photos. You can then ically, temporally and forensically.
hand over the photos to a more qualified, Another chant repeated throughout this
competent or confident expert to interpret book is the discrete independent effect. Blood
in a laboratory or office setting. patterns or any piece of evidence should not
And here we can be discussing blood be taken in isolation. There should always be
spatter, hair microscopy or soil samples, as at least two independent sources of evidence
one of the fundamentals of forensic science is gathered from any crime scene. For example,
entwined with the skill of blood pattern ana- a photograph from a bite wound and a saliv-
lysis and the subsequent procedure and art ary swab for DNA analysis taken from the bite
of interpretation of the patterns formed by the wound. Another example is an eyewitness
forces acting on the blood to create that pat- statement and an image produced from a
tern. While many vets and animal workers are CCTV camera. As long as there is more than
familiar with the taking, analysis and sub- one source of evidence and one source is inde-
sequent interpreting of a blood sample from pendent from the other. One hundred photo-
a sick animal to arrive at a clinical decision graphs are 100 different types of the same
(based on haematology and biochemistry) for singular source of evidence. Blood is ideal in
that animal, they are also aware that two vets that it comes with its own built-in secondary
will arrive at different interpretations of the ­evidence source – DNA. This is useful if DNA
same clinical blood result. Bloodstain analysis is what you need. If you recover blood from a
is no different. Two independent blood pat- scene for later DNA or toxicological analysis,
tern experts can interpret one blood pattern always photograph it first as a pattern, drop,
in two different ways, and this is the basis for stain, smudge, spurt, misting, drip, satellite
the competitive nature of science and an ad- pattern, low-, medium- or high-velocity deposit,
versarial philosophy of legal disputes. back spatter, wipe or cast-off stain, because the
Most readers will be able to take photos pattern created cannot be reproduced after
of a blood pattern. This is part of the ana- you have sampled it for a secondary source of
lysis; however, many need to understand the evidence.
separation of the analysis step from the inter- Blood provides many clues as to the
pretation step in forensic science. While very temporal sequence of events that have oc-
few responders will (willingly) be able to in- curred, as well as distance from an animal
terpret the blood pattern left at a crime scene to determine whether, for example, a shoot-
correctly, most of them can take accurate ing incident was accidental or deliberate.
­images and process the scene accurately Blood also provides information as to the
enough for another expert to assist later in the behaviour of the animal. The correct ana-
investigation. You are in this field first as an lysis of blood patterns can provide a great
analyst in the form of a photographer and deal of information for both prosecution
documenter, and second as an interpreter and defence experts to interpret.

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 Blood and Blood Pattern Analysis 121

Photography of blood and the patterns workers will be familiar with is the simple
and stains it can make can be described as Hemastix – see Fig. 8.1.
evidence collection and analysis, but al- Most blood presumptive tests rely on
ready an interpretation has been made. This the catalytic properties of blood and the
dull red pattern that has collected under presence within a red blood cell of the
this dead animal – is it blood? haemoglobin protein. So a presumptive test
How do you know? for animal blood will be the same, regardless
of the species tested for. And armed with the
knowledge that very few things in nature
8.5 Presumptive Screening of Blood contain haemoglobin, we can satisfy our-
selves after testing that the bright red thick
When we see a red, thick and clotted stain material is blood. We have analysed the
that is expanding slowly under a dead ani- blood from two sources. The first is our
mal, it is likely to be blood. We transcend prior knowledge, experience and expectation
the boundary between veterinarian (it is of dealing with what blood is and what blood
blood) to forensic scientist (it is likely to be looks like, and the second, independent
blood). But even before we approach this source is the presumptive test for blood –
question we need to run through the PREGS these two independent sources provide two
protocol (see Chapter 5, this volume) at our separate analyses and one interpretation:
scene to make sure it is a safe place. We then we have blood.
inspect (look) or examine (look and touch) While the Hemastix presumptive test
the animal to determine life-extinct status. suggested has been used by veterinarians in
Once we have satisfied ourselves the scene clinical practice (there are rules for the admis-
is safe and the animal is no longer alive, we sibility and reliability of any evidence you
then protect the scene and start to gather and introduce to a court), for simplicity, the evi-
document available evidence. In this case, dence must satisfy two criteria. It should be
photos, sketches and video. accepted by your peers and it needs to be veri-
To ensure we can answer the question fiable. While the lack of a presumptive test for
in court, ‘How do you know it was blood?’, blood prior to subsequent scene processing
we test it. and analysis should not affect the admissibil-
Presumptive testing of blood can be ity of the evidence (photograph and docu-
done in a variety of ways, but the most com- mentation) to a court, it may affect the weight
mon manner that many vets and animal which the court attributes to that evidence.

Fig. 8.1. Hemastix test for blood.

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122 D. Bailey

8.6 What Is Blood? to the target cell. In order for a red blood
cell to get close enough to a target body cell,
Blood consists of red and white blood cells, it needs to be able to squeeze through a ca-
nutrients, dissolved gases and blood plate- pillary. Red blood cells are approximately
lets carried around in plasma. Erythrocytes 25% larger than the diameter of their capil-
(the red blood cells) have the role of trans- laries (Snyder and Sheafor, 1999). There is
porting oxygen to the cells of the body. (naturally) variation between species as to
These body cells have an obligate demand this exact figure; however, the overriding
for oxygen molecules (O2) in their respir- principle ­remains that the erythrocyte must
ation cycle and willingly donate a carbon be bigger than the capillary it enters. This
­dioxide ­molecule (CO2) to the plasma after counter-­ intuitive set-up prevents carbon
this exchange, allowing the erythrocyte to dioxide-rich plasma from interfering with
spend the second part of its journey oxygen the transfer of oxygen between the erythrocyte
and carbon dioxide free and as a willing ser- cell membrane and the target cell, a process
vant awaiting the next oxygen molecule to that requires uninterrupted membrane-­ to-
bind with in the lungs, air sacs or gills of its membrane contact between the erythrocyte
host. and target cell.
It is the liquid plasma component of This process of transient cell-to-cell con-
blood that acts as the main carrier of CO2 tact requires a red blood cell to retain a rigid
back to the lungs. This can be visualised cell membrane while maintaining surface
when comparing bright red arterial oxygen- flexibility. Like skin cells, all mature mam-
ated blood with that of the venous dull hue malian red blood cells have no nuclear ­material.
of de-­oxygenated blood. It is this colour dif- Most, but not all, mammalian erythrocytes are
ferential that has allowed the application of shaped like biconcave discs; when squeezed
pulse oximetry in determining the oxygen through a small capillary this shape and inte-
saturation of a patient’s blood in veterinary gral membrane rigidity allows the blood cell to
and human clinical medicine. This is our assume a cigar shape, thus allowing maximum
first forensic observation – what colour is surface area for oxygen transfer from the red
the blood? blood cell to the target cell – a passive diffu-
Colour of blood is determined by the sion process that must not be interfered with
amount of oxygen present in the blood at by the presence of a surrounding layer of
the time of recording the blood pattern, as ­carbon dioxide-rich plasma. This design also
well as the time that has elapsed since blood allows the erythrocyte to act in many ways
has been deposited on the surface. like a bullet travelling through a gun barrel.
Anhydrous blood should not be con- Bullets are (also counter-­ intuitively) larger
fused with clotting stage. This is not a clin- than the barrel they travel in and this ensures
ical examination of blood, and the ability of that the gas build-up behind them pushes them
the blood to dry out depends on volume and out of the barrel.
shape of the stain as well as environmental Different mammalian and non-mammalian
conditions such as humidity, temperature species have distinctive shaped and nucle-
and wind exposure. ated erythrocytes, and this allows them
It is also the colouration of red blood different properties with respect to blood
cells and subsequent discolouration due to flow (laminar or turbulent), blood viscos-
breakdown of this haemoglobin/iron mo- ity, oxygen transfer and cell membrane
lecular complex that can cause considerable flexibility.
difficulties in the ageing and interpreting of
the appearance of a bruise in forensic medi-
cine. Haemoglobin and iron molecule com- 8.7 Blood Spatter – Overview
plexes exist within an erythrocyte to transi-
ently capture and transport a molecule of Bloodstain pattern analysis is the evaluation
oxygen around the body, allowing it to dif- of the size, shape and distribution of patterns
fuse through the erythrocyte cell membrane that are identified in blood. The purpose is to

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 Blood and Blood Pattern Analysis 123

possibly identify the activities that took place Blood spatter requires full documenta-
to deposit the blood, and to identify the loca- tion primarily by photographs and sketch-
tion of the individual animal victim(s) during ing and should be considered as part of the
the bloodshed. The first step involved is analysis of the whole scene.
identifying basic patterns. By identifying pat- Specialist lighting and chemical enhance-
terns an analyst can then draw conclusions ment are particularly important in photo­
as far as what type of activity took place to graphing bloodstain patterns.
create those patterns. Those are recognizable
patterns and they are reproducible patterns.1
Although in-depth interpretation of blood
spatter and bloodstains requires some train- 8.8 Record: Mnemonic – CAPSS
ing and experience, an investigator should
be able to look at blood patterns, make some
a. Colour of the stain
basic deductions, and document these. A sim-
A trained examiner (e.g. a veterinarian) can
plified introduction would ask the reader
determine whether a bloodstain is venous
to recognize and describe the basic blood
or arterial blood by the brightness of the red
pattern and focus on the forces that caused
hue, which is caused by the amount of oxy-
the patterns. The use and application of trig-
genated haemoglobin present. It should be
onometry and an understanding of physics,
noted that the oxygen/haemoglobin bond is,
applied to biological material (blood) is what
by necessity, a weak bond, so that arterial
the forensic scientist needs and the courts
blood deposited on a surface for a signifi-
prefer. While a biological component will al-
cant period prior to examination may not
ways exist to blood and blood patterns, and
retain its characteristic bright red hue.
these biological properties are of use in a
b. Anhydrate
clinical sense, the forensic examination of
Wet, dry, drying (avoid use of the term
blood compels us to preferentially observe
‘­clotting’, as we are making a transition from
the forces used to create the blood pattern
clinical veterinary science into forensic vet-
and not biological components.
erinary science).
Correct interpretation of blood spatter
c. Position of a stain
can reveal the position and location of the
Wall, floor, ceiling, under animal.
animal victim at the time of death. A dead
d. Size of the stain, as well as the border
animal found in a pool of blood may have
characteristics of the stain
died in that pool of blood and an animal that
Diffuse, discrete.
is found on a clean floor may have been killed
e. Shape of the stain
somewhere else and placed at the scene.
Amorphous, round, pooled.
Blood spatter patterns and an under-
standing of the forces that created them can Once we have our PREGS protocols (see
determine the injuries suffered; location of Chapter 5, this volume) and subsequent
the victim with respect to other physical CAPSS analysis completed, we can analyse
evidence; which events occurred and, and interpret the ­recorded evidence with an
importantly, which did not; and the temporal accumulated forensic knowledge of physics
sequence of events that other forms of static and fluid ­dynamics, and then combine this
evidence can’t provide. with our clinical knowledge of animal be-
Temporality of events is perhaps not haviour, clinical and gross pathology, clin-
surprising given the abundance of equations ical disease, and prior crime scene process-
in the physical science that require forces, ing and clinical experience to describe what
speeds and distance to be measured over a events occurred to create those patterns. We
period or function of time. have transferred from being an analyst to in-
When analysing a blood pattern, the terpreting the signs, and again we need to
absence of blood or blood spatter may be ask for an independent (second source of
just as important as the presence of blood evidence) person to assist with their view of
spatter. the analysis.

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124 D. Bailey

8.9 Forces Acting in Blood 8.9.2 Surface tension

8.9.1 Cohesion Surface tension is a result of cohesion forces,

the elastic-like property of blood or any li-
Cohesion is a force that acts within a drop of quid that makes it tend to contract, caused by
blood (or any liquid) that gives the liquid the cohesive forces of attraction between the
certain properties such as surface tension. molecules within the liquid. The molecules
It allows molecules within the blood drop to on the liquid surface have a net force on them
resist separation and causes a blood drop to that pulls them toward the centre of the li-
form a distinctive tear shape characteristic quid. All other molecules in that liquid will
of this force (see Fig. 8.2). have equal forces of attraction to them as they
are surrounded by other molecules. However,
the surface ­molecules are incompletely sur-
rounded by other molecules. This results in a
net attraction toward the underlying molecules
and away from the surface, causing a ‘skin’ to
be formed on the liquid surface (see Fig. 8.3).

8.9.3 Viscosity

Viscosity of a liquid is a measure of that

­liquid’s resistance to changing shape. Thicker
Fig. 8.2. Cohesive forces acting on a blood drop. fluids are more viscous fluids. Thinner

H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O

H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O

H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O

H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O

H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O

Fig. 8.3. Surface tension: the top layer of molecules (only) is pulled downward; every other layer of
molecules is pulled equally in all directions.

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 Blood and Blood Pattern Analysis 125

fluids are less viscous fluids. Blood is (liter-

ally) thicker than water and four times more
viscous.
When a liquid such as water is squeezed
and projected out through a water pistol,
the harder you pull on the trigger, the faster
the water comes out of the pistol. This is
called a constant viscosity – the harder you
squeeze the water, the more resistance the
water exerts back against the trigger, and the
faster it exits the water ­pistol.
Blood is slightly different to water in
that it doesn’t act with a constant viscosity;
while blood is four times more viscous than
water, when there is a force applied to
blood it becomes less viscous (and thinner).
So when squeezed through a syringe (or
Fig. 8.4. Blood striking a glass surface with little or
small capillary) it becomes easier to squeeze no distortion to its edge.
out the harder you press. This property of
blood allows it to flow easily through small
blood vessels. 8.10.1 Biological forces acting in blood serum

8.9.4 Adhesion Clotting factors: when we describe clotted

blood as forensic scientists we use terms
such as dry, drying or wet to assist in the
When blood strikes a recipient object, it
transition from clinical veterinary science
sticks to that object through adhesive forces.
(clotted appearance).
Adhesion forces differ from cohesive forces,
and for blood to stick to an object the forces
of adhesion must exceed those of surface
tension cohesion. 8.11 Photography and Analysis

Photography is the key tool for the docu-

8.10 Forces Acting on Blood mentation of bloodstain patterns. When
used correctly, a skilful photographer can
1. Force of ejection – arterial spurt or external not only document the scene, but also as-
force (usually a trauma). sist in the post-scene analysis through the
2. Gravity. correct use of perspective in the taking of
3. Elasticity of the surface it is in contact photographs. In an animal crime scene that
with. does not involve humans, it is unlikely
that a trained blood pattern analyst will at-
Blood will usually leave the body through tend; however, if required, a trained human
some form of trauma or externally applied blood pattern analyst can look at photos
force. It is then immediately affected by that have been taken at the scene and can
gravity and the ‘bounce’ or the elasticity of assist with or provide an interpretation
the recipient surface. post-scene.
All three external forces combine to im- A blood pattern examiner can provide
part a pattern that can be seen in the blood an interpretation of a scene through careful
drop or stain. evaluation of accurate and precise photog-
A blood drop striking a surface with lit- raphy. A requirement for a small amount
tle or no distortion will appear ‘perfect’ (see of knowledge in photography is needed be-
Fig. 8.4). yond ‘point and shoot’ capabilities; however,

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126 D. Bailey

the extra photographic skills required are of a measuring scale and basic computer
not outside the aptitude of most people and ­programming, the measurements can be made
modern digital cameras. of blood drop size and the spacings between
All evidence at scenes, including blood them (see Fig. 8.8).
pattern-containing scenes, usually require In the example in Fig. 8.8, I have taken
three starting shots. Overview, approach a photo of blood on a horizontal surface with
and close-up – usually with the same num- my camera perpendicular to the surface,
bered indicator in the photo that corres- and included a scale. I have uploaded the
ponds to a photographic log to assist with image to my computer, opened a software pro-
evidence identification and continuity. gram and cut-and-pasted the scale to over-
Figures 8.5–8.7 show an overview (Fig. 8.5), lay the blood drop. So I know that the diam-
approach (Fig. 8.6) and close-up (Fig. 8.7) of eter of the blood drop of interest is 5.5 mm
a bloodstain in a trailer. No photographic (see Fig. 8.9).
markers have been used in these images Similarly, I can calculate the distance
and no scale has been used in the close-up. It between drops in the photo after the scene
would be difficult to understand the sequence has been processed, not necessarily at the
of events if only Fig. 8.7 was adduced as scene.
evidence. The only requirements for this to be ac-
curate are:
1. Camera perpendicular to the object being
8.11.1 Close-up of bloodstains photographed.
2. Inclusion of an accurate scale.
Have the camera at a perpendicular angle 3. Access to a PC or Mac that can perform
to the surface that is being photographed. cut-and-paste tasks – Microsoft Paint is a good
This is important as, with the addition one for non-Mac users.

Fig. 8.5. Overview of a trailer with the side door opened: bloodstained partition in trailer visible.

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 Blood and Blood Pattern Analysis 127

Fig. 8.6. Approach of the trailer door with the partition as the area of interest.

Fig. 8.7. Bloodstained partition visible and overall position in trailer clear with the prior overview and
approach shots.

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128 D. Bailey

Fig. 8.8. Image with scale in place.

Fig. 8.9. Image with scale and measurement made of blood drop of interest on computer after scene has
been processed.

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 Blood and Blood Pattern Analysis 129

8.12 Blood Patterns

8.12.1 Categories of bloodstains

There are three general categories of blood-

stains; each one is defined and described in
terms of the force required to form the pat-
tern that is observed.
1. Passive.
2. Transfer.
3. Projected.
Again, we must describe the forces acting
on bloodstains and not the bloodstains
themselves. Therefore, passive bloodstains
Fig. 8.10. Bloodstain falling from a short height onto
are blood­­­stains formed by gravity as the
a paper surface with little or no edge distortion.
only external force acting on the bloodstain.
In reality, all passive stains are a combin-
ation of gravity and adhesion with the re- of this surface and the elasticity of this sur-
sulting bloodstain formed by the blood face will affect the final shape of the visible
­adhering to the contact surface. bloodstain.
Passive bloodstains include drops, drips, Directionality of a bloodstain can be in-
clots and pools. dicated by the bloodstain pattern observed
Transfer bloodstains are created when the that has adhered to a surface.
principle acting force to cause the stain is ad- The ‘pointed’ end of the bloodstain as-
hesion only. If an object encounters something sists in determining from what direction the
bloody, blood will pass between the two ob- blood travelled. The telltale finger-like pro-
jects through the process of adhesion. Transfer jection at the end of the bloodstain points in
stains differ from passive stains by having no the same direction of travel and away from
gravity component to their formation. the point of origin.
Transfer stains can be further subdivided
into contact bleeding, swipes, smears, wipes or
smudges.
Projected stains are caused when a force 8.12.3 Point of convergence
greater than gravity acts to create the blood-
stain. Projected stains can be further divided Once the directionality of a bloodstain has
into spurts, cast-off stains, impact stains or been determined, it is then possible to de-
spatters. termine the directionality of a group of blood-
stains. By drawing a line through the long
axis of a group of bloodstains, the point of
convergence can be determined.
8.12.2 Directionality of bloodstains

Blood falling in a direction perpendicular

to a surface will leave a rounded bloodstain. 8.12.4 Number of bloodstains required
It will be circular (see Fig. 8.10). to make an observation?
For a bloodstain caused by blood fall-
ing from the end of a needle onto the paper, The number of bloodstains required to inter-
the external forces acting are gravity and ad- pret or form a conclusion upon is as many
hesion. There will also be a level of distor- as the expert feels is relevant or appropriate.
tion to the drop, depending on the type of There is no minimum number of bloodstains
surface the blood lands upon. The material required to make an interpretation.

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130 D. Bailey

Case Study 8.1 Regina versus XY

The defendant was charged with the offence of The defendant claimed that the trailer had not
stag-carting. It was alleged that the defendant been used for this purpose before and the trailer
transported two stags to a location for the pur- was cleaned prior to each use.
pose of releasing and hunting them on horse- A number of bloodstains were identified in
back. The deer were born and raised in enclosed the trailer. These stains were interpreted by the
premises and transported and released for the prosecution expert as an indication of bleeding
purpose of hunting them. during transit. A number of stains indicated cuts
At the point of this dispute was the domestic na- that occurred in transit and demonstrated that
ture of these animals. Wild animals are not covered the transported deer may have fallen over dur-
by the animal welfare act in Northern Ireland; ing transit.
however, this act extends to domesticated and Bloodstains that were overlaid by mud stains
­captive animals. demonstrated a temporal sequence to the bleeding.
The animals were loaded onto a trailer and The bloodstains in the trailer indicated to the
transported and released for hunting. The hunting prosecution expert that the deer had bled in tran-
involved the pursuit of these animals on horse- sit and therefore had suffered during transit. The
back by members of an organized hunt. Hounds suffering was not at issue, but the necessity of the
followed and often the deer involved would es- suffering was argued. The deer had to be trans-
cape into the environment. ported to be released to be hunted. It was argued
A trailer was seized, and evidence collected that this suffering as evidenced by the blood-
from it included deer hair, deer antler and blood. stains in the trailer was unnecessary.

8.13 Bruises haemoglobin. Blood in new bruises is a

red colour. As the haemoglobin breaks down
Bruise – superficial discoloration due to and loses its ability to ­retain its shape, it
hemorrhage into the tissue from ruptured becomes converted to biliverdin, which
blood vessels beneath the surface of the is green in colour. This breakdown pro-
skin without the skin itself being broken.
gresses to bilirubin, which is yellow in
(Blood and Studdert, 1999, p. 163)
colour. And this in general follows the
Assigning any forensic significance to breakdown process and subsequent age
bruises in animals can be problematic, due process of a bruise in the skin of a non-­
to the lack of visibility of animal bruises. pigmented animal.
There are very few studies focusing on Langlois and Gresham (1991) examined
bruising in animals and the problems inher- 369 photographs of 89 human subjects
ent to biological systems of variability of (age range 10–100 years, grouped into
presenting signs describing a bruise in a liv- <65 years and >65 years) presenting to a cas-
ing or dead animal. ualty ­department (in addition to staff and
These problems are exacerbated by hair in-­patients) with bruises, the age and cause
covering the skin, thick skin in some spe- of which was known. A standard colour
cies (cattle) preventing visibility of any chart was included, and in some, but not all
bruising, as well as deeply pigmented skin cases, repeat photographs were taken.
in many animals, which further reduces the The key finding of this study was that
visibility of bruises. yellow was not seen in bruises less than 18 h
The mechanism of bruising is the same in old, but that not all bruises developed this
animals as in humans – bleeding under the colour before resolving, and so a bruise
skin into the tissue without the skin being without yellow colouring could not be said
broken. The colour changes seen in bruises to be less than 18 h old.
are due to the breakdown of the red blood They also indicated that the colours in
cells and their functional component – bruises were dynamic, and could ‘reappear’

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 Blood and Blood Pattern Analysis 131

days later, and that separate bruises on the ­ xperience, skill, knowledge and training
e
same person, inflicted at the same time, did of the expert.
not necessarily exhibit the same colours,
nor undergo equivalent changes in colours
over time. 8.15 Ante-mortem versus
Skin colouration affected the evaluation Post-mortem Injury
of bruising, and the study findings were there-
fore limited to white-skinned human indi- Existing forensic techniques are limited in
viduals. their capability to deliver an accurate as-
Following this study, Munang et al. (2002) sessment of when a wound was inflicted.
looked at bruises in children, and observers Wounds can be delivered to a body after
were asked to describe the predominant col- death as well as prior to death. This can be
our in vivo, and then again later from a colour due to the action of scavenging animals or,
photograph. Inter-observer variation was also in some cases, the wounds can be deliber-
assessed. They found that in only 31% of cases ately or accidentally inflicted. A dead ani-
was there complete agreement of colour de- mal that has autolysis of the external cells
scription by the same observer, between the can have its hair and skin slough off quite
in vivo examination and assessing the photo- easily from handling while picking it up,
graph. Agreement between observers for a and this will need to be differentiated
bruise examined in vivo was seen in 27% from an ante-mortem wound. Bodies that
and between photographs of the same bruise are buried in a shallow or partial grave can
in only 24%. be punctured with a search rod used to
In only one in ten bruises examined at find them.
the same time and in the same place did Oehmichen et al. (2009) at University
three individuals completely agree as to the Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel, Ger-
predominant colour seen. many, found that counting the number of
Reliance on the colour yellow was thus mast cells at a wound margin can assist in
beginning to be questioned, and Hughes determining whether a wound has been in-
et al. (2004) showed subjects a series of flicted pre- or post-mortem.
photographs of bruises in which the yellow In a living body, if tissue is damaged
‘saturation’ was digitally altered, in order to then many white blood cells, including
evaluate differences in yellow perception. mast cells, are preferentially diverted to the
They found that there was a variability in area through the inflammatory process. The
yellow perception and that an individual’s mast cells assist in wound healing by re-
ability to perceive yellow declines with age. lease of granules to assist in new tissue
All subjects used in this study had normal growth and dead tissue destruction. After
colour vision, as assessed using Ishihara release of this enzyme, the mast cells lose
plates (the standard tool used to assess col- the ability to make an enzyme called chlor­
our blindness in children). acetate esterase, so they will no longer
show up when examined microscopically
with a dye.
Consequently, a gradient of mast cells
8.14 Qualifications to Give is seen microscopically, with the wound
Testimony on Blood Spatter and margins having less or no visible mast cells
Blood Pattern Analysis and the undamaged areas of the wound
with a greater number of mast cells. Any
While qualifications vary, courts are willing wounds inflicted post-mortem would have
to hear evidence from experts on seemingly no mast cell enzyme release and so, under
minimum bases (James et al., 2005). the dye the researchers used, there would
Evidence may be admitted to the court; be a uniform distribution of mast cells from
however, the weight the evidence will wound edge to wound body, indicating a
be afforded will be determined by the post-mortem-inflicted wound.

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132 D. Bailey

Case Study 8.2 Bruising in Animals

Bruising can age a wound clinically, but not The dog was autopsied some time later and the
­forensically. Bruises change colour after death. visible colour changes in the external appearance
Here is an example of how bruising can change of the skin and bruises were attributed to ante-­
in a dead animal and how incorrect storage of the mortem wounds in the animal (see Fig. 8.12).
animal can lead to bruising colour changes. The message from this example is that bruising
In this example, the dog was euthanized after in non-pigmented animals can be used as a clin-
sustaining a dog bite. The animal was photographed ical indicator (only) and should not be used as a
immediately after euthanasia (see Fig. 8.11). post-mortem finding to interpret wound age.

Fig. 8.11. Note the colours of the bruising that ranges from red and blue to areas of yellow
discolouration.

Fig. 8.12. In this image of the same animal, the post-mortem alteration of the skin should not be
attributed to any ante-mortem condition in the animal.

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 Blood and Blood Pattern Analysis 133

Note

1
State vs Ordway (1997) 261 Kan. 776. 934 P.2d 94, at 809.

References

Blood, D.C. and Studdert, V.P. (1999) Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary. Harcourt Publishers
Ltd, London, UK.
Hughes, V.K., Ellis, P.S., Burt, T. and Langlois, N.E. (2004) The practical application of reflectance spectropho-
tometry for the demonstration of haemoglobin and its degradation in bruises. Journal of Clinical Pathology
57, 355–359. Available online at: http://doi.org/10.1136/jcp.2003.011445 (accessed 22 September 2015).
James, S.H., Kish, P.E. and Sutton, P. (2005) Principles of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis. CRC Press, Boca Raton,
Florida, USA.
Langlois, N.E. and Gresham, G.A. (1991) The ageing of bruises: a review and study of the colour changes with
time. Forensic Science International 50(2), 227–238.
Munang, L.A., Leonard, P.A. and Mok, J.Y.Q. (2002) Lack of agreement on colour description between clinicians
examining childhood bruising. Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine 9, 171–174.
Oehmichen, M., Gronki, T., Meissner, C., Anlauf, M. and Schwark, T. (2009) Mast cell reactivity at the margin
of human skin wounds: an early cell marker of wound survival? Forensic Science International 191(1–3), 1–5.
Available online at: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2009.05.020 (accessed 22 September 2015).
Snyder, G.K. and Sheafor, B.A. (1999) Red blood cells: centerpiece in the evolution of the vertebrate circulatory
system. Integrative and Comparative Biology 39(2), 189. Available online at: http://doi.org/10.1093/
icb/39.2.189 (accessed 22 September 2015).

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 9 Understanding the Nature of
Document Evidence

Nikolaos Kalantzis*
Chartoularios Laboratory of Questioned Document Studies, Piraeus,
Greece and Department of Forensic and Crime Science, Staffordshire
University, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK

9.1 Introduction 134

9.2 Handwriting Evidence 135
9.2.1 Handwriting as evidence 135
9.2.2 Feature examination 135
9.2.3 Forgery 136
9.2.4 Further comments 137
9.3 Document Evidence 138
9.3.1 Ink/writing instruments (sequence) 138
9.3.2 Printed media 139
9.3.3 Paper 140
9.4 Additional Issues Regarding the Evidential Value of Documents 141
9.4.1 Photocopies as evidence 141
9.4.2 Age and dating of documents 143
9.4.3 Stipulation of conclusions 143

9.1 Introduction The basic question posed to document

examination is the authenticity of hand­
The title of this chapter is very descriptive writing; therefore, the comparison always
of both the positive and negative aspects of takes place between the questioned writing
documents when treated as evidence. The (i.e. the writing of unknown or contested
term ‘document’ in a forensic aspect includes origin) and the specimen material (i.e. writ­
all aspects of a document, i.e. handwriting, ing of known and confirmed origin). The same
signature, printing, the ink and the paper it­ stands for documents (e.g. passports, bank­
self. As such we all have personal experience notes, etc.).
of some or all of these aspects. That personal In this chapter the principles of the hol­
experience, varying from one person to an­ istic examination of documents is pre­
other, can provide useful insight, but can also sented, giving an initial comprehension of
limit one’s view or perception of the evidence. the forensic approach.

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

134 © CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey)

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 Understanding the Nature of Document Evidence 135

9.2 Handwriting Evidence 9.2.2 Feature examination

The most common but also most important The methodology followed by the trained
piece of evidence located on a document is document examiner, using first the naked
handwriting, in any form. The process of eye and then appropriate magnifying equip­
handwriting and signing is essentially the ment (loupe, stereomicroscope, etc.), requires
same, and therefore are treated as different the analysis and then the comparison of spe­
aspects of the same behaviour throughout cific features. Comparison always takes place
this chapter following the same rules and among similar writing features, i.e. capital
principles of analysis and examination. letters of the questioned writing are com­
pared with capital letters of the specimen
material. The main styles of handwriting are
9.2.1 Handwriting as evidence block capitals, disconnected lower case, con­
nected lower case and mixed writing forms.
The essential features of handwriting that The general characteristics that are most
allow it to be treated as forensically valu­ commonly identified, analysed and compared
able evidence are uniqueness and repeat­ include the following.
ability. When these two criteria are not met,
• Style and legibility, describing the gen­
forensic handwriting examination cannot
eral appearance of the writing.
take place within scientific boundaries. The
• Size and proportions, referring both to
problem of proof for the uniqueness of hand­
the individual letter within a word and
writing and signatures appeared intensely
to segments of the letter.
during the 1990s as an application of the
• Spacing of words within a sentence and
Daubert Rulings (Berger, 2005) on hand­
of letters within a word.
writing evidence (Zlotnick and Lin, 2001),
• Slant and slope.
forcing the forensic community to research
• Fluency and pressure of handwriting,
and prove the scientific validity of their
which is also evidence of the skilfulness
methodology.
of the writer.
On a theoretical level, the function of
• Additional features might be also dis­
the neurons in the brain and their synapses
cussed, depending on each case (e.g. punc­
provide a very complex network through
tuation, layout, etc.).
which hand movement produces handwrit­
ing (Hecker, 1993; Caligiuri and Mohammed, Detailed examination then takes place of
2012). Not only that, but through years of the more individual characteristics of hand­
practice the process of writing moves from writing, including the following.
the conscious competence to the unconscious
• The individual character shape, refer­
competence, and the muscles are trained and
ring both to the execution parameters
grown to accommodate pen movement. This
(smoothness of curves) and to the struc­
leads to the formation of a unique combin­
tural form.
ation of individual characteristics, allowing
• Individual character proportions and
them to be studied, examined and compared
construction, analysing the direction and
by the trained examiner.
speed traced by the writing instrument,
On a practical level, a series of blind
the number of strokes used.
tests and proficiency trials carried out
• Character combination and connections,
mainly from La Trobe University (Found
both in usual joins (e.g. ‘th’) and in unique
et al., 1999; Sita et al., 2002) proved both
combinations that can possibly be found
the validity of handwritten evidence (meet­
in the analysed writing.
ing the two aforementioned criteria) and
the ability of trained document examiners The next step of the analysis requires the
to determine authenticity through specific comparison of the analysed features between
methodological examination, meeting the the questioned writing and the specimen
Daubert standard. material.

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136 N. Kalantzis

An important factor to be considered From a forensic point of view, the

during the comparison phase of the examin­ comparison of characteristics is not a sim­
ation is natural variation. Writing is a dy­ ple addition and subtraction of similarities
namic aspect of human behaviour, and as and dissimilarities. Even if only one unex­
such it undergoes continuous but not always plained dissimilarity persists (and cannot
discerning differentiation, due to numerous be interpreted as accidental), then, regard­
influences and various degrees of natural less of number of similarities, the exam­
change. A person can produce writings that ined writing should not be considered
present subtle differences of no importance ­authentic.
as a whole, that shape a concrete pattern. This
set of resembling writings in their total is
unique for each person and cannot be simu­ 9.2.3 Forgery
lated or copied.
Equally to be considered is the quality
(referring to the type of writing in relation to When unexplainable dissimilarities persist
the questioned material, and the timeframe in the questioned material, a conclusion of
in relation to the assumed date of writing of forgery is very likely to be formed. Forgery
the questioned document) and quantity (to can take place in several forms, including
establish the range of natural variation) of the the following.
specimen material. As time progresses, writ­ • Simulation, when the forger attempts
ing also progresses and changes. This aspect to imitate the victim’s natural hand­
of handwriting needs to be taken into ac­ writing or signature.
count, and be well documented in the speci­ • Freehand forgery, when the forger either
men material, otherwise gaps of information is unfamiliar with the victim’s specimen
appear and specific forms of variation might or puts no effort into copying it.
be erroneously misinterpreted as dissimilar­ • Tracing, when the forger uses an au­
ities rather than variations of authentic writ­ thentic writing or signature as a guide,
ing. For example, if the authenticity of a last tracing it to the forged document.
will and testament that was assumed to be • Transfer, when the forger scans and
written in 2007 is examined, and the speci­ prints an authentic handwriting or sig­
men material dates from 1974 to 1984, that nature through mechanical means.
material is limited, not necessarily exhibiting • Disguise, when the writer attempts to
the full range of the handwriting features of mask his characteristics in order to deny
the testator (author of the will) at the assumed authorship.
time of writing. Comparison with only that
material might lead to erroneous conclu­ When simulation occurs, the forger has ac­
sions. For such a case, in order to come to a cess to documents containing the authentic
safe conclusion, additional specimen docu­ material of the victim, and faces the follow­
ments may be required, dating as close to the ing challenge: he has to replicate the pro­
year of the testament writing as possible. cess of years of training (of both the brain
Finally, other special factors can be and the muscles of the arm) of his victim, in
introduced in the analysis, depending on order to produce (for example) a signature
the specific case details and the assumed with accuracy of form (drawing the exact
author’s background history. Outside fac­ same features) and dynamics (exhibiting the
tors like drug or medication use, alcohol same speed and pressure characteristics).
consumption, mental illness or even injury This task is unfeasible, and the forger usu­
(e.g. a broken arm that is recovering), may ally balances between two extremes, either
affect the writing procedure. In addition, successful execution of the structure of the
environmental conditions might come into signature by slowly building it (producing
play (e.g. completing a form while standing slow and carefully plotted lines, with heavy
up, in haste or under duress) and may need unnatural pressure in order to control the
to be taken into account. movement of the writing instrument), or

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 Understanding the Nature of Document Evidence 137

pre-forms a speedy and fluent formation original form, the microscopic examination
that lacks the unnatural characteristics of will straightforwardly reveal the writing to
the slow execution, but also lacks the accur­ be a product of printing (or other method of
acy of the signature formation (as the forger reproduction) and not normal writing (via a
is not trained in natural execution of the writing instrument). If these forgeries are
victim’s signature). photocopied and then examined (without
In freehand forgery, the forger will exe­ access to the ‘original’), the document exam­
cute a fast and fluent formation (as there is iner will not be in a position to determine
no effort to ‘copy’ an original form). The re­ whether the writing represented in the docu­
sulting forgery will probably have no resem­ ment was originally written there or printed.
blance to the specimen material (and may Disguise is the most difficult forgery
even contain spelling mistakes). Most im­ type to be encountered. The author already
portantly, as freehand forgeries are quickly knows his writing features and can easily
executed, they may include parts of the au­ attempt to hide them from the examiner. De­
thentic signatures of the forger, that survive pending on the penmanship of that person
and are included in the fraudulent forma­ and the knowledge of the principles of
tion by accident (as it is part of the uncon­ handwriting examination, it is possible to
scious competence). For example, a forger produce a signature or handwriting that can­
signing a cheque as ‘Mr Philip Morton’, in an not be scientifically linked to the original
effort to add natural characteristics and flu­ writer. Again, as with the double underline
ency to the freehand forgery, adds a double feature in the freehand forgery example, there
underline in the same manner as he does is the possibility that the resulting disguised
with his own true signature. handwriting product contains formation too
This does not always happen, but when complex and unique to belong to anyone
it does, it gives the document examiner the other than the original writer, allowing the
opportunity to investigate the authorship of examiner to state that even though the dis­
the forgery (provided that the surviving un­ guised writing is not ‘authentic’ (i.e. it is not
consciously executed part contains enough similar to all of its features to the specimen
information to provide a link to the forger’s material), it is too similar to belong to anyone
authentic signatures). else and therefore is still linked to the author;
When the forger has access to original but this is the exception rather than the rule.
material, and has the luxury of time, tracing
can be attempted, using that material as a
guide. Several approaches of tracing can be
followed, all of which leave evidence on the 9.2.4 Further comments
resulting forgery. Main characteristics of tra­
cing include unnatural execution of curves, One common misconception regarding
inclusion of pen stops and pen lifts, unnat­ handwriting evidence is the assumed link
ural pressure and slow speed of execution. between the writing product and the psy­
Also, depending on the method used, signs chological state of the writer, the study of
of the trace can be found on the document which is called graphology. It is undeniable
(e.g. a pencil or indentation used to form the that heavy emotional burden or duress (e.g.
trace of the signature). signing a contract at gunpoint) will affect
Similar to tracing conditions, a forger some handwriting features (most likely
with basic skills in computers and access to causing tremor). However, these features
specimen material may use everyday com­ cannot be tracked to one unique cause (for
puter equipment to scan, manipulate and instance, exhaustion from quickly climbing
print ‘authentic’ writing and signatures on four flights of stairs will also introduce
fraudulent documents. These forgeries are tremor in handwriting) and therefore do not
very dangerous, as, without proper caution meet the aforementioned criteria or repro­
on the examiner’s part, they can be misin­ ducibility. When forensic handwriting exam­
terpreted as genuine. If examined in their ination was first introduced, it was b
­ elieved

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138 N. Kalantzis

that such a link existed, but academic and 9.3.1 Ink/writing instruments (sequence)
field research (especially in the post-
Daubert era) found no supporting evidence Apart from the handwriting features pertain­
for graphology (Jennings et al., 1982; Furn­ ing to the writer, every writing instrument
ham and Gunter, 1987). introduces its own category of characteristics
Another aspect of handwriting that to the examined writing. These features de­
needs to be taken into account is class char­ rive from both the ink that is deposited on
acteristics. Specific cultural or regional groups the writing surface and the method of de­
may contain in their handwriting features livery of that ink to the paper surface. The
that are uncommon to persons outside these examination of these features can provide
groups, e.g. people who use English as a se­ helpful information (and proof) regarding al­
cond language and have a non-­Latin alpha­ terations on a document, i.e. additions to the
bet in their mother tongue may exhibit un­ originally written document. For example, a
common characteristics. If such peculiarities cheque bearing the amount of €18,000 is
are not familiar to and taken into account contested, and the person issuing the cheque
by the examiner, they may be inaccurately claims that the original amount was €3000.
evaluated, leading to an erroneous conclu­ The type of ink affects the image of the
sion. The most well-known example of such ink line, as more viscous inks (e.g. fountain
misinterpretation is the identification of pen) will soak the paper surface much more
German handwriting class characteristics as than paste-based inks (e.g. biro). The deliv­
individual handwriting characteristics in the ery mechanism also leaves a pattern on the
Lindbergh kidnapping case (Saferstein, 2007). paper surface, distinctive of its class (i.e.
Graffiti is also a form of handwriting. unique to fountain pens or ballpoint pens,
The physics and the position of arm and etc.). With the cheque example, the forger
body are different to those encountered in might have used a different type of pen (i.e.
everyday handwriting, but the mental pro­ a different class of writing instrument) to
cess is the same. Therefore, in principle, transform €3000 into €18,000. For example,
graffiti is also subject to the methodology of the revolving ball of rollerball fluid ink pens
forensic handwriting examination. Studies will ‘push’ the ink to the sides, leaving a dis­
have established repeatability and unique­ tinctive pattern on the written line, which is
ness in forms of graffiti-like ‘tags’ (a way of very different from the fibre tip pen, which
graffiti signing), allowing the examiners to only deposits the ink on the paper (with no
form conclusions on authorship (Hussong, revolving parts).
2001; Sadorf, 2001). Apart from distinguishing the class of the
Finally, serial skilful forgers with in-­ writing instrument used, which on its own
depth knowledge of the principles of hand­ can provide helpful information, the colour
writing examination can produce forgeries properties of the ink used are also examined.
that can be difficult to detect. Such forgeries Ink is a mixture of different chemical compo­
lack the spontaneity and the natural vari­ nents, some of which provide the colour per­
ation of the authentic signatures and, there­ ceived by the human eye (i.e. in the 390–700 nm
fore, if more than one forgery exists they are part of the electromagnetic spectrum), while
bound to be too similar (i.e. without vari­ others have to do with the kinetic and storing
ation) allowing the examiner to properly properties of the mixture. Different inks have
identify them as forgeries. different compositions and therefore can be
distinguished chemically.
Chemical examinations for ink analysis
9.3 Document Evidence involve chromatography: usually Thin Layer
Chromatography (TLC), High Performance
The document itself can provide a lot of Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Raman spectro­
useful information for a forensic examin­ scopy, or other chemical procedures destruc­
ation, depending on the case and the man­ tive to the document (Brunelle and Crawford,
date (i.e. the request for examination). 2003).

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 Understanding the Nature of Document Evidence 139

Apart from the destructive analytical Apparatus (ESDA™), or even Scanning

approach, there are visual and spectro­ Electron Microscopy (SEM). Research is still
scopic methodologies that can provide ink being carried out to create a definitive meth­
differentiation. Every object reflects light odology to determine sequence by analys­
in a specific set of wavelengths, depending ing the depth of the strokes, and there is
both on the source wavelength(s) and the ­potential for 3D Raman Spectroscopy as the
chemical properties of the object. As a result, tool for this purpose.
the human eye perceives colours, i.e. a spe­
cific combination of wavelengths reflected
by the object. Our eyes are limited to the 9.3.2 Printed media
visible spectrum as they cannot perceive
­
anything above or below, but objects are not Following the same principles as for writing
limited to it and can reflect in other areas of instruments, printed documents bear the
the electromagnetic spectrum. Therefore two class and individual characteristics of the
inks that look identical in colour to the naked ink or toner used and the method with
eye (i.e. reflect light in the same way in the which it was delivered to the paper surface.
visible spectrum) may behave differently in There are several different types of printing
other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, devices, depending on their mechanism. Type­
and specifically the infrared and ultraviolet writers and dot matrix printers once were
areas of the spectrum. commonplace in the work environment, but
To investigate this behaviour, special now the most common types encountered
instruments are required with infrared sen­ in the workplace and at home are inkjet
sitive cameras, and controlled light condi­ printers and laser printers. The main diffe­
tions. The instruments (usually called Video rence between these two devices is the sub­
Spectral Comparators) control the source stance used to print (i.e. form the desired
light and filter the reflected light appropri­ image or text on the paper surface). Inkjet
ately into the recording camera, achieving printers use formulations of fluid ink, while
infrared reflectance, infrared absorption or laser printers use toner.
infrared luminescence of inks. Furthermore, the delivery mechanism
Other potentially useful information is different as inkjet printers mainly spray
that can be deduced by ink analysis involves the ink on the paper surface, while laser
line crossings and sequence. For example, a printers transfer the toner particles through
printed document is presented, bearing a the use of charged drums within the rolling
signature that overlaps with the last printed mechanism of the printer. What is import­
line of text, the owner of the signature claims ant is the difference in features of the result­
that when he signed the document the last ing printing each type of printer leaves on
line was absent. In such a case, the sequence the document.
of the overlapping lines (i.e. the line of the Inkjet printers spray the ink while repro­
signature and the line of the printing of ducing the original image or text, resulting in
the last sentence) will be examined. If the printing of only medium detail, if examined
­sequence can be determined, then the claim under the microscope. On the other hand,
of the owner of the signature can be proved laser printing allows for more accurate print­
or disproved. ing, with sharper detail.
The deduction of sequence is very diffi­ Accurate identification and differenti­
cult and there is no uniform method that ap­ ation of these two printing methods can be
plies in all ink or printing combinations. detected using a microscope. Additionally,
The type of inks or printing involved in the other characteristics that provide printer class
crossing defines the possibility to determine identification include ink or toner spatter
the line sequence. Methodological approaches patterns. When the inkjet printing head de­
to this problem involve study under the livers the desired ink quantity on the paper,
stereomicroscope with perpendicular light, additional small ink droplets will randomly
examination with an ElectroStatic Detection fall, creating a spatter pattern around the

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140 N. Kalantzis

printed text. That pattern, even though it is 9.3.3 Paper

not unique, is located around the printed
areas of the document. Laser printers also Chemical analysis of the paper will not pro­
exhibit a toner spatter pattern, but this is due vide a lot of interesting information, as con­
to a different phenomenon, pertaining to the tinuous recycling has led to the use of the
different printing mechanism. The drum of same pulp over and over again. Still, the paper
the laser printer is charged appropriately to type in a multi-page document can offer a way
guide the toner particles to the specific areas of alteration detection. For example, an eight-­
required on the paper surface to reproduce page contract that bears signatures only on
the image or text desired. Due to electrostatics, the last page is contested, and one party claims
there will be random flaws in the charging page 6 has been altered. The colour of the
of the drum that result in a random pattern paper (even the different tint of white), the
of small toner particles. The main difference weave of the paper surface, or even add­
from the inkjet spatter pattern is that because itional staple holes may hint at the substitu­
the entire page passes through the charged tion of an original page.
drum, the entire page is exposed to the ran­ Furthermore, depending on the severity
dom flaws of the electrostatic field, and there­ and the use of each document, additional se­
fore the toner spatter will appear throughout curity features may be used. The most com­
the printed page. mon examples of paper documents full of se­
Apart from class identification, unique curity features are bank notes, bank cheques
printer identification may be achieved, pro­ and passports.
vided that the printer used produces identi­ A traditional way of embedding secur­
fication marks on the paper surface. Such ity features on documents going as far back
marks can be caused unintentionally by wear as the 13th century is watermarking, which
of the paper-loading mechanism or by flaws creates an image within the paper itself. The
in the printing system. image is observable with the use of light
A device-specific feature that provides transmitted through the paper itself. This
complete identification of the printer that is feature is still used on all bank notes – such
unique to certain laser printers is the yellow as exhibiting the head of the queen in UK
dots pattern (Li and Leung, 1998). Many notes.
colour laser printers have been manufac­ Another feature commonly used in all
tured to include a faint pattern of yellow aforementioned documents is ultraviolet
dots in every print they produce. That pat­ ink. The bank logo with intrigue patterns is
tern can be decoded through a program usually found printed with UV ink on bank
available to government agencies; this may cheques, information regarding currency is
provide the maker, the type, the model and printed with UV ink on bank notes, and
the serial number of the printer used, and nearly all the information visible on a pass­
sometimes it will include the date and time port is also ‘hidden’ with the use of UV ink
of the printing. Regardless of the informa­ in other areas of that passport (including the
tion encoded on the yellow dots, consist­ cover).
ency throughout each print job is of value to UV ink is invisible under normal light,
the examiner. For example, if a ten-page but when hit with UV light (electromagnetic
document is printed on a cloud laser printer, radiation above the visible spectrum; specific
then each of those ten pages will have the wavelengths commonly used are 365 nm,
same yellow dot pattern. If a page is substi­ 313 nm and 254 nm) it will absorb and re-emit
tuted, that page will have a different ­pattern. that radiation near the visible spectrum and
Furthermore, if a page is reprinted (adding be observed. The use of UV ink is a helpful
a sentence or paragraph to the originally feature as it poses two problems to forgers:
printed text) then there will be twice as first, they have to know of its existence and
many dots, indicating that the same page be able to observe it; second, they have to be
was processed/printed twice. able to reproduce it.

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 Understanding the Nature of Document Evidence 141

A very good security measure that is ink or printing). After that, toner particles
encountered in highly important docu­ are deposited on the surface and are held by
ments is microprinting, which consists of the electrostatic field to those features that
very small print of text that without magni­ attracted the electric charges.
fication appears as a thick line. It is very dif­ With this methodology, the ESDA™ can
ficult to detect unless one knows where to clearly reproduce indentations as deep as four
look, and can be found on the lines of bank or five pages, where they would no longer be
cheques (usually one of the lines under the visible to the naked eye. Such examinations
signature) and on lines on banknotes. Fur­ can provide insight into case specifics and
thermore, microprinting is nearly impos­ provide solutions to problems that cannot be
sible to copy with commercially available solved with handwriting comparison alone.
computer peripherals. The detail is too fine For example, an anonymous poison letter is
for a common computer scanner to detect, and brought in for examination. No specimen
even if that information was somehow fed material is available because the author (or
into a computer, commercial printers cannot possible author) of the letter is not known. If
produce such microscopic printing in detail. the letter was written on a notepad, then the
Other security features that are used in­ letter will carry the indentations from the
clude holograms, security metallic strips writing on the previous pages of that note­
embedded in the paper (either visible, semi-­ pad, possibly including information that
visible or completely invisible) and UV fibres leads to the author.
inside the paper itself. Additionally, line-crossing sequence,
Finally, the paper surface can provide writing and indentation sequence or even
an amazing amount of information if care­ fingerprint deposition and printing sequence
fully examined. Writing by hand on a stack can be investigated with the use of the ESDA™,
of papers creates indentations on the under­ as the subsequent writing or substance de­
lying pages of paper. The indentation is position sequence might be accurately de­
caused by the pressure of the tip of the writ­ picted in the indentations left on the surface,
ing instrument used, and passes by contact and then picked up by the ESDA™ examin­
from the front page (the one that is written ation (Mohammed, 1998; Kalantzis, 2007;
on) to those underneath. Indentations can Fieldhouse et al., 2009). Therefore the exam­
be very subtle and invisible to the naked iner can offer insight into whether all the writ­
eye. A first approach to detect possible in­ ing was completed in one session, whether
dentation involves the use of side light (i.e. the indentations on a document were created
a strong light source shining from the side before or after the writing on that same docu­
of the document), but this method will re­ ment, and whether the fingerprints detected
veal only the strongest indentations and on the document were deposited before or
does not go further than the first or second after printing.
page.
A device known to document examin­
ers for more than three decades that detects 9.4 Additional Issues Regarding the
indentations is the ElectroStatic Detection Evidential Value of Documents
Apparatus (ESDA™). The ESDA™ essen­
tially involves a vacuum pump fixed in a
Having covered the basics of the evidential
­metallic box, and a metallic plate (with holes)
value of documents, some issues have to be
on top. The document is placed on the plate,
discussed.
a Mylar® film is set on top of it, and the con­
figuration is held together by the suction
from the vacuum pump. The surface of the
Mylar® film is then electrically charged and 9.4.1 Photocopies as evidence
the charges sit differently on the surface de­
pending on whether there are indentations Photocopies or computer-generated (and
or a substance on the surface (existence of printed) reproductions of original documents

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142 N. Kalantzis

are essential to our everyday life and as such When pictorial differences are spot­
they are routinely encountered in the course ted, it can be easy to reach a conclusion, as
of normal casework of a document examiner. such differences are not expected to be
Photocopies, reproducing all the visible in­ overturned from the examination of the
formation of the source document, can sub­ source document. On the other hand, if
stitute for the original and, depending on only similarities are spotted, then the
the legal environment, in some countries document examiner is on dangerous
they are treated as originals. Still, from the ground. The fact that no differences are
document examiner’s point of view, the re­ apparent from the photocopies does not
produced handwriting or signatures lack so mean that none exist – as mentioned earl­
many characteristics of the original that it ier, pen pressure, pen stops, pen lifts, re­
increases the difficulty of the analysis and touching, etc. is not reproduced in the
the forensic examination. photocopy, so all such information (if it
As mentioned earlier, handwriting and exists) is lost. This situation makes it diffi­
signatures are described by their pictorial cult to detect traced forgeries, but the real
and dynamic characteristics. The dynamic danger hides with altered documents.
characteristics (i.e. pressure, speed, etc.) are Imagine the forger has access to a genu­
lost in the reproduction process. The fluency ine signature. With modern equipment, he
of a written line, the accumulation of ink in­ is able with relative ease to scan, crop and
side loops, feathering and other delicate fea­ print the genuine signature, discarding the
tures of the written line are not recorded by rest of the document it was signed on, and
the photocopier and cannot be reproduced. then reintroducing that genuine signature
Pen stops, corrections, retouching or small onto a new document. This can also be done
gaps in the written line may be reproduced (in a more crude manner) with scissors and
as one solid (black) line depending on the sticky tape. As long as the product of this
model of the photocopier used, and therefore forgery is photocopied, the transfer of the
the reproduced signature (or handwriting) genuine signature to a new document can­
can be misleading in features of continuity, not be detected (unless the process was
creating the danger of an erroneous conclu­ done without care and the forger left hints
sion if these flaws are neglected. of his forgery, such as shadow lines from the
Still, the forensic examiner does not cropping, etc.).
choose his cases nor his evidence, thus photo­ If the original product of such forgery is
copies are often the only document evidence examined, it is very easy to determine the
available. method used with a microscopic examin­
The document examiner should be ation (that would reveal the signature was
aware and should state in his report the printed and not signed on the document).
aforementioned dangers of the examin­ However, if only a photocopy remains, then
ation of photocopies or reproductions. all the surviving features point towards au­
Then the examination should be based on thenticity – as expected, since the repro­
the pictorial characteristics that survive duced signature has indeed originated from
the reproduction process. Photocopies are a genuine signature.
not stripped of any evidential value. For One common mistake encountered in
example, if a photocopied document bears such forgeries, which enables the examiner
a signature assumed to belong to Mr X, but to identify it as such, is the use of the same
which has no resemblance to the original signature again and again in the same or
signatures, then a conclusion of forgery multiple documents. As mentioned earlier,
(i.e. the questioned signature is not an ori­ each signature is unique, and no two signa­
ginal signature of Mr X) can be safely tures are 100% identical. This detail is un­
reached, under the assumption that the known to most forgers who choose their
examined photocopy is a faithful represen- source based on how ‘genuine’ they look.
tation of the originally signed and photo- If the image of several signatures is identical
copied document. then the only explanation is forgery.

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 Understanding the Nature of Document Evidence 143

9.4.2 Age and dating of documents and the ability to artificially age a document
through heating, causing the more volatile
A very interesting and important aspect of components to evaporate more quickly.
document examination revolves around at­
tempts to date documents and writing. His­
torical documents have many direct or in­ 9.4.3 Stipulation of conclusions
direct methodologies of being dated: based
on the chemical examinations of paper and An important aspect of document examin­
inks used; the composition of inks (much ation and the introduction of documents as
like similar examinations for authenticity of evidence in any procedure is the stipulation
paintings, i.e. by analysing the components of conclusions. As the methodology used in
of the dyes and correlating that information handwriting and signature comparison is
with the assumed date of creation to determine not a quantitative one, but qualitative, the
whether these components were actually wording used has to correspond to a context
used during that time or not); with radiocar­ understandable and accessible by all. For
bon dating; or even stylistically, by examin­ example, a signature is questioned as a for­
ing the font system’s compatibility with the gery, and the examination exhibits a major­
assumed era of creation. ity of similarities, but includes some differ­
With modern documents, as briefly dis­ entiations from the specimen material, which
cussed earlier, the information deduced by can be explained and are not significant
such methodologies is inconclusive, due to enough to challenge the authenticity of the
the extensive use of recycling. For example, a signature. In such a case the examiner will
last will and testament surfaces, dated 1 July not reach a conclusion with the highest cer­
2007. The testator died in 2008 and no speci­ tainty, but will express his conclusion re­
men material can be located. One party chal­ garding the authenticity of the signature with
lenges the authenticity of this will, claiming the use of words such as ‘possible’, ‘very high
that the other party forged it after a contro­ probability’, etc. These words, even though fa­
versy over estates in 2013. The time diffe­ miliar to the layperson from everyday activ­
rence in such a case would be only six years. ities, do not correspond to a comprehensive
Depending on the inks used to create scale of conclusions.
the questioned document, ink-dating meth­ Efforts have been made by several
odologies can be used. As mentioned be­ countries and government agencies to cre­
fore, ink is a mixture of substances, some of ate and adopt a standard form of conclusion
which are volatile (able to evaporate). As reporting, and what they all have in com­
ink is deposited from the ink cartridge to mon is that an explanation of the context
the paper surface, it starts drying. That dry­ descriptive to the specific case needs to fol­
ing process differs from ink type to ink type, low the phrasing of the conclusion, regard­
but the most common methodologies apply less of the phrasing itself. For example, the
to ballpoint pen ink, which dries out com­ currently used German scale (Köller et al.,
pletely in about four to five years. 2004) uses the following wording and con­
With chromatographic techniques (usu­ text steps.
ally High Performance Thin Layer Chroma­
tography, HPTLC) the different components • Probability bordering on certainty: The
of the ink mixture are identified, and their entire configuration of findings com­
relative proportions are measured. The com­ piled, discussed and assessed as having
ponents are then referenced to curves of high evidential value is in complete
known aged inks and by comparison with conformity with the hypothesis in all
the proper database, an estimate of the ink respects.
age can be achieved. There are two prob­ • Very high probability: The entire con­
lems with such techniques: the time limit, figuration of findings compiled, discussed
meaning an ink cannot be indefinitely aged, and assessed as having high evidential
as from some point on it is completely dry; value is in complete conformity with

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144 N. Kalantzis

the hypothesis in all respects. Findings with the hypothesis but not entirely
which are not completely concordant without inconsistency. Findings-­related,
and in no way relevant can be explained restrictions and/or inadequacies attrib­
on the basis of method. utable to material are significant and can­
• High probability: The entire configur­ not be explained entirely on the basis of
ation of findings compiled, discussed method.
and assessed as having sufficient evi­ • Indifferent probability – non liquet: The
dential value is largely consistent with entire configuration of findings com­
the hypothesis. Minor findings-related, piled and discussed is contradictory and
irrelevant restrictions and/or inadequa­ does not support the identification of
cies attributable to material are insub­ a tendency with respect to conformity
stantial and can be explained and justi­ with the hypothesis. Findings-­related,
fied on the basis of method. restrictions and/or inadequacies attrib­
• Predominant probability: The entire utable to material are significant and
configuration of findings compiled, dis­ cannot be explained sufficiently on the
cussed and assessed as having suffi­ basis of method.
cient evidential value is in agreement
with the hypothesis in many respects. In 2013, the European Network of Forensic
Findings-related, irrelevant restrictions Handwriting Examiners (ENFHEX), part of
and/or inadequacies attributable to ma­ the European Network of Forensic Sci­
terial are insubstantial and can be ex­ ence (ENFSI) began to establish a uniform
plained and justified on the basis of system of reporting conclusions for use of
method. member laboratories (government and private)
• Slightly predominant probability: The throughout Europe. The consequences of
entire configuration of findings com­ this effort could lead to consistency in re­
piled, discussed and assessed as having ported results from European laboratories and
meaningful evidence value conforms examiners.

References

Berger, M.A. (2005) What has a decade of Daubert wrought? American Journal of Public Health 95(S1),
S59–65.
Brunelle, R.L. and Crawford, K.R. (2003) Advances in the Forensic Analysis and Dating of Writing Ink. Charles
C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA.
Caligiuri, M.P. and Mohammed, L.A. (2012) The Neuroscience of Handwriting. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida,
USA.
Fieldhouse, S., Kalantzis, N. and Platt, A.W. (2009) Determination of the sequence of latent fingermarks and
writing or printing on white office paper. Forensic Science International 206(1–3), 155–160.
Found, B., Sita, J. and Rogers, D. (1999) The development of a program for characterizing forensic handwriting
examiners’ expertise: signature examination pilot study. Journal of Forensic Document Examination
01(12), 69–80.
Furnham, A. and Gunter, B. (1987) Graphology and personality: another failure to validate graphological
­analysis. Personality and Individual Differences 8(3), 433–435.
Hecker, M.R. (1993) Forensische Handschriftenuntersuchung: Eine systematische Darstellung von Forschung,
Begutachtung und Beweiswert. Kriminalistik Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany.
Hussong, J. (2001) Case study: graffiti. Paper delivered at the 5th International Congress of the Gesellschaft für
Forensische Schriftuntersuchung (GFS) e.V., Bingen am Rhine, Germany (not published).
Jennings, D.L., Amabile, T.M. and Ross, L. (1982) Informal covariation assessment: data-based versus theory-based
judgments. In: Kahneman, D., Slovic, P. and Tversky, A. (eds) Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics
and Biases. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 211–238.
Kalantzis, N. (2007) The use of the Electrostatic Detection Device (ESDA) in the forensic examination of documents.
Penal Justice/Ποινική Δικαιοσύνη 12(December), 1449–1454 (in Greek).

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 Understanding the Nature of Document Evidence 145

Köller, N., Nissen, K., Reiβ, M. and Sadorf, E. (2004) Probabilistische Schlussfolgerungen in Schriftgutachten.
Luchterhand, Munich, Germany.
Li, C.K. and Leung, S.C. (1998) Identification of colour photocopiers: a case study. Journal of the American
Society of Questioned Document Examiners 1(1), 8–11.
Mohammed, L.A. (1998) Sequencing writing impressions and laser printing or inkjet printing using the ESDA.
Journal of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners 1(1), 40–42.
Sadorf, E. (2001) Difficulties with reproducing graffiti handwriting, a case study. Paper delivered at the 5th
International Congress of the Gesellschaft für Forensische Schriftuntersuchung (GFS) e.V., Bingen am Rhine,
Germany (not published).
Saferstein, R. (2007) Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science, 9th edn. Pearson, Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey, USA.
Sita, J., Found, B. and Rogers, D.K. (2002) Forensic handwriting examiners’ expertise for signature comparison.
Journal of Forensic Sciences 47(5), 1117–1124.
Zlotnick, J. and Lin, J.R. (2001) Handwriting evidence in federal courts – from Frye to Kumho. Forensic Science
Review 13, 87–99.

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 10 Forensic Toxicology

Ernest Rogers*
American Board of Forensic Medicine, American College of Forensic
Examiners Institute, Springfield, Missouri, USA

10.1 Introduction 146

10.2 Forensic Toxicology Scope of Practice 147
10.3 Sample Collection 147
10.4 Animal Athletes and Performance-enhancing Drugs 151
10.5 Selection of a Forensic Laboratory 151
10.6 Methods of Toxicological Analyses 153
10.7 Principles of Toxicokinetics 155
10.8 Conclusions 156

10.1 Introduction 5. the documentation, chain of custody, of

samples collected and submitted.
The practice of forensic toxicology differs from
Toxicological diagnosis must also include
that of clinical toxicology. The difference
the timeline associated with the bio-
resides in the fact that suspicion and con-
logical steps of absorption, distribution,
firmation of intoxication must be supported
metabolism and, if known, excretion of the
by analytical assessment and not necessar-
intoxicant.
ily the response to treatment. The analytical
Safety during the investigation of a pos-
investigation starts and ends with:
sible intoxication must take priority for the
1. the heightened suspicion of intoxication investigator and their staff. Toxins may be
based on clinical or post-mortem signs. viable at the crime scene and during the ante-­
2. the appropriate identification of the toxin mortem and post-mortem examination.
or class of the intoxicating agent. Finally, the forensic report should be in-
3. the collection and handling of the ap- clusive of all findings, the reasonable suspi-
propriate samples to ensure accurate poison cion (signs or symptoms) for the initiation of
or toxin identification. an investigation and the conclusions based
4. the selection of an appropriately certi- on toxicokinetics, chemical analysis and the
fied forensic laboratory. biological evidence.

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

146 © CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey)

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 Forensic Toxicology 147

10.2 Forensic Toxicology Scope individuals in contact with the remains

of Practice (Guidechem, 2006; Papenfuss, 2012). Many
dangerous chemicals have been restricted in
Current criminal and civil investigations their availability to the general public; how-
often rely on many specialized experts. Among ever, some quantities of restricted or prohibited
these scientific experts is the Forensic poisons and pesticides may be available from
Veterinarian. In particular, the veterinary stored stockpiles and be accessed by ranchers,
forensic toxicologist provides an integral farmers and agriculturalists. The forensic
function in the exploration of illegal activity veterinarian is well advised to perform all
involving the death of animals. Forensic toxi- necropsies in well-ventilated areas with the
cology is the art and science of the identifi- appropriate protective equipment to avoid
cation of drugs (medically significant), poisons self-contamination, injury or even death.
(chemical origin) or toxins (natural origin) The forensic toxicologist should always
that are of medico-legal interest. The goal set be aware of possible confounding evidence
forth for the forensic toxicologist is to develop that could be misinterpreted as a malicious
a narrative and timeline related to the events poisoning (e.g. carbon monoxide death after
in question using their advanced education a fire event, sudden livestock deaths after
in investigative techniques coupled with an exposure to local toxic plant). In each of these
understanding of internal medicine, toxicol- cases a complete crime scene investigation
ogy, pharmacology, biochemistry, chemistry, and necropsy should assist in the differenti-
anatomical pathology, clinical pathology, ation of malicious and accidental intoxica-
physiology and anatomy. tions (Smith, 1996).
The incidence of malicious poisonings Forensic veterinarians differ in their appli-
is thought to be in the order of 1% of animal cation of toxicological principles from the
cruelty cases investigated in New York City veterinary clinical toxicologist. The forensic
(Wismer, 2014). This low incidence is likely practitioner uses documentation to record sig-
to be due to a number of factors: failure to nificant events during the investigation. The
recognize the possibility of a poisoning event; permanent written record of the collection,
failure to complete a thorough crime scene maintenance and storage of evidence is also
investigation; failure of veterinarians, law en- termed the chain of custody. The chain of cus-
forcement and animal control officers to report tody includes all findings related to the initial
suspected poisonings; and the possibility scene of activity, the patient or cadaver and
that owners find their pet dead and dismiss every aspect of the samples of evidentiary
the possible cause, disposing of the remains value collected (e.g. the time, location, the per-
without investigation. The recognition of a son collecting the samples or tissues, methods
toxic or poisoning event requires both obser- of storage or transport and the identity of
vation and investigatory skill. all individuals handling the samples). In the
Suspicion of a poisoning event should be ante-mortem patient, the condition of the patient
heightened by the following features: an other- (signs and symptoms), the timing of treatments
wise healthy animal that dies acutely; residue and the collection of forensic samples (e.g.
or odour of a chemical nature on the coat, mouth, blood, urine or biopsy tissue) must also be
stomach or intestinal contents. Staining of the noted. This documentation is maintained for
tongue, lips or peri-oral areas are also signs that all samples and events from the crime scene
should raise the level of suspicion of a toxico- through the final judicial process.
logical event (see Table 10.1; Gwaltney-­Brant, 2007).
The investigating veterinarian or agent
must take precautions during the investiga- 10.3 Sample Collection
tion. The ante-mortem signs of intoxication
vary with the poison. The post-mortem exam- Obtaining appropriate samples involves an
ination of the remains must be carried out understanding of: the nature of the investi-
with extreme caution, as some toxins (e.g. zinc gation (e.g. questions being asked by lead
phosphide) have been known to affect the investigators); the crime scene; the species

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 Table 10.1. Examples of common poisons of forensic concern (Gwaltney-Brant, 2007; Wismer, 2014).
148

Poison Exposure Chemical State Mode of Action Ante-mortem Signs Post-mortem Signs Toxic Dose (LD50)

Ethylene Glycol Oral Liquid Oxalic acid crystal and Vomiting, ataxia, anorexia Birefringent crystals in kidney Cat 2–4 mg/kg
renal tubule blockage hypocalcaemia Dog 4–5 mg/kg
Rodenticide Oral Powder or Block neuro-inhibitory Stiffness, tense abdomen Rapid rigor Bovine 0.5 mg/kg
-Strychnine pellet transmission Tetanic seizures started by Cyanosis Equine 0.5 mg/kg
startle Petechial/ecchymotic Canine 0.75 mg/kg
haemorrhage Feline 2.0 mg/kg
Rodenticide Oral Pellet Block Vitamin K-dependent Skin haemorrhage: Haemorrhages: Dog 50 mg/kg
-Anticoagulant coagulation -ecchymotic -pulmonary Cat 25–50 mg/kg
-Warfarin -petechial weakness -intraocular
-Dicumerol Anaemia -subdural
-Diphacinone, etc. Bloody froth mouth -cerebral, etc.
and nose Free blood in body cavities
Heart flaccid
Rodenticide Oral Powder or Phosphine gas blocks Convulsions Congestion Dog 300 mg/kg
-Metal-Phosphine pellet mitochondrial Vomiting -lungs Very toxic to human
-Zinc phosphide, etc. respiration, protein and Dyspnoea -kidney (tubular degeneration) investigatorsa
E. Rogers

enzyme synthesis Weakness Liver (yellow mottling)

Sudden death
Rodenticide Oral Pale crystalline Uncouple cellular oxidative Ataxia CNS Cat 1.8 mg/kg
-Bromethalin, etc. powder phosphorylation Extensor rigidity Spongy Dog 4.2 mg/kg

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Clonic seizures demyelination
Respiratory Cerebral oedema
arrest Inflammation of:
Muscle -liver
Fasciculation -kidney
Hyperexcitability -Bowman’s capsule
Rodenticide Oral Powder Increase circulating Cardiac arrhythmia Mineralization Cat - low toxicity
-Calciferol, etc. calcium Depression -blood vessels Dog 4.7 mg/ml
Inappetance -kidney
Polyuria -stomach
Polydipsia -lungs
Increase blood pressure
Dipyridyl herbicide Oral Liquid Pulmonary free radicals Vomiting Alveolar fibrosis Dog 25–30 mg/kg
-Paraquat Skin Pellets Depression Atelectisis Cat 40 mg/kg
Acute dyspnea Hemorrhagic
Cyanosis -intra alveolar
 Forensic Toxicology 149

of animal involved; ante-mortem signs and In the case of a post-mortem investigation,

symptoms; and a review of the investiga- samples include all body tissues and fluid
tion documentation (police reports, witness samples that are available.
reports, crime scene photography) (Young Hair and fur should be shaved down to
and Ortmeier, 2011). Further, the forensic allow examination of the skin for signs of
practitioner should anticipate the questions parenteral drug or toxin administration. All
that could reasonably be asked in the future, body orifices must be examined for evidence
including in the court and depositions. of drug or toxin placement. Radiographs may
In ante-mortem toxicology, the practi- reveal unusual substances, foreign bodies or
tioner should conduct a physical examination other evidence in the gastrointestinal tract
(including laboratory evaluation) of all live or body cavity. Though not well established
animals before continuing to the post-­mortem in animal forensic investigations, the fur/
patient(s). In the case of the ante-mortem hair sample may be used as circumstantial
examination (hair, fur, blood and urine) sam- evidence to establish identity between an
ples should be collected before medical treat- unknown fur source and an exemplar of fur
ment is initiated. Similarly, in the investi- from a suspect animal. Some initial research
gation for performance-enhancing drugs, has been completed in hair or fur analysis
samples should be obtained as soon as the for cortisol levels over time (Bryan et al.,
animal athlete is finished with the competi- 2013). Human hair analysis for illicit drugs
tion. Any delay after the completion of the has been a forensic investigatory technique
competition may taint results or break the to establish and monitor illegal drug use
chain of custody (Gwaltney-Brant, 2007). (Ledgerwood et al., 2008). The future of these
Questions that surround a post-mortem techniques to analyse and match drug con-
examination may involve the effects of a chem- centrations in animal hair may be another
ical substance either found at the scene or in method of comparison and identification of
the possession of a person of interest. Due to a known and unknown sample.
the labile nature of many toxins, drugs or The submission of specimens should be
poisons, the accuracy of an analysis depends accompanied by suggestions of the suspected
on a number of factors: time since ingestion class of poison, toxin or drug. The chemical
or administration; the nature of the substance class may be suspected from: ante-mortem
of interest; ambient weather conditions; amount signs and symptoms (from clinical examin-
of decomposition and location of the re- ation, review of witness reports, etc.); nec-
mains (buried above ground versus below ropsy findings; crime scene evidence; and
ground versus in water). Investigation of the in some cases following a court warranted
primary crime scene may reveal evidence search of suspect premises. Without guidance
of vomitus, salivation, lacrimation, signifi- as to the nature of the toxin/poison, many
cant toxic flora, chemical staining, unusual laboratories may be unable to complete a
odours or residue on tissues or infestation by forensic analysis of the samples submitted.
insects (Gwaltney-Brant, 2007; Rao, 2012). False positives and false negatives may
In post-­mortem cases, without ante-mortem be obtained due to unexpected chemicals,
signs the diagnosis of the toxicological cause poor evidence collection or contamination.
of death can be very challenging and solely de- To ensure accurate and appropriate test
pendent on the necropsy and the analytical results, the forensic scientist and the foren-
evaluation of entomological samples (AFMES, sic analyst must be aware of test limitations
2012). Sufficient samples should be obtained and the possible existence of interfering
and stored in order to ensure access to testing agents. Many of the issues of contamination
by other appropriate parties (defence attor- are addressed by maintaining strict chain of
ney, governmental agencies, etc.) and to repeat custody protocol and paperwork from the
and confirm initial results (see Table 10.2). crime scene to the laboratory. Not all analyt-
When possible, the direct collection of ical laboratories can maintain the chain of
evidence from the crime scene (fur, faeces, custody. Samples are best submitted either
vomitus, suspected debris, chemical residue, by commercial courier or other traceable
and used or discarded containers) is optimal. delivery system. Transport by a member of the

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150 E. Rogers

Table 10.2. Appropriate toxicological samples collected during ante-mortem and post-mortem
examinations (Cooper and Cooper, 2007; AFMES, 2012).

Ante-mortem Collection Post-mortem Collection Post-mortem Collection

Samples Transport Samples (fluid) Transport Samples (tissue) Transport

Urine Fresh sample Vitreous All, 2%Na fluoride Liver 50–100 g unfixed,
Glass/plastic humour (right lobe deep) plastic or glass
vial
Venous 15 ml Na Stomach Fresh, unfixed Brain 100–200 g, fresh,
blooda fluoride tube contents plastic or glass fixed in plastic
10 ml K EDTA or glass
tube
Extra aliquots
(50 ml)
Hair/fur 100–200 mg Blooda 30 ml Na fluoride Subcutaneous 100–200 g,
Envelope or -cardiac 30 ml K oxalate fat glass or plastic
aluminium (rt. atrium) Extra aliquot (50 ml)
foilb -inferior vena
cava
Vomitus All collected Urine Fresh sample Kidney 25–50 g,
Glass vial glass or plastic
Faeces All collected Bile All, fresh sample Skeletal muscle 100 g, fresh in
Glass vial Psoas, deep glass or plastic
thigh, spinal
muscle
Cerebral spinal All, glass or plastic Lung Apex tissue
fluid 25–50 g,
glass or plastic
Hair/fur 100–200 mg
Envelope or
aluminium foilb
a
Avoid serum separation tubes as the gel may absorb drugs or toxins.
b
May use glassine or paper.

forensic team or police force directly to the science of assessing the effects of common
laboratory is also acceptable. When submitting drugs on the growth rate and activity of arthro-
toxin, drug or poison samples for chemical pod species in decomposing animals. This
evaluation, the practitioner must be aware technique allows the investigator another tool
of the receiving laboratory limitations and to assess the presence of drugs in the remains,
strengths. In many cases, failing to follow the weeks or months after death (Beyer et al.,
specific sample submission protocols may re- 1980; Gagliano-Candela and Avetaggiato,
sult in compromising both the chain of custody 2001). In human forensic sciences, controversy
and the overall criminal or civil investigation. exists among analysts who disagree over the
Often, the biological remains are infested usefulness of the analysis of maggots, since
by insects after death. Entomology measures there appears to be little correlation between
the assessment of the time since death and chemical analysis of arthropods and the
is well-established science based on the pres- quantification of drug in the cadaver (Tracqui
ence and growth of various insect species, et al., 2004). However, unlike our forensic
including assessment of the stages of the physician counterparts, the establishment
Green Bottle fly (order Diptera) (Amendt of any quantity of illegal drug in an animal
et al., 2007; Cooper and Cooper, 2007). Where cadaver is cause for suspicion of abuse. To
degradation is advanced, the collection of appropriately submit samples for entomotox-
arthropod samples for entomotoxicology is icology, the forensic veterinarian should visit
an alternative to direct tissue/body fluid ana- the crime scene and confirm the presence of
lysis. Entomotoxicology is the established arthropods on the remains: in particular the

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 Forensic Toxicology 151

larva of Diptera and the beetles (order Cole- there is a governmental bill to establish an
optera), which feed directly on the larva enforcement organization for the regulation
(Gagliano-Candela and Avetaggiato, 2001). of the prohibition of animal doping (e.g.
Collected arthropods should be sampled while Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2013).
on, or in, the body as opposed to those found This trend of calling for increased oversight
in the environment surrounding the remains. and enforcement of animal doping is likely to
expand across North America (Racing Medi-
cation and Testing Consortium, Kentucky,
10.4 Animal Athletes and USA), and Europe (Fédération Equestre Inter-
Performance-enhancing Drugs nationale, Lausanne, Switzerland).
In many cases, where the forensic veter-
The forensic veterinarian may be called to inarian is alerted and activated to investigate
ascertain whether an animal athlete is using a case of animal doping, there are criminal
performance-altering drugs. This type of in- or civil issues beyond the importance of
vestigation follows the human concerns of the successful completion of an athletic event.
athlete doping and chemical enhancement Many insurance claims, wrongful death
of performance. The World Anti-Doping Agency litigation and events with consequential
(WADA) concerns itself with the evaluation human injury may be tied to animal perform-
of the human athlete performance by moni- ance drugs. The forensic veterinary toxicolo-
toring the use and abuse of drugs altering gist should have some familiarity with the
human physiology. illegal use of performance drugs in animal
The animal athlete may also be chemically sports (Table 10.3).
altered to enhance performance, reduce signs In some cases the forensic toxicologist may
of over-exertion and mask injury. The use of be asked to evaluate performance-­enhancing
performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing drugs related to reproduction, growth or
and dog racing has resulted in tragic injury bio-production (e.g. milk). Forensic investiga-
following the catastrophic failure of the animal tions may also require the investigation of the
in full race mode, resulting in both animal use of antibiotics in food animals (European
and human injury (Huntington, 2011; Animal Union) or restricted antibiotics (North America
House, 2013; Richardson, 2013). and Asia). In many cases, the use of restricted
Monitoring of performance drugs is pharmaceuticals in food-­producing animals is
limited to animal sports regulatory agencies, monitored by the department of agriculture
animal cruelty monitoring agencies (e.g. for the country or region involved. The foren-
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), sic toxicologist when activated to investigate
and overseeing bodies for the horse and dog these occurrences should use the appropriate
racing industries. The veterinarians used to agricultural or food animal testing laboratory
monitor and collect appropriate samples from to ensure accurate results.
those animals in the top tiers of a race, are
often under the control and regulations of the
state or federal governmental agricultural or 10.5 Selection of a Forensic
gaming agencies. Though not a direct respon- Laboratory
sibility of law enforcement, the forensic
veterinarian may still have need to investi- The selection of an appropriate laboratory
gate the illicit or illegal use of performance-­ for toxicological analysis is intimately tied
enhancing drugs in animals. to the legal acceptance of the expert analysis
There are efforts under way in the USA and the testimony of a forensic veterinary
to ban illegal drugs in the horse racing indus- toxicologist, and establishes the nature of the
try so as to reduce the risk of death and injury challenges from the opposing attorney or
to animal and jockey. Currently in the USA their expert witnesses.
there are no national testing systems in place Historically, in the USA, the accreditation
(Butler, 2010). Further, some state legislatures of laboratories is required to ensure the highest
have proposed that an organization similar to standards of analytical science and toxicology.
WADA be established. In the north-east USA Two court decisions in the USA resulted in

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152 E. Rogers

Table 10.3. Performance-enhancing drugs in animal athletes (Butler, 2010; Huntington, 2011; Richardson, 2013).

Drug Species Use Bio-samples Detection Method Comments

Sildenafil Equine Vasodilatation Plasma, serum, Chromatography

(Viagra) Increase lung whole blood Mass spectrometry
perfusion
Anabolic Steroids Equine, Increase muscle Urine ELISA
(Stanozolol, etc.) Canine mass and
endurance
Corticosteroids Equine, Decrease Urine ELISA
Canine inflammation
Analgesia
Sodium Equine Decrease lactic Blood Plasma total carbon Confound:
bicarbonate acidosis dioxide (TCO2) commercial
(Milk Shake) Decrease fatigue forage/grain
Arsenic Equine Low dose Blood, hair, Multiple tests:
stimulant urine, soft Marsh Test
Higher dose tissue Atomic absorption
decrease Neutron activation
performance
Dimethyl Equine Analgesia Urine Chromatography Confound
sulfoxide Decrease Mass spectrometry lucerne
(DMSO) inflammation grass
Methyl xanthenes Equine Stimulant Urine ELISA
(caffeine) Bronchodilator
Vasodilator

setting the quality standards and expectations 2. The error rate for any technique (e.g. false
for use of science in the court system. The positives versus false negatives) must be known
Frye Standardi and the Daubert Standardii and within acceptable scientific limits.
were the basis for challenging ‘junk science’ 3. The techniques used must have been re-
testimony in the court. Combined with other viewed and be acceptable in peer-reviewed
rulings, these decisions resulted in the es- journals for their accuracy, specificity, select-
tablishment of the US Federal Rules of Evi- ivity and repeatability.
dence guiding the use of science techniques 4. The testing and the equipment used must
and testimony in a medico-legal forum. Science be generally accepted by the scientific commu-
must be based on well-founded research nity as appropriate for the test completed.1
when used to establish or refute criminal guilt,
innocence or responsibility, in a civil hear- Though these rules are only binding on the
ing. The Federal Rules of evidence set forth acceptance of scientific evidence and expert
four standards for the acceptance of good testimony presented before the US Supreme
science in the court: Court, many other courts have accepted this
guidance for the evaluation of the quality
1. The scientific technique or method must and validity of scientific evidence. To this goal,
be tested and considered valid by the educated forensic laboratories in general, and forensic
scientific community. toxicology laboratories in particular, should
meet all regulatory standards for techniques,
i
Frye vs United States (1923) 293 F.1013, D.C.
equipment, staff, training and facilities. Only
Circuit Court. Available online at: http://www.law.
ufl.edu/_pdf/faculty/little/topic8.pdf (accessed 25
those laboratories compliant with the regional
August 2014). standards, with appropriate certifications and
ii
Daubert vs Merrill Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. qualified staff, should be engaged by the vet-
(1993) 509 US Supreme Court 579. Available online erinary forensic toxicologist to ensure accept-
at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/92-102. ance of the expert scientific and toxicological
ZS.html (accessed 25 August 2014). conclusions presented in the legal forum.

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 Forensic Toxicology 153

Specifics of the laboratory-accreditation ensuring quality testing and standards (What-­

procedures and processes vary among the when-how.com, 2010). To date, the laboratory
multiple regulatory organizations and coun- certification programs are acknowledged to
tries. In general, laboratory accreditation monitor primarily human-testing laborator-
indicates that there is regular external over- ies. The excellent standards set by these cer-
sight and monitoring of forensic laboratory tifications allows confidence in the toxicological
procedures, techniques, calibration of equip- results for animal samples, and acceptability
ment, and continuing education standards for by the court and legal system.
technical and supervisory staff. Quality con-
trol programmes must be in place to ensure
accurate results. There is proficiency testing
of technical staff using unknown samples 10.6 Methods of Toxicological Analyses
interspersed with regular forensic samples.
Internationally, the establishment of In the selection of an analytical testing labora-
forensic and crime laboratory standards tory, several criteria should be considered.
involves several nations in North America, The nature and robustness of any forensic
Europe and Asia. The International Organ- testing procedure depends on its accuracy,
ization for Standardization (ISO) has set la- precision, specificity, selectivity and sensi-
boratory accreditation standards, ISO 17025. tivity. Technical analytical procedures depend
These are standards for performing tests on a number of factors:
and equipment calibration. In the European
1. type and quality of the samples submitted
Union (EU), the forensic laboratory accredit-
(fluid versus tissue).
ing body is the International Laboratory
2. availability of analytical techniques and
Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). The Euro-
equipment.
pean Network of Forensic Science Insti-
3. expertise of the laboratory and analytical
tutes (ENFSI) also oversees laboratories in
toxicologist.
more than 20 EU nations. The combination
4. nature of the suspected toxin (drug or
of oversight and regulatory standards issued
poison).
by ISO, ILAC and ENFSI support forensic
5. complexity of the specimen preparation
laboratory accreditation for the majority of
for analysis (the more complex the procedure
the crime laboratories outside the US and
the more likely the defence will dispute the
Canada. ISO standards are recognized by
results).
forensic laboratories in North America (What-­
6. the legal and scientific acceptability of
when-how.com, 2010).
the method to be used.
In North America forensic laboratories
follow several standards to be qualified for The molecular nature of toxicants suspected
forensic investigation analytical work. The will determine the requirements for the upper
College of American Pathologists (CAP) issues and lower limits of detection (LOD). The
written standards for evaluation of the pro- selection of the signal must be significantly
ficiency of laboratory testing. CAP has several greater than the background noise to ensure
areas of laboratory accreditation for human an acceptable signal to noise ratio (S/N) and
testing. The accreditations that are ensuring therefore acceptance in method validation
accuracy for forensic testing include: and hence in a court of law (Peters and
Maurer, 2002). Often the presence of a poison
1. Laboratory Accreditation Program.
in a body is sufficient to confirm criminal
2. Forensic Urine Drug Testing.
activity (e.g. strychnine, cyanine). Quantification
3. Athletic Drug Testing Program.
of a drug, toxin or poison may be necessary
The American Society of Crime Laboratory in the case where there is interference from
Directors (ASCLD) offers a laboratory certi- metabolic products or feeds. Decisions made
fication programme. Finally the American for the analysis of forensic evidence should
Board of Forensic Toxicology Inc. (ABFT) is be completed with the assistance of an ex-
another certification accepted by the court as perienced laboratory toxicologist.

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154 E. Rogers

There are both screening tests and con- linked to an enzyme and allowed to interact
firmatory tests. Screening tests can be used with the antigen. Multiple liquid agents are
to differentiate a presumptive positive test for then added to the analyte. The analyte is
a drug from a negative. There should always washed and eventually leads to a colour
be sufficient biological samples so that screen- change, concluding with the identification
ing tests may be followed by a confirmatory of the sample (Gomolka, 2012). The ELISA
test. The confirmatory test is used to defini- tests are limited by the availability of known
tively identify the toxin, poison or drug and standard detection antibodies. Although many
to avoid false positives or false negatives enzyme-linked antibodies are available, the
(Dolinak, 2005; What-when-how.com, 2010; development of additional testing antibodies
Caplan and Kwong, 2012). is often an expensive and time-consuming
Screening tests may be used either at the task. Another separation method, and one that
crime scene or in the clinical setting. This is is more widely used as a laboratory method, is
a common method of analysis for the drugs that of chromatography coupled with a mass
of abuse or performance-enhancing drugs spectrometer.
(Caplan and Kwong, 2012). Obtaining im- Chromatography separates an unknown
mediate samples of urine and blood may chemical entity for analysis from biological
allow the use of field drug tests to identify material. Chromatography methods vary,
the drug(s) in the system. Tests are available based on their use of either a liquid or a gas
through law enforcement and forensic sup- mobile phase for separation. These techniques
pliers. Many types of urine/drug analysis kits include liquid chromatography (LC), gas
are available as over-the-counter products chromatography (GC) and high-performance/­
at local pharmacies. This information must pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).
not be relied upon to the exclusion of other Once separated, the components pass
possible toxins or poisons. Often a con- through a ­detector that is continuous with
firmatory test is supportive to the diagnosis. the chromatography unit. The unique prop-
Confirmatory tests are performed in a erties of the analyte are then detected and
laboratory setting. These tests occur in two changed to an identifiable signal (e.g. elec-
stages, beginning with the separation of the trical or photometric). The detector output
suspected chemical analyte from the bio- is translated to a data format stored either in
material submitted, and then the detection a computer interface or as a printed paper
of the chemically unique characteristics of record. The selection of a separation method
the analyte for identification. Separation and detector used is critical to the medi-
methods include enzyme-linked immuno- co-legal validity and conclusions drawn by
assay (ELISA), chromatography and capil- the forensic scientist.
lary electrophoresis (CE). Once separated, The most commonly used detector is
the chemical analyte is detected based on a the mass spectrometer (MS). The MS identi-
unique molecular or chemical characteris- fies and quantifies drug of abuse and illicit
tic for a definitive identification. Selection pharmaceuticals based on their unique
of the method of separation and detection chemical characteristics (Cody, 2003). For
may be limited either by standards against the MS there are known libraries identify-
which the unknown is compared or due to ing specific known compounds. The stand-
a limited library of detector results avail- ards contained in the known library are
able to identify the unknown (Caplan and compared to the unknown chemical ana-
Kwong, 2012). lyte. This results in the identification and
ELISA is often used for the identifica- confirmation of the unknown sample. Sev-
tion of drugs (performance-enhancing, abuse) eral detectors are modifications of a basic
or known chemical substances of abuse. MS detector. These include quadrapole MS
The method involves using the unknown (QMS), ion trap MS (ITMS), time of flight
sample antigen (analyte) attached to the MS (TOFMS), and Fourier transform ion
surface of a non-mobile phase or well. The cyclotron resonance MS (FTMS) (Stafford
known detection antibody is intimately et al., 1984; Ojanpera et al., 2005). The various

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 Forensic Toxicology 155

MS techniques differ in cost and ease of ­intoxication. This is a significant ­medico-legal

­operation, LOD and availability of known issue in the consideration of criminal or civil
standards. Choice will be dictated by the culpability (Dolinak and Matshes, 2005).
nature of the sample analyte presented or Exposure to a lethal substance often
suspected. Currently the gold standard for results in variations in the toxic and lethal
forensic analysis is HPLC-MS. The use of the response of individuals to the same dose and
HPLC-MS (FTMS) is considered of superior toxin. The toxin in a group of animals results
forensic value because of its greater sensi- in some percentage of morbidity versus mor-
tivity, specificity and accuracy compared to tality. The toxic effect of a chemical is de-
other chromatographic mass-spectrometer scribed as the lethal dose resulting in death
techniques (Valaskovic et al., 1996). Currently, of 50% of animals exposed (LD50). Variabil-
HPLC-MS (FTMS) is of limited use in foren- ity of the lethal effects of a toxin, poison or
sics due to the extreme high cost of the equip- drug is based on multiple factors. Toxicity
ment and ultra-low vacuum requirements of a chemical is described by its concentra-
for use (Smith et al., 2007). tions in target organ(s) (Rao, 2012).
Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is of The forensic toxicologist must be cog-
­increasing use in forensic toxicology labora- nizant of all of the factors that may affect the
tories due to its relatively low cost, and its lethality of a chemical entity. This describes
ease of set-up and use. This separation method the risk assessment for the exposed animals.
uses either a liquid or solid medium phase Biological variability of individuals and
for separating chemical components based among species is based on differences in
on electrophorectic direction and mobility genetics, physiology and biochemical me-
(differentiation based on molecular positive tabolism. Other factors that act to enhance
and negative electrical charges). Detectors variability include type of exposure (acute
available for use with CE include ultraviolet versus chronic, route), and age, health and
light, visible light, florescence spectrophoto- reproductive status of the animals exposed.
meters, mass spectrometers and pulsed elec- Finally the environmental conditions may
trochemical detectors (Smith et al., 2007). have a synergistic or antagonistic action on the
chemical lethality. Considering the physio-
logical and genetic factors of the organism,
and the influence of the molecular chemistry
10.7 Principles of Toxicokinetics of the toxicant on tissue concentrations (and
therefore its lethality) may be defined as
Toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics refer to toxicokinetics. It is the science of toxicoki-
the nature of the distribution of toxins, poi- netics that determines the rationale for the
sons or drugs through the body from absorp- tissue and fluid sampling of the previous
tion to excretion. In many cases, the method sections (Poklis, 1996).
of absorption can determine the toxicity of a Toxins may enter the body either through
chemical. The method of exposure to an dermal, inhalation, ingestion or injection
agent may be determined by a close external routes. The absorption characteristics of each
and internal examination of the victim for of these methods of exposure are very differ-
oral, rectal or parenteral administrations (both ent and contribute to the eventual mortality
ante-mortem and post-mortem). The rate of of the animal. Bioavailability is also depend-
absorption is critical, as some toxins, if ab- ent on the chemical phase and molecular
sorbed slowly, may be significantly less toxic structure of the toxicant. Tissue levels will
than when rapidly absorbed. The chemical rise very rapidly with inhalation, ingestion
nature of the toxin, poison or drug may allow or injection, while dermal exposures are
for the establishment of a timeline prior to often more slowly absorbed. The rapid rise
death. The rate and method of absorption, in toxin concentrations at the target organs
target organs, mode of action, mode of for the toxin or poison may be the difference
­metabolism and excretion all play critical in an acute versus a chronic lethal event
roles in determining the motivation of an (Dolinak and Matshes, 2005).

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156 E. Rogers

Once absorbed, the poison will be dis- This evidence must then be catalogued, re-
tributed via the vascular or lymphatic systems, corded and secured. The conclusions drawn
diffusion or active transport, facilitated pas- from the necropsy, along with reviewed
sive transport or pinocytosis. Distribution is police reports, medical records and witness
not the same to all organs and tissues due to reports, allows the veterinarian to establish
different blood perfusion percentages, vary- a level of suspicion as to the possibility of a
ing lipid content, tissue pH and cellular ac- toxic event. There may even be sufficient evi-
tivity or metabolism. The distribution of a dence to give an indication as to the class of
toxicant in the body is described as the volume poison/toxin or a specific poison. The foren-
of distribution (Vd, reported as milligrams of sic investigator may then submit the body
toxicant/millilitres of blood volume). Rarely tissue and fluid samples to an analytical la-
is the dose of a toxicant known at the time of boratory. The forensic investigator is respon-
the investigation; however, the identification sible for selecting an appropriately quali-
of the toxin or poison and knowledge of the fied laboratory for the toxicological analysis.
volume of distribution for a given chemical Once received, the investigator must as-
entity will help the forensic toxicologist sess the laboratory analytical report for val-
understand the concentrations of the drug in idity and accuracy based on all the evidence
the individual tissues sampled and analysed gathered.
(Rozman and Klassen, 1996; Rao, 2012). The veterinary forensic investigator plays
The metabolism of a toxin or poison may a pivotal role in establishing the narrative of
either decrease toxicity or enhance toxicity, the sequence of events leading to the suspected
dependent on the nature of the metabolites crime. The narrative should encompass the
formed. Metabolism can involve the liver, biological, pathological and toxicological evi-
lungs or kidney. In many cases, the original dence that has allowed an informed opinion
chemical entity will be metabolized to increase to be reached regarding the possible nature
its ability to be excreted from the body. The of death of the animal. A reconstruction of
rate of metabolism varies between individ- the timeline of events immediately preced-
uals. Once formed, the metabolites will be ing the death is the ultimate goal of these
excreted by the kidney in the urine, by the investigations.
liver in the bile or by the lungs as exhaled The diversity of veterinary patients
gas (Rozman and Klassen, 1996; Rao, 2012). ­requires that toxicological conclusions be
Excretion of the metabolic products supported by the most current and ac-
results in decreasing toxicity as they are cepted scientific and medical documenta-
removed from the body. In some cases the tion. Therefore, veterinarians involved in
decreasing toxicity may result in morbidity the investigations of crimes against, or in-
without mortality. In cases where the metab- volving, animals should be cautious of as-
olites have a higher toxicity than the parent signing blame. Forensic scientists are not
compound, mortality may be delayed as the concerned with justice or injustice, guilt or
metabolites concentrate in the body system. innocence; they are only interested in the
The distribution and metabolism of a toxicant use of the best medical science and inves-
must be considered when examining the ante-­ tigatory procedures to establish, support or
mortem patient (Dolinak, 2005). disprove other evidence collec­ ted. In an
effort to continually improve its art and
­
science, veterinary forensic toxicology is
10.8 Conclusions currently utilizing the most modern sci-
entific and investigative techniques.
Veterinary forensic toxicology involves the This chapter has reviewed the salient
scientific assessment of animal intoxica- factors that may be considered during a fo-
tions by various chemical, pharmaceutical rensic investigation involving toxins or poi-
or toxic agents. The role of the investigator sons. As crimes become more sophisticated,
is to gather all the pertinent data relating to so must our observations, and levels of sus-
the suspected crime from the crime scene. picion must become more acute. Technological

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 Forensic Toxicology 157

equipment and chemical analysis allows the In conclusion, the critical link in the
toxicologist the ability to detect smaller process of a toxicological investigation is
quantities of toxins or poison that can result the ability of the investigator. The astute
in morbidity or mortality. For each forensic perception and understanding of the elem-
investigator, working within the criminal legal ents of intoxication is the key to a success-
system, there must be considerations of the ful conviction. The forensic toxicologist is
cost/benefit of each test requested. Multiple responsible for the appropriate documen-
testing without cause or scientific direction tation and presentation of the evidence
is to be avoided. and conclusions.

Note

1
Committee on the Judiciary, 112th Congress (2012) Federal Rules of Evidence 2013, in Federal Evidence Review.
Available online at: http://federalevidence.com/downloads/rules.of.evidence.pdf (accessed 1 August 2014).

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AFMES (2012) Guidelines for the collection and shipment of specimens for toxicological analysis. Armed
Forces Medical Examiner System, Division of Forensic Toxicology, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware,
USA, pp. 1–3. Available online at: http://www.afmes.mil/assets/docs/toxguidelines.pdf (accessed 23
­September 2015).
Amendt, J., Campobasso, C.P., Gaudry, E., Reiter, C., LeBlanc, H.N. and Hall, M.J.R (2007) Best practice in
forensic entomology-standards and guidelines. International Journal of Legal Medicine 121, 90–104.
Animal House (2013) Dying for an edge: performance-enhancing drugs in the animal world. Available online at:
http://wamuanimalhouse.org/shows/2013-08-10/dying-edge-performance-enhancing-drugs-animal-world
(accessed 23 September 2015).
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 11 Bitemark Analysis

David Bailey,1 Jennifer Hamilton-Ible,2* Lucy Leicester,3

Louise MacLeod4 and Adele Wharton5
1
Department of Forensic and Crime Science, Staffordshire University, Stroke-on-Trent,
Staffordshire, UK; 2Highcroft Veterinary Group, Bristol, UK; 3School of Veterinary
­Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK; 4Hills
­Veterinary Surgery, ­London, UK; 5Saphinia Veterinary Forensics, Bottesford,
Nottinghamshire, UK

11.1 Introduction: Dog Bitemarks – Pathology and Outcomes 159

11.2 Risks and Relative Incidence 160
11.3 Comparison between Human Bitemarks, Dog Bitemarks and Bitemarks
from Other Species of Forensic Relevance 162
11.4 Overview of Forensic Techniques and Methods Used 163
11.5 Literature Review 167
11.6 Strategies for Prevention and Risk Mitigation 170
11.7 Conclusion 171

11.1 Introduction: Dog Bitemarks – injuries. There may be legal consequences

Pathology and Outcomes for the owner of an attacking dog, if a link be-
tween it and the victim can be demonstrated.
Dogs are often referred to as ‘man’s best friend’, Fatalities occur uncommonly, and inci-
but conflicts between the two species are com- dents of fatality followed by predation of the
mon with potentially catastrophic conse- victim have been reported, usually involving
quences for both parties. more than one dog (Avis, 1999). The most vis-
Serious injury, disfigurement or even death ible injuries resulting from dog bites will
of the victim can occur, and an incident will fre- tend to be penetrating injuries, usually from
quently lead to euthanasia or abandonment of the canine teeth. Canine dentition is designed
the animal involved. The effects on the victim to crush and tear prey, meaning that there is
also may not be purely physical. Peters et al. often significant blunt trauma. This can lead
(2004) examined 22 children who had been vic- to circulatory or neurological compromise,
tims of dog ­attacks and, of these, 12 were found which may not be immediately apparent
to have symptoms of post-­ traumatic stress (Calkins et al., 2001). Depending on breed, an
disorder 2 to 9 months after the incident. In adult dog can exert 200–400 pounds per
adult victims, there may also be financial square inch (psi) of pressure with its jaws.
consequences due to loss of income, as well as In non-fatal incidents, infection of the
the psychological consequences of d ­ isfiguring wounds following the attack is also a major

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

© CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey) 159

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160 D. Bailey et al.

concern. These are usually infections caused Approximately 70% of dog bite-related fatal-
by a mixed population of pathogens. In any ities occur in children under 11 years old,
case involving a dog bite, both the dog and and 10.2% in adults over 69 years old
victim should be tested for rabies (Kullberg (Sachs et al., 1989; Sacks et al., 2000; Over-
et al., 1991; Talan et al., 1999). all and Love, 2001).
The features of an injury considered to Children are more at risk of dog bites
be pathognomonic for dog bites include punc- than adults, and studies have shown that
ture wounds (caused by the canine teeth), la- children are two to five times more likely to
cerations and avulsions leading to irregular experience dog bites than adults (Sacks et al.,
wound edges, and associated claw marks 1996; Overall and Love, 2001; Kahn et al.,
(De Munnynck and Van de Voorde, 2002). 2003). De Keuster et al. (2006) suggested that
However, depending on the severity and ‘dog bites represent a significant and under
duration of the attack, some of these features reported part of accidents in children’. Chil-
may not be present. For example, there may dren are more likely than adults to receive
not always be avulsion of tissue resulting in medical attention for dog bites (Weiss et al.,
a three-dimensional wound (although where 1998; Sacks et al., 2000; Gilchrist et al., 2008)
dog bites are concerned, this is frequently and severe dog bites most frequently occur
the case). Many variables may affect what is in children under 9 years old (Brogan et al.,
actually seen as a result of a bite, including 1995; Weiss et al., 1998). This may be partly
the anatomical region bitten, positioning, related to the area of the body that children
and age of the victim, with the result that a tend to get bitten on. Children are more likely
bite may not be initially recognized as such. to be bitten on the head and neck (Chin et al.,
In this chapter we will examine the risk 1982; Brogan et al., 1995; Weiss et al., 1998;
factors and epidemiology of dog bites, pre- Avis, 1999; Kahn et al., 2003), whereas adults
vention strategies, as well as providing an are more likely to be bitten on the extremities
overview of the forensic approach to a sus- (Weiss et al., 1998; Overall and Love, 2001).
pected bitemark, case studies and a review This is in part due to their small physical
of the current literature. size, but also due to the way children inter-
act with dogs. It has been shown that young
children explore novel objects, especially
those that are mobile, such as dogs, with their
11.2 Risks and Relative Incidence face (Meints et al., 2010). Young children are
often poor at reading dog body language,
It is estimated that 30%–40% of households and can misinterpret a dog snarling for one
in the UK, Belgium, the USA and Australia that is smiling (Meints et al., 2010). Young
own dogs (Wise and Yang, 1994; Collier, 2006; children also tend to look into the face of a
De Keuster et al., 2006; Murmann et al., 2006). dog to make a decision about the dog’s behav-
The incidence of dog bites in people across iour (Lakestani et al., 2005). Males are more
all age groups is approximately 1.5% annually; likely to get bitten by a dog (Brogan et al.,
or between 8 and 18 per 1000 subjects (Sacks 1995; Weiss et al., 1998; Overall and Love,
et al., 1996; Weiss et al., 1998; Overall and 2001) and account for a higher number of dog
Love, 2001; Kahn et al., 2003; De Keuster bite-related fatalities (Overall and Love, 2001).
et al., 2006; Gilchrist et al., 2008; Cornelis- The highest incidence of dog bite-related in-
sen and Hopster, 2010). It is hypothesized juries is for boys aged between 5 and 9 years
that most dog bites are not reported to the old; approximately 3.6% of emergency de-
authorities (Overall and Love, 2001; Kahn partment visits in the US by male children
et al., 2003; Cornelissen and Hopster, 2010), between 5 and 9 years old are dog bite-­
and so the incidence is likely to be higher related (Weiss et al., 1998; Overall and Love,
than these figures suggests. Fatalities due to 2001). Unsurprisingly, children are more likely
dog bites are fortunately rare, with the inci- to get bitten if they are left alone with a dog
dence estimated at 1 fatal attack per 5 mil- (Kahn et al., 2003; De Keuster et al., 2006;
lion dogs per year (Overall and Love, 2001). Náhlík et al., 2010).

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 Bitemark Analysis 161

Náhlík et al. (2010) interviewed 92 chil- Much of this research has been used to
dren in the Czech Republic about their experi- create breed-specific legislation, such as the
ences of being bitten by a dog. A proportion Dangerous Dogs Act (1991) in the UK, which
reported having provoked the animal by teas- controls ownership of the Pit Bull Terrier,
ing or deliberately inflicting pain, and the Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Bra-
authors highlight the concern about behav- sileiro (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/
ioural changes seen in children as a result of 1991/65/contents). The authors urge care in
exposure to age-inappropriate content via interpreting breed-specific data relating to
media and computer games. dog bite-related injuries and fatalities. All
Most dogs involved in dog bite-related breeds of dog have the potential to bite and
injuries and most dogs inflicting fatal bites cause injury (Overall and Love, 2001; Kahn
are normally reported to be large breeds et al., 2003; Collier, 2006), and it has been
(Overall and Love, 2001). There have been argued that there is no reliable evidence to
many studies looking at breed-related inci- suggest that particular breeds are more dan-
dence of dog bites in people, with variable gerous than others (Sacks et al., 2000). Duffy
conclusions. Overall and Love (2001) found et al. (2008) suggested that ‘it is inappropri-
German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Pit Bull-
­ ate to make predictions about a given dog’s
type dogs and Siberian Huskies to be over-­ propensity for aggressive behaviour based
represented in cases of dog bite-related solely on its breed’. Most of the information
­injuries (Overall and Love, 2001). Another relating to bite injuries is from emergency de-
study also found German Shepherds and partment records. Bite-related injuries from
Rottweilers to be over-represented, but sur- large dogs are more likely to be brought into
prisingly identified the Labrador, a breed emergency departments, given their ability
that is not normally ­categorized as a ‘danger- to inflict more serious injury, and many
ous’ dog, to be over-­represented in cases of bites from smaller breeds of dogs may go un-
dog bite-­related injuries (Kahn et al., 2003). recorded (Duffy et al., 2008). National regis-
However, Duffy et al. (2008) found the Lab- trations of dog breeds are often not accurate,
rador to be among the least aggressive and it can be very difficult to verify the breed
group of breeds, and found that the breeds of dog involved in an attack (Sacks et al., 2000;
most likely to exhibit serious aggression Duffy et al., 2008). All of these factors make
towards people included Dachshunds, it very difficult to produce accurate statis-
Chihuahuas and Jack Russell Terriers, all tical analysis of the data relating to dog bite-­
small breeds of dog. Numerous studies related injuries and fatalities. Public opinion
have identified Pit Bull-type dogs to be of so-called ‘dangerous’ dog breeds is often
over-represented in breeds of dogs causing heavily influenced by media reporting.
fatal bites and severe trauma; they were It has been found that male dogs bite
reported to be involved in 42% of dog more frequently than females, particularly
bite-related deaths between 1979 and 1988, intact males, perhaps because of their pro-
and in 40% of incidents where an infant pensity to roam (Overall and Love, 2001).
was pulled from a crib (Sachs et al., 1989; Most dog bite-related injuries are caused by
Overall and Love, 2001). In another study, adult dogs (Overall and Love, 2001), but there
looking at dog bite-related fatalities in the is little other data relating to a correlation be-
US between 1979 and 1998, Rottweilers tween a dog’s age and tendency to bite. Pain,
were the most commonly reported breed certain endocrine and neurological condi-
involved in fatal attacks, followed by pit tions, in addition to medications, can make
bull-type dogs. Together, these two breeds dogs less predictable and more reactive, and
have been reported to be responsible for ap- therefore more likely to bite (Overall and
proximately 60% of human deaths (Sacks Love, 2001).
et al., 2000). German Shepherds have also Contrary to popular belief, most dog
been identified as a breed over-represented bites occur within the home and not in a
in studies of fatal dog bite incidents (Overall public place (Weiss et al., 1998; Overall and
and Love, 2001). Love, 2001; De Keuster et al., 2006). Having

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162 D. Bailey et al.

a dog in the household is associated with in- With regard to the rostral dental arch (the
creased risk of dog bites (Gilchrist et al., 2008). portion most often represented in bitemarks)
It is reported that 65% of dog bites in children humans have four incisors per dental ar-
occur within the home (Kahn et al., 2003; De cade, whereas dogs have six, but it must be
Keuster et al., 2006) and in most cases a famil- remembered that distortion produced by
­
iar dog is involved (reported figures range from movement may lead to misinterpretation
85%–94%) (Brogan et al., 1995; Overall and (Tedeschi-­Oliveira et al., 2011).
Love, 2001; Kahn et al., 2003; De ­Keuster et al., The size and shape of a dog bitemark
2006; Cornelissen and Hopster, 2010). can vary considerably depending on the
size and breed of the dog. There is less vari-
ation within the feline species, although
there is considerable size variation between
11.3 Comparison between Human breeds (Clark et al., 1994). Breed variation
Bitemarks, Dog Bitemarks and can cause problems when using standard-
­Bitemarks from Other Species of ized measurements to determine the species
­Forensic Relevance of biter. For example, a common measure-
ment taken is the inter-canine distance,
Bitemarks have certain measurable charac- which in smaller dog breeds can be similar
teristics, which can be of use when attempt- to those of a human, so it is important not to
ing to determine the species of the biter. These simply rely on a single criterion (Tedeschi-­
include the arch width, the shape of the Oliveira et al., 2011). The rostral portion of
dental arch, the spacing between the teeth, the dental arch is much narrower in dogs than
and the shape and size of the teeth. in humans, and the canine teeth are much
Bitemarks can present as a spectrum of larger, with a conical outline. These are used
injuries, from impact marks to deep lacer- to anchor the prey, while the other teeth tear.
ations. The human bitemark is typically The canine dental formula is I3/3 C1/1,
­circular or oval, with a void in the centre, or P4/4, M2/3. The incisors are aligned in a shal-
may represent a more limited portion of low arch, terminating in the canines. The den-
the dental arcade (for example, canine to tal arcade then angles sharply toward the cau-
­canine). The lower incisors tend to anchor dal part of the arcade. The premolars increase
the bitten substrate, while the upper teeth in size caudally, whereas the first molar is
bite down. This may result in scrape marks the largest of the molar teeth. The upper and
being present in the portion of the bitemark lower premolars and molars interlock with
representing the upper arcade (De Munnynck each other when biting, allowing these teeth
and Van de Voorde, 2002; Morgan and Palmer, to bite and lacerate (Clark et al., 1994).
2007). Human dentition is highly individual, Dog bites are the most frequently en-
so a human forensic odontologist may be able countered animal bitemark, and dogs have
to reach a strong opinion of association in been reported to bite humans eight times
terms of identification. There are four types of more frequently than humans bite each other
teeth: incisors (I), canines (C), premolars (P) and (Lessig et al., 2006).
molars (M). The human dental formula is The feline dental formula is I3/3 C1/1
I2/2, C1/1, P2/2, M3/3, and usually only the P3/2 M1/1. The feline bitemark is much shorter
rostral dentition is involved in a bitemark. and more rounded than that of the dog. Cats
In contrast to man, both cats and dogs have a tendency to claw their prey, meaning
have asymmetrical dental arches (see Fig. 11.1), that claw marks are often found in addition
with the mandibular arcade being both shorter to bitemarks (Clark et al.,1994).
and narrower than the maxillary arcade (with Rodent bitemarks consist of long grooves
the exception of the brachycephalic breeds, caused by the central incisors. These are typ-
which exhibit mandibular prognathism). ically post-mortem findings, but may possibly
Adult dogs have 42 permanent teeth, be seen in a living victim in, for example,
whereas adult cats have 30 permanent teeth. cases of severe neglect.

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 Bitemark Analysis 163

Fig. 11.1. Asymmetric canine dental arcades (copyright David Bailey).

Regardless of the species of biter, there elements include analysis of the mark itself
are several factors which can make inter- (commonly performed by a forensic doctor,
pretation more challenging; for example, although veterinary surgeons may examine
the level of violence involved in the attack, images of the mark) and examination of the
the size/breed of the biter, the area of the suspected biter (performed by a veterinary
body attacked and positioning at the time. surgeon). It is assumed that these investiga-
These can all cause distortions and variations tions will be part of a legal investigation, so
to the bitemark (De Munnynck and Van de chain of custody must be maintained and de-
Voorde, 2002; Morgan and Palmer, 2007). It is tailed contemporaneous records must be kept.
often not possible to state that an individual Gloves must always be worn for personal pro-
animal is responsible for a particular bite. tection and to prevent contamination.
However, by referring to species characteris- It is important to recognize a patterned
tics and individual dentition via dental im- injury as a potential bitemark. Dog bites can
pressions and overlays, it may be possible to be variable in appearance and can include
rule an individual out of the investigation. many different forms of tissue damage, in-
cluding crushing (from molar teeth), tissue
avulsion, scratches (claw marks), fractures,
and penetrating and tearing (often referred
11.4 Overview of Forensic Techniques to as ‘hole and tear’) injuries. These wounds
and Methods Used are usually three-dimensional in nature.
Ideally a bitemark should be swabbed
There are a variety of techniques used to for saliva before the area is washed, al-
investigate suspected bitemarks. Essential
­ though this may not be possible under some

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164 D. Bailey et al.

circumstances. Saliva is a good source of photography with these wavelengths does

­canine DNA and although there is not a ref- require some specialist equipment (Golden
erence database for dogs, the DNA can be and Wright, 2005). IR can capture superficial
compared to that of the suspected biter to extravasation of blood beneath the skin sur-
confirm or rule out that dog as being respon- face (to approximately 3 mm depth). UV can
sible for the bite (Clarke and Vandenberg, reveal tissue damage deep to healed skin and
2010). Swabs may also be taken for bacteri- so can reveal previous trauma. The absorp-
ology from puncture wounds to detect com- tion of the UV wavelength is increased by
mon oral canine commensals (Bernitz et al., melanin deposition, which may be enhanced
2012), which may help to confirm that a dog in wounded areas. This technique can be
(but not a specific individual) inflicted the bite very useful on non-pigmented human skin
in question. at least 10 days after an injury but the en-
A full description of the bitemark location, hancement may be visible for much longer
shape, appearance and the size and type(s) periods (up to 2 years has been recorded).
of skin and deeper tissue damage, including Using the invert function on commonplace
any surrounding marks or abrasions, should computer photo-manipulation programmes
be documented with both written and photo- can also highlight subtle changes. Any ma-
graphic evidence. Close-up pictures of the nipulation of case photographs must be done
bitemark must include a scale; the American from a working copy of the images after all
Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO) No. 2 the originals have been copied to a non-­
bitemark scale (Fig. 11.2) is a validated rewritable CD or other storage form.
measuring tool. It is important that the bite, The presence of an arch shape makes
the scale and the camera are in the same the recognition of a bitemark easier. The arch
plane to eliminate parallax distortion. The shape (often U-shaped in canine bites) and
colouration of the tissue surrounding the maximum width are important features to
bitemark should be recorded, as bruising record, along with the number of dental im-
may give a broad indication of the time that pressions visible. Intertooth space, tooth ro-
has elapsed between the bite occurring and tations and curvature are important details
the wounds being analysed. used to compare a bitemark with the denti-
Alternate light sources such as infrared tion of the suspected biter.
(IR) and ultraviolet (UV) can make certain It must be remembered that the suspected
areas of the bitemark more distinct, although biter has a history of aggression and the veter-
inary examination should be performed on a
sedated, anaesthetized, or in some cases eu-
thanized animal.
A full medical history, including, where
available, previous behaviour assessments
and dental charts, should be obtained. Assess-
ment of the dog’s general condition and be-
haviour should be made, including weight,
maximum standing height and body condi-
­
tion score. Any signs of fear or avoidance be-
haviour by the dog should be recorded, as well
as any current or old injuries indicating pos-
sible abuse. Radiographs of the whole dog can
be very helpful and should be performed. This
information may be important when consider-
ing possible triggers for a dog bite incident and
subsequently for determining the dog’s future.
The dog must be examined for any gross
Fig. 11.2. ABFO No. 2 Bitemark Scale (copyright evidence of blood, tissue or trace evidence;
Louise MacLeod). for example, clothing fibres. The location

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 Bitemark Analysis 165

with the highest possibility of recoverable

evidence is likely to be under the nails of
digits 2–5 of the front paws, and these areas
should be swabbed for DNA.
The dog should be induced to vomit
and the vomitus collected and strained to
preserve any tissue, fabric or other evi-
dence from within the stomach. Evidence
will usually only be recoverable in this
manner if the dog is presented to a veterin-
ary surgeon within 6 h of a bite occurring.
The dog must be housed as the sole occu-
pant of clean accommodation, with faeces
collected for 3 days following a bite inci-
dent, as this may also contain evidence for
examination.
The dog should have a serum sample
taken for rabies serology testing, regardless
of the rabies status of the country the bite
occurred in. A full external oral exam should
be undertaken and marks of trauma or previ-
ous surgery recorded. The function of the
temporomandibular joint, muscle symmetry
and jaw symmetry should be assessed. Fig. 11.3. Measurement of intercanine width
A thorough intraoral examination must (copyright Louise MacLeod).
be performed. Any gross tissue, fabric or
other foreign bodies must be collected and
retained. Maximum jaw opening is an im- and the dental structures of the suspected
portant measurement to take along with an biter. This can be achieved by either the
assessment of the general oral health; for ex- generation of a dental cast or acetate over-
ample, stomatitis or fractured teeth may in- lay. Both of these can be placed over the
dicate that the dog was experiencing oral bitemark or a life-size image of the bitemark,
pain. Tongue mobility and injuries should for comparison purposes.
be noted and a saliva swab taken for DNA. To generate an acetate overlay, plasti-
The dentition should be recorded with pho- cine is inserted into the mouth and the jaws
tography and a dental chart. In particular closed. The author uses a double layer
any missing, worn, supernumerary, restored of plasticine (a thickness of approximately
or fractured teeth should be noted. 8 mm) to minimize distortion when the
Intercanine width is a frequently used jaws are closed. Canine bitemark investiga-
measurement in bitemark comparison tions will usually centre around the pattern
(­Tedeschi-Oliveira et al., 2011). The authors of canine and incisor teeth and it is recom-
recommend measurements of both upper mended that one impression is generated of
and lower sets of canines, recording (for each this rostral area of the jaw for both the max-
set) the distance between the coronal tips of illa and mandible. Four further impressions
the two canine teeth (Fig. 11.3). The interin- can then be taken of each of the four quad-
cisal width between the mesial points of the rants of remaining teeth (premolars and
incisal edges of the central incisors is also a molars). See Figs 11.4–11.6 for examples of
useful measurement to have when perform- an impression set from a canine maxilla.
ing a comparison. Each impression must be labelled and
Ultimately what is required is a com- photographed with a scale in place. Acetate
parison between the suspected bitemark is laid over the impressions and the teeth

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166 D. Bailey et al.

Fig. 11.4. Plasticine impression of the upper jaw – upper arcade (copyright Louise MacLeod).

margins accurately traced, thus generating to study three-dimensional characteristics

an overlay. of a wound in more detail. Occasionally the
Dental casts can be taken from a dog’s bitemark is excised and fixed (with a ring to
mouth after it has been thoroughly cleaned and prevent shrinkage). Any histological analysis
all contaminants removed with isopropyl alco- must be the final examination performed as
hol. Materials such as vinyl polysiloxanes it is destructive, but it can be very helpful in
are used (under various trade names), as ap- assessing inflammatory responses, such as
proved by the American Dental Association, vessel engorgement, haemorrhage and macro­
to take impressions. Plaster casts are then made phage infiltration, which may help to differ-
using dental calcined gypsum (Pomara et al., entiate ante- and post-mortem changes.
2011). Bitemark analysis encompasses many
Using simple software a three-dimensional techniques and must include examination of
(3D)-CAD (computer assisted design) approach the suspect biter as a whole not just its dental
to analysing bitemarks may be employed (Thali impression. It may provide class characteristic
et al., 2003). The 3D virtual models gener- evidence (which associate the bitemark with
ated of both the bitemark and suspect denti- some type of dog), but used alone is highly
tion can be manipulated on screen to assist unlikely to detect the ‘discernible uniqueness’
in determining a possible association between required to individualize a specific dog. There
the two. are currently no large databases of ­ canine
Although not commonly performed, dentition for reference. Bitemark analysis
other techniques can be very useful in specific has good exclusionary potential for the elim-
cases. Scanning electron microscopy is used ination of suspects.

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 Bitemark Analysis 167

Fig. 11.5. Plasticine impression of the upper jaw – right upper arcade (copyright Louise MacLeod).

11.5 Literature Review 2006; Tedeschi-Oliveira et al., 2011; Bernitz

et al., 2012). Certain injuries are suggested
The earliest known bitemark case in the to be pathognomonic for dog bite wounds
USA saw Reverend George Burroughs (De Munnynck and Van de Voorde, 2002).
­sentenced to death in 1692 after being con- Veterinarians have no authority to exam-
victed on the strength of bitemark evi- ine a human. Therefore a multidisciplinary
dence during the Salem Witch Trials (Vale, approach is required when a dog is sus-
2005). pected of biting a human (Bernitz et al., 2012;
The ABFO was formed in 1976 in order Bailey and Drew, 2013). Human victims of
to provide accreditation and evolving stand- dog bites are frequently treated by medical
ards for experts involved in bitemark analysis staff without forensic training (Bailey and
(http://www.abfo.org), and its guidelines are Drew, 2013). Lessig et al. (2006) and Bailey
used as a basis for the investigation of dog and Drew (2013) report that the forensic in-
bites in humans (Bailey and Drew, 2013). vestigation of bite victims may occur some-
As discussed, significant differences time after the injury, with the subsequent
exist between human and dog dentition, the loss of valuable evidence that could have
forces involved in a bite, and the resultant been recovered at the time. They highlight
tissue changes observed in the victim (Dorion, the difficulties of interpreting poorly docu-
2005; Lessig et al., 2006; Murmann et al., mented injuries, such as photographs with

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168 D. Bailey et al.

Fig. 11.6. Plasticine impression of the upper jaw – left upper arcade (copyright Louise MacLeod).

no scale in place. Photographic techniques in- are too similar in this respect to allow this to
volving reflective UV light may allow a bite- be used as a sole method for distinguishing
mark to be visualized weeks or months after between an animal and a human bitemark.
the initial injury (Richards, 2010; Bailey and Bowers highlights the rate of false posi-
Drew, 2013). tives in bitemark identification in his critical
Human bitemarks frequently feature in review of human bitemark analysis tech-
the injuries found on sexual assault, child niques, referring to several post-conviction
and elder abuse victims (McDowell, 2005). exonerations, after DNA testing of suspects
Humans may occasionally inflict bites on who were imprisoned on the strength of bite-
themselves (Bernstein, 2005). When presented mark evidence (Dorion, 2005; Bowers, 2006;
with an alleged dog-inflicted bitemark in a Pretty, 2006; Bailey and Drew, 2013).
human, it is necessary to identify the species In cases of dog bites, Bailey and Drew
of the biter, and rule out a human as a cause recommend that bitemark analysis be used
(Stavrianos et al., 2011). in combination with other techniques, not-
Intercanine width is a parameter which ably salivary DNA analysis (Bailey and Drew,
is commonly compared between suspects 2013). It is advisable to collect suitable sam-
and bitemarks to attempt to identify the ori- ples for human and canine short tandem re-
gin of bite wounds (Murmann et al., 2006; peat DNA analysis from the victim’s wounds,
Tedeschi-Oliveira et al., 2011). Tedeschi-­ and the suspect dog’s mouth (Eichmann et al.,
Oliveira et al. found that humans and dogs 2004; Tsuji et al., 2008; Clarke and Vandenberg,

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 Bitemark Analysis 169

2010; Bailey and Drew, 2013). Demonstration on the admissibility of scientific expert tes-
of reciprocal transfer of DNA between the timony: proven technique, peer review, known
two parties would be of higher evidential error rate and general acceptance. He con-
value than bitemark analysis alone (Bailey cludes that uncertainty is a key element of
and Drew, 2013). Rahimi et al. (2005) were the comparison of the data from the injury
able to differentiate between bitemarks pro- and the suspect, and more research is re-
duced by eight human individuals in an ini- quired before the Daubert criteria are fulfilled.
tial study using genotyping of oral bacteria He is optimistic about newer molecular
(Rahimi et al., 2005), of which there are methods, such as DNA short tandem repeat
over 2000 in an individual’s mouth (Pretty, analysis and genomic fingerprints from oral
2006). They are optimistic that this future bacteria.
research could allow this technique to be Others have also observed the shortage
used in bitemark cases where salivary DNA of empirical research and scientific literature
is unavailable. available for bitemark analysis compared to
Keiser also considered the evidential other forensic disciplines (Pretty, 2006; ­Bailey
value of bitemark analysis (Keiser, 2005). and Drew, 2013). Case studies make up much
He analysed the verifiability of human bite- of the available literature (Pretty, 2006), which
mark evidence using criteria laid down at is of lower evidential value than empirical re-
the Daubert ruling (Daubert vs Merrell Dow search. Pretty reviews the issues that bitemark
Pharmaceuticals (92–102), 509 US 579 analysis faces under increased scrutiny since
(1993)), which provides guidance to courts the Daubert ruling (Pretty, 2006).

Case Study 11.1.

Fig. 11.7. Deceased infant (copyright David Bailey).

The images above represent injuries on a deceased the possibility that they were inflicted by a dog
infant who had been subjected to abuse. The expert that was being restrained by a lead. The absence of
in the case suspected that some of the injuries were an owner or canine suspect for comparison with
dog bites. There were no neck injuries, suggesting the marks prevented any investigation proceeding.

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170 D. Bailey et al.

Case Study 11.2.

Fig. 11.8. Wound on child’s forehead (copyright David Bailey).

The image above is a photograph of a sutured Pictorial analysis by an expert excluded the pos-
wound on a child’s forehead after being allegedly sibility of the injury being a bitemark. The injury is
bitten by a dog in a public place. There were no not, as it might initially appear, an outline of a
witnesses to a bite incident, and no other evidence dog’s dental arcade. If it were, there would be a
was collected. There was no scale used in the corresponding injury from the other arcade, and
photograph supplied, which strongly limited the the injury would be likely to be much deeper.
scope for comparison of the injury with the denti- The evidence in this case was insufficient to
tion of any suspect animal. reach a reliable conclusion.

11.6 Strategies for Prevention and People often misinterpret dog communi-
Risk Mitigation cation signals, and young children score
­particularly badly (Lakestani et al., 2005).
As discussed previously, all dogs can bite There is also the potential for bilateral mis-
and dogs of any breed can be dangerous. understanding, and inappropriate reactions
Children are most at risk of being bitten by to situations, and again, this is particularly
a dog, and are most commonly bitten by a true for children. Dogs can misinterpret
known dog in the home. Strategies for pre- human signs; they can be frightened by the
vention should take these factors into ac- unpredictable and uncoordinated move-
count. In addition to the obvious physical ments of children, and loud sounds such as
trauma suffered, children who have suffered shrill squealing and screaming (Overall and
severe or multiple bites should be con- Love, 2001). In a study by Kahn et al., it was
sidered at risk of developing post-­traumatic estimated that 67% of dog bite-related injur-
stress disorder (De Keuster et al., 2006). ies in children could have been prevented
Most bites occur because of human by better education of the child and their
misunderstanding of dog behaviour and dog parents on safe conduct towards the dog, a
‘language’, and therefore education is the factor which is considered by many to be
key to prevention (Overall and Love, 2001; the preventative measure that should have
Kahn et al., 2003; De Keuster et al., 2006). the highest priority (Kahn et al., 2003). In a
A collaborative approach is needed, with hu­ study in the Netherlands, Cornelissen and
man and veterinary teams working together. Hopster suggested that ‘mitigation strategies

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 Bitemark Analysis 171

addressing children should focus on teach- ­ rovisions should be made to improve be-
p
ing the young how to behave around dogs haviour training for veterinarians at univer-
so that their behaviour does not trigger a sities, and provide continuing professional
dog bite’ (Cornelissen and Hopster, 2010). development courses for practising veterin-
Education of children can take place at home, arians in the area. Aggression in dogs can
for example, using books and internet-­based be fear-based, and adequate socialization of
education initiatives, such as The Blue Dog©, puppies can really help to reduce this prob-
which are designed to help parents and lem (Sacks et al., 2000).
children learn about the safest way to inter- There is much controversy in the litera-
act with their dog (De Keuster et al., 2005; ture and among experts about the use of
Náhlík et al., 2010). Education can also take breed-specific legislation to reduce the risk
place at school. Dog bite prevention pro- of dog bite-related injuries and fatalities. We
gramme studies have been trialled in the US have already discussed the difficulties in
and Australia, educating children about how identifying specific breeds that are a prob-
to behave around dogs. A study in Australia lem. After the introduction of the Dangerous
found that children who had received this Dogs Act (1991) in the UK, a comparative
teaching, and who had learnt to recognize study looking at dog bite-related attend-
friendly, angry or frightened dogs, showed ances to emergency facilities before and after
more precautionary behaviour around dogs the introduction of the Act demonstrated
compared to children who had not received very little change (Klassen et al., 1996). In
this teaching (Lakestani et al., 2005). Adult contrast, a dangerous dog ordinance passed
education programmes are also important, in Multnomah County in Oregon in 1986
and should address bite prevention, in add- preceded a significant reduction in dangerous
ition to basic canine behaviour, care and incidents involving dogs that had previously
management (Sacks et al., 2000). In cases caused injury to people or other animals
where people are bitten outside the home, through attacks or biting (Oswald, 1991).
dog owners should be educated and advised A significant problem when analysing
to take appropriate measures to prevent dog bite-related incident data is under-­
dogs causing harm to others, such as keep- reporting of incidents and a lack of national
ing dogs on a lead, and muzzled if needed. reporting systems (Overall and Love, 2001).
It has been shown that children are at a Enhanced reporting and the creation of a
much higher risk of dog bite-related injuries universal database for dog bite incidents,
if they are left unsupervised with a dog with training for and support from the med-
(Kahn et al., 2003; De Keuster et al., 2006; ical and veterinary professions, would help
Náhlík et al., 2010). Parents should be ad- to identify risk factors more reliably.
vised that under no circumstances should
children be left unattended with a dog (Brogan
et al., 1995; Cornelissen and Hopster, 2010),
no matter how well-behaved the dog nor- 11.7 Conclusion
mally is. Sachs et al. (1989) said that ‘par-
ents and physicians should be aware that Dog bites can cause a wide range of injuries
infants left alone with a dog may be at risk to a victim. The result can be permanent
of death’. disfigurement or even death of a victim, al-
Dogs that have a prior history of aggres- though the latter is, fortunately, rare. Dog
sion or propensity to bite are more likely to bite-related wounds can become infected,
bite in the future (Patronek and Slavinski, and there is always the potential for rabies
2009). Dog owners should seek veterinary infection. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a
advice as soon as they have concerns that frequently encountered sequel to a dog bite
their dog may bite or has bitten someone. attack, particularly in children, and there
The medical profession, particularly emer- may be both financial and legal implications.
gency clinicians, should be giving this ad- Children are at highest risk of being bitten by
vice to any dog bite victims. In addition, a dog, and are more likely to ­receive more

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172 D. Bailey et al.

serious injuries as a result of the bite. Most Emesis should be induced, and faeces col-
dog bites occur within the home, involving lected, and both examined for potential evi-
a familiar dog. dence. Saliva swabs should be taken for DNA
The dentition of humans, dogs and analysis and bacteriology. Specific measure-
other species of forensic interest, for example, ments, such as intercanine distance, should
cats, can vary widely. There are many factors be recorded. Dental casts or acetate overlay
to consider when examining bite-related techniques may be used to compare the den-
injuries, and caution should be used when tal structures of the biter and the bitemark.
interpreting such evidence. Bitemark evi- More advanced techniques are also available
dence alone is unlikely to be conclusive in an for bitemark analysis.
investigation, and should normally only be Education, particularly of parents and
used to rule an individual out of an investiga- children, is considered key to reducing the
tion, and ideally in combination with other incidence of dog bite-related injuries (Náhlík
techniques, such as salivary DNA analysis. et al., 2010). This includes teaching both
A strict protocol should be followed adults and children how to interact with
when investigating bitemark cases, using dogs, and read dog ‘language’, as well as en-
ABFO guidelines. Personnel involved in an couraging adequate socialization of puppies,
investigation should stay within their area of and ongoing training of dogs. A collabora-
expertise; for example, veterinarians should tive approach, involving both medical and
not perform examinations on human victims. veterinary professionals, is warranted, and
A full history (including dental history) and improved recording of dog bite-related in-
clinical examination should be performed by juries is needed. There is much controversy
a veterinarian of the dog in question. Photo- about the effectiveness of breed-­ specific
graphs with a scale in place should be taken. ­legislation.

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 12 Report Writing

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

12.1   Definition of an Expert 175

12.2   Requirements of an Expert Report 176
12.2.1 Admissibility versus reliability 176
12.3   Rules of Reliability 177
12.4  Elucidation 177
12.5   Obligations of an Expert 178
12.6   Report Bias 180
12.6.1 Resilience in a report 180
12.7   Report Structure and Lucidity 181
12.7.1 Confidentiality and records 181
12.8   Accepting Instructions 182
12.8.1 Assistance 182
12.8.2 Relevant expertise 182
12.8.3 Impartiality 183
12.8.4 Evidentiary reliability 183
12.9   Comparison of Jurisdictions (USA, UK and Australia) 183
12.9.1 American views of admissibility and reliability 183
12.9.2 The UK view 184
12.9.3 The Australian view 186
12.10 Conclusion 187

Bias cannot be excluded from the report which is likely to be outside the experi-
writer. Bias can be excluded from the report. ence and knowledge of a judge or jury.
If on the proven facts a judge or jury can
form their own conclusions without
12.1 Definition of an Expert help, then the opinion of an expert is
unnecessary.i
According to the case of Turner, in the UK:
an expert’s opinion is admissible to The role of an expert witness is to advise on
furnish the court with . . . information, technical matters of a case as well as respond

*Corresponding author: [email protected] i

R vs Turner [1975] 1 QB 834, 841.

© CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey) 175

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176 D. Bailey

to requests from the opposing party for example) had delayed consulting the vet
technical information. They can and are after the dog was accidentally hit by a car, was
­expected to advise on their interpretation of responsible for causing unnecessary pain
the technical significance of evidence or a and suffering to the dog by not having it
report disclosed by the opposing side and checked over immediately after the accident.
then produce a report. After they have pro- A vet can act as a professional witness and
duced and submitted a report it is likely that as an expert witness and in the above example
any number of legally trained personnel it can be assumed that the attending vet (pro-
will look at both reports for the prosecution fessional witness) did not wish to provide ex-
and defence and then ask the expert(s) to pert opinion against the owner, who may have
narrow down areas of agreement and dis- also been a client of the practice.
agreement. If the matter cannot be resolved
between legal parties at this point, then it is
likely the expert will be required to attend
court, face cross-examination about his or
12.2 Requirements of
her own report and be on hand to advise in an Expert Report
cross-examination of the opposing expert.
An expert is defined in a legal sense as 12.2.1 Admissibility versus reliability
someone who is able to assist the court
where areas of knowledge or expertise out- All vets are considered and recognized as
side that of the court would be required. experts inside a court room in all areas of
This is an important definition because an veterinary science, yet they may not hold or
expert in court is allowed to provide opin- maintain a recognized postgraduate special-
ion evidence. This allows them to infer and ism in any field outside a court room. There
deduce and make interpretations as to cer- is no expert admissibility test in any juris-
tain facts and matters that are within their diction. If you are a qualified veterinarian,
area of expertise and considered outside the then your testimony is admissible as an ex-
court’s expertise, and with this expectation pert. Beyond this, there are no further tests
an expert should have a sound knowledge or requirements that the courts can seek to
of their subject matter. impose on a veterinary expert opinion or re-
Expert witnesses can provide an opin- port. There is a reliability test built into the
ion on what they see, while a professional adversarial system, where any claim to any
witness can provide an explanation of what type of expertise in the field of veterinary
duties they performed in their professional science will be appropriately tested.
role without any interpretation of what they If you are a dog-and-cat vet and you are
did or saw. An eyewitness can provide a instructed by a solicitor to write a report on
verbal description on what they saw with an equine matter, then your evidence will
their own eyes without any interpretation. be admissible expert evidence to the court –
The following three examples of an expert the court cannot stop you or your report at
can all be fulfilled in court by a veterinarian. the door if you possess a degree in veterinary
1. Eye witness: ‘I saw a dog hit by a car.’ science. However, your evidence may not be
2. Professional witness: ‘I treated a dog hit reliable and the adversarial system, in one
by a car. The dog had cuts and scratches.’ of its constructed wisdoms, will determine
3. Expert witness: ‘The delay between the the extent of the reliability of any expert
dog being hit by a car and presented to the evidence, usually under cross-examination.
­
vet with the type of wounds it had would So while any vet can be asked to write a
have caused the cuts and scratches to be- ­report on any subject that is animal-related
come ­infected.’ and provide that evidence to a court in the
form of a report, the rules of cross-examination
The opinion which the expert adduces would allow the reliability of that evidence to be
assist the court in determining whether the stress-tested to breaking point. A new gradu-
owner of the dog, who (in this hypothetical ate and a vet with 30 years experience

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 Report Writing 177

will have the same rules of admissibility ap- 12.4 Elucidation

plied to their report and expertise. But the
real test comes when the reliability of that An expert witness asked to produce a re-
report is subject to polite, thoughtful and port is not just a subject matter expert.
probing questioning from opposing counsel. ­Remember – a court only requires you to
Many vets acting as expert witnesses do be a subject matter expert in order for your
have an existing knowledge and expertise of evidence to be admissible. Once accepted
the subject matter in their chosen field; how- as a recognized expert, then a court report
ever, many experts tend to fall below the reli- subsequently has a set of more onerous re-
ability standards expected of a court. Experts quirements placed on the veterinarian (or
will often pass the admissibility test and then other expert) who authored it, above being
fail to articulate carefully their analytical rea- just a subject matter expert. The criteria
soning. This is, in my own view, the key as- that the court will place on the admissibil-
pect of a report that is required of an expert. ity of an expert’s report (subject matter ex-
The veterinary expert that may be con- pert) relate to the reliability of the report
sidered to have a low reliability report will (accepted and verifiable content) and the
write a report that will separate out their ob- elucidation requirements of the expert
servations and conclusions with their ex- (analytical reasoning, ability to communi-
perience only and not with any attempt at cate, and willingness to alter an opinion in
analytical reasoning. the face of new evidence). This realization
A good report should include an expert’s of a linear sequence that exists between
experience and attempt to introduce an inde- acceptance of a court report produced
pendent verification to that view. This can by an expert, the subsequent reliability
be in the form of journal articles, laboratory ­requirements and the elucidation require-
­report or photographs that demonstrate that ments in that report is a large part of
the experience of the submitting expert is understanding the necessary elements for
reliable, as it is also the experience of others report writing, and to understand a report
and is recognized and verifiable. is not just a regurgitation of your experi-
Many veterinary experts will write reports ence and qualifications in a subject. Vets
that indicate a ‘because I say so’ approach and like to describe events or their observations
this is a failure to make the successful transi- in a report according to their own experi-
tion from clinical to adversarial veterinary ences, yet find it difficult to articulate their
medicine. Unable to remove themselves from a interpretation of these descriptions in a
familiar and good-natured clinical disposition legal framework. This is an impediment to
where being challenged is unlikely, into the the uptake of information by the legal sys-
adversarial setting where being challenged tem, which is not schooled in matters vet-
with a healthy dose of polite scepticism is the erinary. Even with the necessary accept-
norm and the good-natured element of a con- ability criteria and the requirement for
vivial consultation rapidly evaporates. verifiability, a report that is not well reasoned
and elucidated will fail to penetrate the
court’s ears.
12.3 Rules of Reliability As minimum requirements, the four
pillars of elucidation are as follows:
There is one expert admissibility test: the
expert has acquired by study or experience 1. The necessary ability to reason their
sufficient knowledge of the subject to ren- ­argument.
der his or her opinion of value. There are 2. The necessary skills to articulate and
two elements to the reliability of an expert’s communicate their findings.
report: the report must contain the experi- 3. The ability to change their mind if they feel
ence of the expert and it must bridge to that new evidence has been introduced.
other sources of evidence and information 4. The ability to describe and interpret the
that are accepted and verifiable. evidence in a critical manner.

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178 D. Bailey

These are the elucidation requirements of an and articulation. The predilection for guilt
expert report (not necessarily an expert vet) or innocence of the alleged offender should
and many prosecution and defence experts not be clear to the report reader.
are exceptionally good vets, but lack the elu- Problems can occur in an adversarial
cidation requirements to be able to assem- system of justice when defence solicitors or
ble and apply knowledge to a report with prosecution authorities are required to seek
the reliability and lucidity the courts seek. out and instruct an expert. Courts demand
Nobel prize winners win Nobel prizes, but good experts, and lawyers for both prosecu-
very few of them are used as expert wit- tion and defence insist on good witnesses.
nesses, as they fail in their ability to eluci- Experts sometimes find themselves caught
date and articulate in a manner that a court between what the courts require and what
can understand. The ability and skill to elu- the instructing solicitor needs. Whenever
cidate one’s argument is beyond the scope you are involved in this type of conflict, it is
of this book; however, there are many useful important to remember that your obligation
books on critical thinking that will assist in is to the court: this is the first rule of writing
the pursuit of this skill, a key tenet for fo- a report. An expert doesn’t determine the
rensic and legal scholars. outcome of the legal dispute – others will.
Many vets feel comfortable regurgitat- Those others may rely heavily on the expert
ing facts and clinical findings and augment- and the report produced, but the expert
ing their findings with reference to a text or should not cross the boundary between writ-
a journal, yet fail in their attempts to link ing a report for the benefit of the court and
their expertise to sound reasoning and an the construction of a report for the benefit of
ability to articulate their points within a the instructing party.
legal framework. The rules in report writing are, in order
Many barristers will often highlight an of importance:
expert’s lack of articulation or reasoning in
• Write the report for the court and for
a submitted report and they will avoid the
the benefit of the court.
subject matter that the expert is strong on. It
• Know your subject matter.
is not just what you say but how you say it
• Develop the skill of reasoning.
and, in a report, how you say it is as vital to
• Develop the skill of articulating and
the penetration of the report as the expert’s
communication in your reports.
veterinary experience.
• Be willing to change your mind if you
come across an alternate view.
The following boxes contain examples of
12.5 Obligations of an Expert fictious reports.

A highly regarded report contains low levels

Box 12.1.
of emotion, and you should not be able to
tell which way the expert is leaning. An ex- My name is Joe Blogs, I qualified from Bristol
pert is obliged to deliver what the court in 1985. I have been a vet for 30 years.
wants – independent and unbiased views on
matters to assist the court to determine the I saw a cat with fleas on it and this cat
was suffering.
outcome of a case. An expert does not charge
J. Blogs
for their opinion, but for the time taken to
reach that opinion. Regardless of whether This report is admissible; however, it has low reli-
the prosecution or defence instructs them, ability criteria and it has poor elucidation. The
their opinion should be the same: the court presence or absence of unnecessary suffering as a
expects this consistency of character and conclusion is up to the court to determine and the
vet can assist in this determination, but should
professionalism. A good report appears to
avoid the appearance that they are attempting to
be without bias and hides strong personal
usurp the role of the court in this finding.
views in favour of actual content, reasoning

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 Report Writing 179

Box 12.2.

My name is Joe Blogs, I qualified from Bristol in 1985. I have been a vet for 30 years.

I saw a cat with fleas on it. See the photo in Appendix A.

I also saw a large amount of flea dirt on the cat and have taken photos of this (Appendix B). Fleas do
not normally cause a lot of irritation to a cat; however, in severe infestations they can cause severe
discomfort, and if a cat has a flea bite allergy then this can cause a serious clinical condition that
needs veterinary attention and intervention (see reference on flea bite allergy in Appendix C).

This report is admissible and it is reliable as it refers to different accepted and verifiable methods to
­demonstrate the presence of fleas on the cat. However, it lacks the skills of articulation and elucidation
that lawyers and courts are used to seeing in their own profession.

Box 12.3.

My name is Joe Blogs, I qualified from Bristol in 1985. I have been a vet for 30 years.

On 3/3/2015 I was asked by the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA) to
examine a cat that had been seized by them from an address known to me. A record of my
examination at the time is included in Appendix A. I have since been asked by the USPCA to write a
report on the condition of the cat.

I have defined suffering as ‘anything significantly greater than minor transient discomfort’. And
while suffering is up to the court to determine, this is the definition I used when determining
whether suffering was or was not present in the cat that I examined.

There are other definitions of suffering but there is no accepted definition of suffering in the UK
that refers to animal welfare and animal cruelty.

I examined the cat and observed a large number of fleas, and a significant amount of flea dirt, on
the cat (see photos in Appendix B). The cat appeared to have a flea bite allergy as it had excoriation
around its neck, raised papules along its back and symmetrical alopecia. These are three of the
cardinal signs of flea bite allergy in a cat (see Appendix C).

Fleas jump onto and bite cats and feed on their blood. The saliva of a flea may cause an allergic
reaction in the host animal and, if this is present, then every bite of a flea causes a severe local and
systemic inflammatory reaction in the animal. Fleas can be controlled on indoor cats by correct use
of environmental sprays. If a cat has a recognized flea bite allergy, an owner should pay attention to
the cat’s environment and not allow it to become infested with fleas and bitten to the point that this
cat was at the time of my examination.

A single flea bite would not cause suffering in a cat according to the definition I have used.
However, a large number of flea bites would cause suffering in a cat. A blood test demonstrated
that this cat was anaemic (see Appendix D); it is possible that this was due to flea bites, but other
causes of anaemia cannot be ruled out.

Multiple flea bites in a cat that has a pre-existing flea bite allergy would be a source of constant,
repetitive irritation and inflammation. This would be a cause of suffering in the cat, in my view,
according to the definition I have provided. The necessity of this suffering is unclear in my view
and cannot be explained by any clinical observation.

This report is admissible, reliable and lucid. The reader of this report may reach the conclusion that the cat
was suffering; however, they are unable to determine whether the writer of the report thinks the cat owner
is guilty. It is well articulated, definitions are provided and the reasoning is laid out in a logical and se-
quential manner. The central purpose of a veterinary medico-legal report is to provide the court with an
opinion relating to an animal or animal product. The legal consequences, and any recommendations
arising from the assessment of the facts relating to the case, are up to the court. The body of the report
should set out the actions taken to produce the report and the facts on which the report is based.

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180 D. Bailey

12.6 Report Bias Table 12.1. The benefits of a strong hypothesis for
retrospective research (Harcourt-Brown, 2013).
Example of an evidence hierarchy used in medical
The important rule overriding all other
and veterinary research. The various types of study
rules of report writing is an understanding are listed in order of descending weight of
of your obligations in your report. Most vets evidence.
will be at some point asked or instructed by
a solicitor to write a report. The first-time Order in Hierarchy Study Types
vet will be flattered that they have been
1 Systematic reviews and
identified as an ‘expert’ and will be keen to
meta-analyses
demonstrate this newly discovered expert-
2 Randomized controlled trials
ise. Unwittingly, and, in some cases, delib- 3 Cohort studies
erately, some vets may set out to write a 4 Case-control studies
biased report on demand because they feel 5 Cross-sectional studies
an obligation to their instructing solicitor. 6 Case reports and case series
This is a bias that occurs in many reports; 7 Expert opinion
I call it selection bias. Other dangers are
hidden bias (an expert doesn’t know of the
bias that exists in the report) and coaching expert opinion above all other forms of evi-
bias (an expert is coached in to what to say dence as the preferred mechanism of dis-
in a report). It is a skill in a report reader to pute resolution. Science, it seems, has six
recognize, search for and identify bias in a preferred contenders for the delivering of
submitted report and then to attempt to the truth above that of expert opinion, which
limit the impact that bias may have on one’s is too prone to bias yet preferred by the
own report. It is impossible to eliminate courts. The court prefers the opinion of the
bias altogether, as we all have bias built into expert as it can change; it is dynamic when
us through our accumulation of lifetime ex- confronted with variable and shifting infor-
periences. Often these biases accumulate in mation, and no scientific study can do this
us from an early childhood stage, e.g. from a once the ink has dried. This pliability of ex-
school trip to an abattoir. These experiences pert opinion is what makes it so useful for a
and biases remain deeply imprinted within court and so disagreeable for scientific studies.
us for a lifetime; we may not even be aware
that because of that abattoir trip we chose to
become a lifelong vegetarian and pursue a 12.6.1 Resilience in a report
lifestyle based on a childhood experience.
Bias, it seems, is normal for the proprietor. Introducing a supporting and relevant article
Scientists try to reduce the inherent bias in from a journal or a book chapter, a labora-
any report by talking a bias-free language tory report or another expert’s view allows
using statistics. A court report that under- you to support a proposed view in a report
stands the obligations of the author of the that is also reliant on your own experience.
report and introduces a vet’s experience This is considered a valuable aspect to a re-
(only) is useful but is biased (and unreli- port and helps to reduce bias and articulate
able), to the point that the experiences ar- a response which is based on your experience
ticulated and successfully reasoned in as well as backed up by a written article and
that report are only true according to that the experience and finding of others. This
vet’s experience. What else would anyone golden rule of forensics is learned when col-
expect? lecting evidence and translating it into a
That expert opinion is considered low- ­report – have multiple independent sources
est in the evidence hierarchy for retrospect- of evidence in your report.
ive research (Table 12.1) is another anomaly To rely solely on your expert opinion
between the standards of the clinical world leaves the report vulnerable to ambush in the
of evidence-based veterinary medicine and adversarial system. There is only one target –
the preference of the courts, which adopt you, and in an adversarial system your report,

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 Report Writing 181

your opinion and you become the focus of clinical experience and rote-learned scien-
more polite but stern questions. Add a journal tific facts, and there is little focus on the
article (or similar external source of verifiable structure, articulation, lucidity and layout
and accepted information) to demonstrate of the ­report.
that your view is shared by others. You may Vets may not appreciate that non-vets
add a report by another expert in the field reading the report don’t necessarily under-
who you have asked to adduce an opinion. stand the content and meaning of many vet-
Add a photo to support your description erinary terms or the scientific language and
and you now have multiple independent style of veterinary science. Invert the pyra-
sources of evidence that help to reduce any mid and you will see what courts prefer.
hidden bias that may be present in your re- Criminal law is concerned with justice,
port. As I have said in the epigraph above, bias fact-finding and the attribution of guilt. The
cannot be excluded from the report writer; subject matter of veterinary science con-
bias can be excluded from the report. And cerns itself with living animals and animal
now the other side needs to dilute their focus products and people involved in animal
and concentrate on multiple discrete and in- care. Tensions between veterinary science
dependent elements of your report and not and the law arise because decisions in court
just one biased opinion from a vet. The mat- are final and binding, but veterinary evidence
ter is a little harder for them to dispute, be- concerns matters and usually evidence that
cause your report is reliable and a little more is dynamic, not least because it is often liv-
resilient. ing and changes over time. Courts find this
type of living evidence quite inconvenient
and difficult to deal with. The law and
courts define animals as property and this,
12.7 Report Structure and Lucidity in many ways, is at odds with the way in
which many vets deal with animals – i.e. as
The structure, layout and lucidity of the living beings. The vet writing a court report
­report is as important as the content. Most can then be seen as a translator or inter-
vets concentrate on the content only to the preter of the information from living and
point of subject matter expertise, as they dead pieces of evidence into a form that the
are knowledgeable in this area, and ignore court can understand.
the structure. This leaves their report un-
read or unable to be interpreted, as it is
often a clinical report, rather than in a style
or structure that a court can digest. Vets are 12.7.1 Confidentiality and records
frontloaded through undergraduate train-
ing toward the top of the hierarchy of evi- As medical professionals, veterinarians are
dence pyramid (see Fig. 4.1) while courts subject to similar obligations to confidenti-
are frontloaded to the bottom of this pyra- ality when providing a report to court as in
mid. This chapter emphasizes the import- ordinary clinical practice. The implications
ance of critical thinking to a report; always of this principle are, however, somewhat dif-
remember that articulation and reason- ferent when the defendant is one’s own cli-
ing are as vital as subject knowledge. Bias-­ ent. Relevant guidance should be consulted
proof your report by flanking the content from an individual’s governing professional
with reference to independent sources. body. Clinical reports and notes do not auto-
Understand your obligations, but also that matically form part of the defendant’s ani-
lucidity should be the means by which mal’s medical records, except by the consent
your expertise is delivered into an adver- of the defendant or their legal represen-
sarial legal arena. Most vets suffer from tative. Reports cannot be disclosed to a
report over-penetration – the report makes third party without the consent of the body
little impact on the reader because the em- commissioning the report; however, this is
phasis is on the regurgitation of years of weighed up against the gravity of the offence.

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182 D. Bailey

Report writers must ensure safe mainten- the report has on a decision involving a liv-
ance of records to include the 3Rs. ing, dead or dying animal.
1. Retain – all documentation until after
any potential appeals.
12.8 Accepting Instructions
2. Record – keep structured, clear, legible and
comprehensive records in a format suitable
for other instructed experts to consult. Four requirements relating to the admissi-
3. Reveal – all sources of information must bility of expert evidence in criminal pro-
be disclosed in the report. ceedings have developed at common law,
principally with reference to expert opinion
All experts should have appropriate indem- evidence – this is the Common Law Admis-
nity insurance; this last requirement is a sibility Test for expert evidence.
demonstration of the emerging frustration of The requirements are that the expert
the courts with experts and report writers in can provide assistance, relevant expertise,
the UK, where for the first time in 400 years, impartiality and evidentiary reliability.
experts have recently lost their automatic im-
munity from prosecution (Jones vs Kaney).ii
As a vet or animal welfare officer, you 12.8.1 Assistance
have an obligation to the animal that is central
to the dispute. You also have an obligation to
According to the leading case of Turner:
the animal’s owners. As an expert witness,
you have an obligation to the court, but you an expert’s opinion: is admissible to furnish
are being paid by the instructing solicitor. the court with ... information which is
Vets also have standards imposed on likely to be outside the experience and
knowledge of a judge or jury. If on the
them by state or national professional bod-
proven facts a judge or jury can form their
ies and all people have an innate and natur-
own conclusions without help, then the
ally biased obligation to themselves. opinion of an expert is unnecessary.iii
Expert witnesses are not immune from
prosecution in some jurisdictions, the conse- And this is all an expert is – someone who
quence of which is if you knowingly make an knows more than the average person. Being
error in your report or testimony, you can ex- a vet assumes an expert status in matters
pect to be back in court at a later date as a dealing with animals, animal welfare and
defendant instructing your own solicitor and animal products and most matters relating
team of independent and objective experts. to non-human animals.
Your report is written for the court, not
the client. The obligation to impartiality is
12.8.2 Relevant expertise
muddied by financial circumstances, profes-
sional hubris, and by hidden and known bi-
ases. These are discovered when critical The individual claiming expertise must be an
thinking is laid down in the words of the re- expert in the relevant field. This was de-
port, the translation of the life of an animal scribed in the South Australian case of Bony-
into a description of a journey of property. thon as a requirement that the individual ‘has
We are now in the judicial world, where ani- acquired by study or experience sufficient
mals are regarded as biological machines. knowledge of the subject to render his [or her]
We need to articulate and communicate our opinion of value’,iv a description which has
information into a form the court can under- found favour in England and Wales.v
stand – in law, animals are property and any
emotional sentiment will distract the impact R vs Turner [1975] 1 QB 834, 841.
iii

iv
Bonthyon [1984] 38 SASR 45, 47.
v
Stubbs [2006] EWCA Crim 2312, [2006] All ER (D)
See http://www.out-law.com/page-11843 for an
ii
133; Leo Sawrij vs North Cumbria Magistrates’ Court
outline of the case. [2009] EWHC 2823 (Admin), [2010] 1 Cr App R 22.

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 Report Writing 183

For a vet, the relevant expertise is really 12.8.4 Evidentiary reliability

gained on the same day they receive their de-
gree: a vet with 20 years’ experience is con- The expert’s opinion evidence must in other
sidered an expert on a similar level as a new respects satisfy a threshold of acceptable re-
graduate regarding admissibility of evidence. liability.
How much weight the court attributes to the In Bonythonx this admissibility require-
report of a new graduate and a similar report ment was described as being ‘whether the
of a 20-year veteran is up to the court, but subject matter of the [expert’s] opinion
the court cannot deny a new graduate or a 20- forms part of a body of knowledge or experi-
year veteran the right to provide evidence. ence which is sufficiently organized or rec-
ognized to be accepted as a reliable body of
12.8.3 Impartiality knowledge or experience’.xi
The court did not divert from the estab-
lished position that there is no enhanced re-
The expert must be able to provide impar-
liability test for such evidence. Reliability
tial, objective evidence on the matters
of expert evidence is nearly always going to
within his or her field of expertise. In the
be of issue in court. Courts need experts to
civil case of Field vs Leeds City Council,vi
assist them in their determination of a win-
Lord Woolf, the Master of the Rolls, said
ner in an adversarial dispute.
that for an expert to be ‘qualified to give evi-
dence as an expert’, he or she must be able
to provide an objective, unbiased opinion 12.9 Comparison of Jurisdictions
on the matters to which his or her evidence (USA, UK and Australia)
relates. More recently, in the case of Toth vs
Jarman,vii the Court of Appeal (Civil Div-
12.9.1 American views of admissibility
ision) recognized that an expert witness
and reliability
‘should provide independent assistance to
the court by way of objective unbiased opin-
ion’viii and that where an expert witness ‘has The American courts’ views on admissibil-
a material or significant conflict of interest, ity standards are based on two main standards:
the court is likely to decline to act on his [or Daubert and Frye.
her] evidence, or indeed to give permission The Frye Case (1923) involved poly-
for his [or her] evidence to be adduced’.ix graph evidence (the reliability of which was
An expert’s apparent bias does not ren- unclear at the time) and led to a general ad-
der their evidence inadmissible in court. It missibility standard for scientific evidence.
is still allowed into the court. It does, how- Just when a scientific principle or discovery
ever, affect the weight (or reliability) the crosses the line between the experimental
court will attribute to that evidence. and demonstrable stages is difficult to
A pattern is developing that there are define. Somewhere in this twilight zone the
evidential force of the principle must be
very few restrictions placed on an expert’s
recognized, and while the courts will go a
reports and admissibility of evidence. The
long way in admitting experimental
court can’t stop the expert getting in. There testimony deduced from a well-recognized
is, however, inbuilt freedom and flexibility scientific principle or discovery, the thing
to allow varying degrees of emphasis on the from which the deduction is made must be
different experiences of an expert. sufficiently established to have gained
general acceptance in the particular field in
which it belongs.
vi
Field vs Leeds City Council [2000] 1 EGLR 54. (Frye vs United States, 293F. 1013 (DC Cir.
vii
EWCA Civ 1028 [2006] 4 All ER 1276. 1923); emphasis in original)
viii
EWCA Civ 1028 [2006] 4 All ER 1276 at [100],
citing Polivitte Ltd vs Commercial Union Assurance
Co. Plc (1987) 1 Lloyd’s Rep 379, 386. x
Bonthyon [1984] 38 SASR 45.
ix
EWCA Civ 1028 [2006] 4 All ER 1276 at [102]. xi
Bonthyon [1984] 38 SASR 45, 47.

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184 D. Bailey

The interpretation of Frye has been that the provide opinion evidence on the facts be-
technique or scientific procedure that is being fore the court.
introduced into court must be generally While any qualified vet can stand up in
­accepted. And while it does help to keep court and provide evidence as an expert, and
pseudoscience out of the courtroom, it also once you have passed this admissibility test
places great emphasis on the expert’s skills, then you can say whatever you want (as long
experience and credibility. This discovery by as you believe it to be true), when the courts
the courts caused them some difficulty, as it apply Frye and Daubert they are really ask-
placed the experts in a powerful position and ing your evidence to be accepted (Frye) and
took a lot of the decision-making ability from verifiable (Daubert). However, outside court,
the court and placed it into the hands of the new forensic methods and procedures are
expert. In response, a 1993 ruling balanced generally validated by the following.
the test and in Daubert vs Merrell Dow Phar-
• Proof of concept trials and rigorous
maceuticals, the US Supreme Court ruled that
testing.
the ‘general acceptance’ criterion was insuffi-
• Publication in international peer-­
cient. An independent judicial assessment
reviewed journals.
must be carried out to establish a particular
• Implementation of a quality system
technique’s acceptability and this then re-
(e.g. ISO 17025).
turns the power of the court back to the judge.
• Accreditation by the UK Accreditation
The Daubert Test seeks to answer the
Service (UKAS).
following.
While experts seek guidance from the legal
• Does the evidence rest on a proven and
history of Frye and Daubert, there is always
tested technique?
an unwritten old-school approach to report
• Has the underlying science been peer-­
writing. Francis Camps (1905–1972), a Home
reviewed?
Office pathologist, has suggested that an ex-
• Is the error rate (reliability) of the tech-
pert in writing a report must have the follow-
nique known?
ing (Camps, 1973).
• Can the technique be explained simply
to the court? • Knowledge based on proper training in
• What is the expert’s standing in the sci- his/her subject.
entific community and does the tech- • Humility in admitting when there is
nique rely on the expert’s special skill? doubt.
• Courage in desiring to establish the truth.
Although Frye and Daubert do not apply to • Absolute integrity.
British jurisdictions, the general principles
of Daubert are widely accepted in the adver- The Forensic Science Regulator (for the UK)
sarial system outside the USA, including in drafted a code of practice in 2011 for all
Britain and Australia. staff who provide expert evidence and they
should:
have a sufficient level of experience,
knowledge, standing in the peer group and,
12.9.2 The UK view where appropriate, qualifications, relevant
to the type of evidence being adduced, to
There is currently no British statutory sci- give credibility to reliability of the work
entific reliability test. undertaken and the conclusions drawn
There is just one test of admissibility – [and] are able to explain their methodology
you must be recognized by a court as an and reasoning, both in writing and orally,
­expert, i.e. have a degree in veterinary sci- concisely and in a way that is comprehen-
sible to a lay person and not misleading.
ence or medicine. All vets with a relevant
(FSR, 2011, Section 25.2.1)
degree are considered by the court as ex-
perts and are able to provide admissible evi- Within UK law, a seminal case illustrates
dence to a court. An expert is allowed to the court’s frustration with expert w
­ itnesses.

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 Report Writing 185

The Ikarian Reefer case (1993) involved qualification, that qualification should be
a marine insurance claim following the loss stated in the report.
of a vessel at sea. The defence claimed the 6. If after exchange of reports, an expert
vessel had been deliberately run aground witness changes his view on a material
matter having read the other side’s expert’s
and set on fire with the connivance of the
report, or for any other reason, such change
ship’s owners. The judge, Mr Justice Cress- of view should be communicated (through
well, said of the experts: ‘I consider that a legal representatives) to the other side
misunderstanding on the part of certain ex- without delay and where appropriate to the
pert witnesses in the present case as to their Court.
duties and responsibilities contributed to 7. Where expert evidence refers to
the length of the trial’ (Lloyd's Law Reports, photographs, plans, calculations, analyses,
1993, p. 68). measurements, survey reports or other
The principles of expert evidence similar documents they must be provided
which Mr Justice Cresswell laid down in his to the opposite party at the same time as the
exchange of reports.
judgment in this shipping case have become
(Lloyd's Law Reports, 1993, p. 69)
widely accepted as a classic statement of
the duties and responsibilities of expert wit- In the (criminal) case of R vs Thomas Bowman
nesses. They were endorsed by the Court of (2006), recommendations were made, further
Appeal, commended by Lord Woolf in his to those of Cresswell, about what should go
report on the civil justice system in England into the expert’s report.
and Wales, and have been cited with ap-
proval in several subsequent cases. This is 1. Details of the expert’s academic and
not to say, though, that they have won com- professional qualifications, experience and
plete acceptance. accreditation relevant to the opinions
Mr Justice Cresswell set out ‘seven tenets’ expressed in the report and the range and
on experts’ duties and responsibilities: extent of the expertise and any limitations
upon the expertise.
2. A statement setting out the substance of
1. Expert evidence presented to the court all the instructions received (whether
should be, and should be seen to be, the written or oral), questions upon which an
independent product of the expert opinion is sought, the materials provided
uninfluenced as to form or content by the and considered, and the documents,
exigencies of litigation … statements, evidence, information or
2. An expert witness should provide assumptions which are material to the
independent assistance to the court by way opinions expressed or upon which those
of objective unbiased opinion in relation to opinions are based.
matters within his expertise … An expert 3. Information relating to who has carried
witness in the High Court should never out measurements, examinations, tests, etc.
assume the role of advocate. and the methodology used, and whether or
3. An expert witness should state the facts not such measurements, etc. were carried
or assumptions on which his opinion is out under the expert’s supervision.
based. He should not omit to consider 4. Where there is a range of opinion in the
material facts, which could detract from his matters dealt with in the report a summary
concluded opinion … of the range of opinion and the reasons for
4. An expert witness should make it clear the opinion given. In this connection any
when a particular question or issue falls material facts or matters which detract from
outside his expertise. the expert’s opinions and any points which
5. If an expert’s opinion is not properly should fairly be made against any opinions
researched because he considers that expressed should be set out.
insufficient data is available, then this must 5. Relevant extracts of literature or any
be stated with an indication that the other material which might assist the court.
opinion is no more than a provisional one. 6. A statement to the effect that the expert
If the expert cannot assert that the report has complied with his/her duty to the court
contains the truth, the whole truth and to provide independent assistance by way
nothing but the truth without some of objective unbiased opinion in relation to

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186 D. Bailey

matters within his or her expertise and an that a fully objective approach to the prob-
acknowledgment that the expert will inform lem can be made.
all parties and where appropriate the court Subjective opinions, however firmly
in the event that his/her opinion changes based in personal experience, are still at the
on any material issues.
mercy of factors such as inadequate or atyp-
7. Where on an exchange of experts’ reports
matters arise which require a further or
ical experience, some lack of understanding
supplemental report the above guidelines of fundamentals, or even a mental bias of
should, of course, be complied with.xii which its possessor may be totally unaware.
If it can be accepted that nothing is abso-
With a range of court cases and advice given lutely certain, then it becomes logical to de-
to provide ‘clarity’ as to the reliability of termine the degree of confidence that may
­expert evidence, it may be difficult to keep be assigned to a particular belief. It is here
up to date with what is required. A consoli- that statistics may be useful.
dation of views is usually found in guidance Most, if not all, of our amateurish efforts
such as CPS guidance for experts and criminal to justify our own evidence interpretations
and civil procedure rules, which specify the have been deficient in mathematical exact-
content of an expert report or statement. ness and philosophical understanding (Kirk
Scientists disagree on many things, but and Kingston, 1964). Statistical analysis pro-
when experts disagree in the court, it can be vides forensic scientists with a basis for an
extremely damaging. In the case of Angela opinion and an evaluation of the likelihood
Cannings, who was accused in 2003 of kill- that their testimony reflects the truth, rather
ing her two infant children (who, it later than a personal belief or bias.
transpired, both died of Sudden Infant The following passage from Taylor
Death Syndrome), the court of appeal ruled: on Evidence reminds us of the need for
If the outcome of the trial depends ­impartiality:
exclusively, or almost exclusively, on
a serious disagreement between These witnesses are usually required to
­distinguished and reputable experts, it speak not to facts but to opinions and when
will often be unwise, and therefore unsafe, this is the case, it is often quite surprising
to proceed.xiii to see with what facility and to what extent
their views can be made to correspond with
There is no code of practice or code of con- the wishes or the interests of the parties
duct to regulate expert witnesses. Once you who call them.
are a recognized expert in your field, there (P. H. W., 1932, p. 428)
is nothing stopping you from giving expert
evidence. There is, however, guidance pro-
vided to courts as to how much weight they 12.9.3 The Australian view
should apply to your evidence.
It is the function of the expert witness
The high court of Australia has dealt in detail
to provide opinions and to provide a basis on
with the skill necessary to qualify a­witness as
which the opinions rest. Data is derived from
an expert, and with the circumstances in which
the expert’s own experience and literature
the testimony of a skilled person is admissible.
sources and from information obtained from
The putative expert must have undertaken a
associates. The interpretation and evalu-
professional course of study, which has given
ation of this data are mostly subjective – it is
him or her more opportunity of judging the
rare for an opinion to be based on a statistic
matters in question than other people, or must
or probabilistic study alone.
have completed the professional study of what
The attitude required in a report is to
has been described by the high court as an
abandon the idea of absolute certainty, so
organized branch of knowledge relevant to the
subject matter of the inquiry. The standard to
xii
R vs Thomas Bowman [2006] EWCA 417. be applied is somewhat indefinite, and it fol-
xiii
R vs Cannings [2004] EWCA Crim 01. lows that any medical practitioner may be

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 Report Writing 187

admitted to give evidence on any branch of 12.10 Conclusion

medicine. And one can always be found who
will. Courts can’t apply stringent limitations Lord Justice Aikens expressed the view that
on the testimonial capacity of a person who ‘the way expert evidence is dealt with in
is qualified. jury trials is one of the system’s weaker
The fundamental characteristic of ex- links’; the Criminal Bar Association opined
pert evidence is that it is opinion evidence. that the ‘current treatment of expert
This means, significantly, that evidence is evidence in criminal proceedings has
required to exceed a mere description of contributed to a significant number of
miscarriages of justice, risks continuing to
events (vets are comfortable with this) and
do so, and requires urgent reform’; and the
is an interpretation of events (vets are also
Bar Law Reform Committee felt that the
comfortable with this) within a legal con- common law approach to expert evidence
text and framework (vets are unprepared was ‘deeply unsatisfactory’.
for this). A professional expert may give (Law Commission, 2011, Section 3.24)
an opinion of fact, but not an expert opin-
ion. They can’t interpret what they have I discovered the importance of self-­
seen. awareness when studying Forensic Science.
For example, a professional expert (a Opposing barristers unable to shake your
police officer) may not say that a vehicle was expertise in a dispute will then often attack
being driven carelessly. They can only say your character.
that a vehicle ended up in a ditch and they It isn’t until you are challenged in court or
can say it happened at 10.15am on Sunday on your report by another expert that you real-
11 October 2006. An expert opinion may be ize how valuable it is to recognize, learn and
offered by an accident investigator who is attempt to master this skill. Being an expert is
instructed to provide an opinion on the car a recognition of your skills and experience and
in the ditch. They can provide an opinion knowledge, but the guides to expert witness
on the speed of the car and the effort the procedures will never mention a sense of
driver made to brake prior to ending up in the self-awareness as a pre-requisite for being an
ditch. expert. Cross-examining lawyers and solicitors
The court can decide whether, after intuitively know this and they exploit it. They
hearing all this evidence, the car was being will know very little about an expert’s subject
driven carelessly. Only the court can make matter but they tend to avoid this and attack
this claim, and only after hearing all the the expert’s bias. Questions tend to focus on
available evidence. why you said something and how you know
If the relevant legislation has deter- something, not what you said and whether you
mined that careless driving is against the know – they do this because they have learned
law, then a fine or sentence can then be im- about critical thinking, evaluating arguments
posed on that driver by the court, according and understanding bias. They may not know
to guidelines set out in the legislation. your subject area, but they don’t need to.

References

Camps, F. (1973) Camps on Crime. David & Charles, Newton Abbot, Devon, UK.
FSR (Forensic Science Regulator) (2011) Codes of Practice and Conduct for Forensic Science Providers and
Practitioners in the Criminal Justice System. Forensic Science Regulator, Birmingham, UK. Available
­online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118949/codes-
practice-conduct.pdf (accessed 21October 2015).
Harcourt-Brown, T. (2013) The benefits of a strong hypothesis for retrospective research. Veterinary Record
173. 447–448.
Kirk, P.L. and Kingston, C.R. (1964) Evidence evaluation and problems in general criminalistics (paper pre-
sented at the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Chicago, USA).
Journal of Forensic Science 9(4), 434–444.

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188 D. Bailey

Law Commission (2011) Expert Evidence in Criminal Proceedings in England and Wales (Law Com No 325).
Presented to Parliament pursuant to section 3(2) of the Law Commissions Act 1965. The Stationery Of-
fice, London, UK. Available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_
data/file/229043/0829.pdf (accessed 22 October 2015).
Lloyd’s Law Reports (1993) Vol. 2, Part 1: The ‘Ikarian Reefer’. Available online at: http://www.rtpi.org.uk/media/9981/
Ikarian-Reefer.pdf (accessed 22 October 2015).
P. H. W. (1932) Review of R. P. Croom-Johnson, and G. F. L. Bridgman, Taylor on Evidence, 12th edn. The Cambridge
Law Journal 4(3), 428. doi:10.1017/S0008197300132593.

www.pdflobby.com
 13 The Human–Animal Interaction

Pippa Swan*
Clare Veterinary Group, Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

13.1  Introduction 189
13.2   A Historical Context 189
13.3   Towards Enlightenment and Legislation 190
13.4   The Status of Animals 192
13.5   Moral Considerations 192
13.6   Human Attitudes 193
13.7   The Range of Relationships 195
13.8   Positive Human–Animal Relationships 196
13.9   Animal Cruelty 196
13.10 Family Violence and the Link 197
13.11 Hoarding and Bestiality 198
13.12 Conclusion 199

13.1 Introduction 13.2 A Historical Context

That animals and humans always were, The beliefs and practices of the past can ap-
and will continue to be, intricately and in- pear fantastical or incomprehensible. There
extricably linked is borne out by the arts, are numerous accounts of animal killing by
from caveman drawings through painting the Romans on a vast scale for spectacular
and literature to photography; and by sci- entertainment. Animals in Europe were ac-
ence, from Darwin to current studies of ani- cused of crimes, tried in court and sen-
mal biology and behaviour. The relationship tenced to torture and death during the 14th
includes dependence, respect and affection, and 15th centuries. Wild and domesticated
as well as power, exploitation and abuse. animals would commonly be chained and
Our relationships with animals are argu- attacked, or baited, by men and dogs for
ably more complex than our relationships sport in the 16th century. The desires and
with each other. thought processes behind these acts may

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

© CAB International 2016. Practical Veterinary Forensics (ed. D. Bailey) 189

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190 P. Swan

seem anathema to most people today, but and children were all treated in ways which
their shadows remain. There are still those would be considered unfair, cruel or capri-
who kill animals as a pastime and some cious now. Animals were another part of so-
who find pleasure in the destruction or vio- ciety and were accorded status and consid-
lent injury of animals. Anthropocentric mo- eration in line with prevailing cultural
tives, for bad and good, are still attributed to attitudes. On an individual level, there were
animals: pests and assistance dogs, for ex- undoubtedly those who demonstrated com-
ample. Enlightened as most Western cultures passion and kindness to both animals and
consider themselves to be, our relationship people.
with animals can only be understood in the
context of our past. The many inconsisten-
cies and contradictions inherent in the 13.3 Towards Enlightenment
ways humans and animals interact have and Legislation
their roots in history.
Foreign visitors to England in the 18th By the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in
century were often shocked by the type and Great Britain, an increasingly organized and
extent of pursuits involving animals regu- campaigning movement towards more enlight-
larly performed by all classes of people. ened times began with writers, both secular
Bull running, where bulls are run through a and theological, starting to challenge the status
town until exhausted and then set upon by quo. Improvements in the treatment of ani-
dogs or thrown off a bridge, and goose pull- mals, women and slaves were sought. Richard
ing, where horsemen attempt to pull off the Dean in 1767 argued for kinder treatment:
heads of live greased geese suspended up- As Brutes have sensibility, they are capable
side down, were regularly performed for of pain, feel every bang and cut and stab, as
sport in Britain. All types of animal fighting much as he himself (the reader) does, some
were practised, usually to the death. Cats of them perhaps more, and therefore he
were eaten alive at country fairs, cocks were must not treat them as stocks or stones or
tied to stakes and had sticks and stones things that cannot feel.
thrown at them until they were dead and (Dean, 2000, p. 62)
school boys would bite the heads off spar-
rows, tie cats together by the tail and club Humphry Primatt, an Anglican priest, wrote in
hamstrung sheep to death (Ryder, 2000). 1776 ‘Pain is Pain, whether it be inflicted on
Horses and dogs were used as draught man or on beast; and the creature that suffers
(working) animals and would regularly be it, whether man or beast, being sensible of the
subjected to excessively heavy workloads, misery of it while it lasts, suffers Evil’ (Primatt,
beatings and mutilations (Radford, 2001).
­ 2000, p. 62). The most enduring arguments
Vast numbers of animals were killed for were made by the well-known philosopher
food, with many of them driven long dis- Jeremy Bentham in 1780.
tances into cities without food or water and The day may come when the rest of the
then slaughtered by a variety of inhumane animal creation may acquire those rights
methods (Radford, 2001). Calves were hung which never could have been withholden
up alive by their Achilles tendon, hooks from them but by the hand of tyranny. The
stuck through their nostrils and slowly bled French have already discovered that the
to death, pigs were beaten to death in an at- blackness of the skin is no reason why a
tempt to improve meat ­ quality, geese with human being should be abandoned without
their eyes removed were nailed to boards and redress to the caprice of a tormentor. It may
come one day to be recognized, that the
force-fed (Ryder, 2000).
number of the legs, the villosity of the skin,
While past treatment of animals may or the termination of the os sacrum, are
seem to modern sensibilities to be foreign reasons equally insufficient for abandoning
and distressing, the fortunes of disem- a sensitive being to the same fate. What else
powered humans could be similarly brutal. should trace the insuperable line? Is it the
Criminals, the poor, the mad, slaves, women faculty of reason, or, perhaps, the faculty of

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 The Human–Animal Interaction 191

discourse? But a full-grown horse or dog is During the second half of the 19th cen-
beyond comparison a more rational, as well tury, science and scientists rose in profile
as a more conversable animal, than an and importance. Vivisection, the dissection
infant of a day, or a week, or even a month, of living and usually fully conscious ani-
old. But suppose the case were otherwise,
mals, was widely practised across Europe
what would it avail? The question is not,
Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but,
both for scientific discovery and as a form of
Can they suffer? entertainment by physiologists and phys-
(Bentham, 1907, Ch. 17, fn. 122) icians. Many found the practice abhorrent
and women were instrumental in limiting its
A significant concern for many about prac- prevalence and methods in Britain. Frances
tices of animal torment or violence was the Power Cobbe, a writer and social worker, be-
effect that participation might have upon came a prolific and persistent anti-vivisection
those involved. During a parliamentary de- campaigner. The RSPCA was officially op-
bate in 1825, the MP Sir Francis Burdett posed to many of the methods employed by
agreed to support a bill against animal fight- vivisectionists, but was regarded as being
ing and baiting only because he was aware of weak and ineffectual in tackling it. Influen-
‘the injurious effect which such scenes had on tial scientists made a powerful case for vivi-
the morals of society’. And ‘he was not legis- section furthering knowledge and emphasised
lating on a principle of humanity towards its potential to alleviate human suffering. Cob-
brutes, but for men’ (Burdett, 1825, p. 550). be organized petitions signed by prominent
He was also, along with many others at the members of the aristocracy, the church and
time and since, keen to distinguish the pur- the ruling classes and set up her own society,
suits of the upper classes, such as hunting, latterly the British Union for the Abolition of
from those, such as bull baiting, carried out by Vivisection, to lobby and submit Bills for
those considered less desirable and poten- the regulation of vivisection to Parliament.
tially villainous members of society. That un- Queen Victoria made her opposition to the
kindness to animals is undesirable, not just dissection of conscious animals known to
because of the effects on the animals, but be- government ministers and made a donation
cause of the desensitizing and dehumanizing to the RSPCA specifically for their campaign.
effects on the perpetrator, remains in contem- A Royal Commission into the subject was
porary thinking through the suggested link eventually set up in 1876. Its members were
between animal abuse and domestic violence. at times so horrified by the descriptions pro-
Legislation to reduce the worst excesses vided by scientists that they were convinced
of animal cruelty was gradually introduced that some form of control was needed. Dr
during the 19th century by Richard Martin, Emanuel Klein, a lecturer at St Bartholomew’s
Lord Erskine and John Lawrence, among Hospital, explained that:
others. Britain at this time appears to have
when dogs are operated upon they are
emerged from being ‘the cruellest nation in fastened down by broad bands, their limbs
Europe’ to being the leader of a humane re- being extended and secured – when he finds
action (Ryder, 2000). Without a police force inconvenience from the cries of the animal
to enforce the new laws, Martin established he uses chloroform – as rabbits do not howl
a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to or scratch he never anaesthetises them.
Animals in 1822, a prosecuting and campaign- (RSPCA and Royal Commission,
ing body, which was later awarded royal pa- 1876, pp. 178–179)
tronage to become the RSPCA. Interest from
Queen Victoria and other ladies of society The Commission eventually concluded that
led to concern about animal suffering being the use of animals in legitimate research was
regarded as ‘feminine’ in nature. Over time not, in itself, immoral, but limits must be
this has resulted in criticism from those op- placed and certain practices should be
posed to greater protection of animals being banned. Scientists then, and sometimes
directed at a perceived ‘womanly’ or overly now, were keen to dissociate science from
sentimental approach to animals. moral considerations, suggesting that it was

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192 P. Swan

a discipline apart, without value judge- and obliged by law to care and provide for
ments and so should not be constrained. As their animals during the time they are
recently as 1990, an American neurosur- deemed responsible, and they can also be held
geon, Robert J. White, stated that ‘animal responsible for any abuse or suffering the
usage is not a moral or ethical issue and ele- animals may experience. Otherwise who
vating the problem of animal rights to such would be responsible for providing for their
a plane is a disservice to medical research needs or protecting their welfare? Disadvan-
and the farm and dairy industry’ (White, 1990, tages emerge when owners use their animals
p. 43). While some were arguing that animals in ways which others find morally repugnant,
could and should be used in science because such as performing tricks for entertainment
they were unlike people, and therefore out- or for the mass production of food or fur.
side moral consideration, another influen-
tial scientist, Charles Darwin, was arguing
how much like animals humans are. The 13.5 Moral Considerations
full implications of his conclusions on the
close relationship between ourselves and Most people these days find it self-evident
other animals were not fully appreciated that animals fall within the moral circle.
then and perhaps still have yet to be. That animals are capable of feelings and
After some progress in the treatment of emotions to which we can relate makes it
animals and their legal standing in the late necessary to treat them well. Philosophers
19th and early 20th centuries, the immense have spent some considerable time examin-
and profound effects of the First and Se- ing and describing the nature of our relation-
cond World Wars effectively halted any fur- ship with animals from many perspectives,
ther significant progress. It was not until the and have outlined the ways in which it is
1960s and 1970s that philosophers began to wanting and should be changed. Debates in
take a serious interest in animals and their ethical theory about the type and extent of
status in society. Influential work was pub- any desirable or acceptable restrictions on
lished by Ruth Harrison, Peter Singer, Rich- human behaviour have offered different,
ard Ryder, Tom Regan and Bernard Rollin, and sometimes contradictory, answers. The
among many others. Increasing awareness pragmatic result is that on a personal, cul-
of animal consciousness and, crucially, le- tural and legislative level the treatment of
gislation to enforce consideration and pro- animals is determined by a mixture of moral
tection became the norm for many countries concern, practicality and self-interest.
round the world by the early 21st century. The approach of those in the developed
world to most ethical problems is based on
Utilitarian theory. This requires that we act
13.4 The Status of Animals in a way which brings about the best conse-
quences for all those affected by the out-
Throughout all the changes outlined during come. This, of course, still requires some
the last few hundred years, the status of ani- agreement on what might be considered the
mals as property has not changed in most ‘best’ consequences, and whether the ex-
countries. Although generally the infliction treme suffering of a few can be outweighed
of suffering is prohibited, an owner still by huge benefits to the majority. It also re-
commands total control over the destiny lies on our ability to accurately predict what
and purpose of that animal’s life. They may the consequences of any action will be since
use it, or kill it, within certain limits, in any the outcome determines its moral accept-
way they choose. There are advantages and ability. Such cost–benefit analyses are usu-
disadvantages to this status and it has a pro- ally the basis for new legislation and form
found effect on any ethical debate about the an integral part of much decision making in
possibility of animals possessing any inher- the public and commercial sector. In many
ent rights within society. The main advantage situations the costs are easily mitigated or
is that an animal owner can be identified obviously justified by the proposed benefits.

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 The Human–Animal Interaction 193

Hence the use of animals by their human animals as existing for the purposes of man
owners is acceptable, since their interests and so justifies their use for the betterment
are often mutual. The ownership of pets po- of mankind. These views still percolate into
tentially has an overall positive benefit for current thinking and the attitudes of indi-
both, with the provision of affectionate care viduals and governments.
adequately compensating for a reduction in Much of the ‘worth’ of animals in soci-
freedom and self-determination. Similarly, ety is related to their relative importance to
the use of animals in sport, assistance or humans. Concern about the treatment of
law enforcement is considered an acceptable animals is therefore related to the effect on
trade-off between useful outcomes, a fulfil- the humans most affected by it. The harm
ing life and meeting their needs. inflicted by abusing an animal therefore is
A problem for some about an exclu- not, or not only, to the animal itself, but also
sively Utilitarian view is the fate of a minor- to the owner or person who is personally
ity or the weak. The infliction of significant attached to it. They may experience not just
or enduring suffering on one individual so material loss but psychological distress. By
that many others may experience pleasure this reasoning, we have few direct duties
may satisfy the equation but still leave us towards animals, only indirect ones gov-
feeling uncomfortable. Another view is that erned by our moral duties to each other.
individuals have inherent value and the cor- The law generally provides more protec-
rect action depends not on its consequences tion for those animals which are important
but on appropriate, respectful treatment of to humans, whether financially or emotion-
them. The idea that individuals, who exist ally, than for those which are not. Animals
as ends in themselves, must not be treated regarded as pests, for example, may be killed
as means to another’s end was suggested by in ways which would not be considered ac-
Kant (1724–1804; Kart et al., 2002) and is ceptable for other species. Similarly, the
echoed today by those who promote the harm caused by deliberate animal abuse is
idea of animal ‘rights’. The idea that certain not just considered undesirable because of
negative consequences cannot be outweighed the animal’s suffering, but because of the ef-
by a proposed benefit is also found in the fect of such behaviour on the person com-
law and popular culture. A ban on the use mitting it and the implications for their re-
of the great apes in research has been passed lationship with vulnerable people such as
in the EU because they are considered the women and children. Animals are now con-
closest species to human beings, having the sidered as potential ‘sentinels’ in the detec-
most advanced social and behavioural tion of domestic violence (National Link
skills (Directive 2010/63/EU, para. 18). In Coalition, n.d.).
New Zealand and Spain, great ape species have
been granted basic rights (The Week, 2013).
Many people are opposed to the killing of 13.6 Human Attitudes
animals for fur or the use of circus animals
on moral as well as purely welfare grounds. The psychological, sociological and cultural
Christianity and Judaism promote a aspects of the wide spectrum of human–animal
view of humans as fundamentally different, interactions have been considered by a large
being made in the image of God, from the number of researchers and writers. An ex-
rest of animal kind and uniquely possessing pansive analysis of the existing literature is
a soul. Man is given ‘dominion’ over the beyond the scope of this chapter. One attempt
animals of the earth, air and sea in the Bible to categorize the various attitudes which
and the nature of this dominion is debated humans hold towards or about animals was
by those within the church to this day. Islam made by Kellert (1980), using questionnaires
largely views animals in relation to man, al- to assess the attitudes, knowledge and behav-
though they can be regarded as sacred or iour of more than 3000 randomly selected
‘Muslim’. A conservative interpretation of Americans. A scale of nine basic attitudes is
religious texts forms the basis for a view of described in Table 13.1.

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194 P. Swan

Table 13.1. The nine basic human attitudes towards animals as described by Kellert (1980).

% of US Population
Attitude Description Strongly Oriented

Naturalistic Primary interest in and affection for wildlife and the outdoors. 10%
Ecologistic Primary concern for the environment and the interrelationships 7%
between wildlife species and natural habitats.
Humanistic Principle interest and strong affection for individual animals, 35%
principally pets and large mammals.
Moralistic Primary concern for the right and wrong treatment of animals, 20%
with strong opposition to exploitation or cruelty towards
animals.
Scientistic Primary interest in physical attributes and biological functioning 1%
of animals.
Aesthetic Primary interest in the artistic and symbolic characteristics of 15%
animals.
Utilitarian Primary concern for the practical and material value of animals 20%
or the animal’s habitat.
Dominionistic Primary interest in the mastery and control of animals, typically 3%
in sporting situations.
Negativistic/ Active or passive avoidance of animals due to indifference, 37%
Neutralistic dislike or fear.

Some of these attitudes were positively cor- Love, sympathy, identification

related, as one might expect, since certain +1
­beliefs are linked and based on underlying
themes, and others were negatively correl-
Affect

ated. These underlying themes could be

simplified into:
two broad and conflicting dimensional Detrimental to Beneficial to
perceptions of animals. The moralistic and human interests human interests
utilitarian attitudes clash around the theme
–1 Utility +1
of human exploitation of animals … the
negativistic and humanistic attitudes tend
to clash, although in a more latent fashion,
around the theme of affection for animals.
(Kellert, 1980, pp. 89–90)

These themes have been distilled by Serpell –1

(2004) into two primary motivations: affec- Fear, loathing, disidentification
tion towards animals, or ‘Affect’, and economic
or pragmatic considerations, or ‘Utility’. Af- Fig. 13.1. Diagrammatic representation of the
fect and Utility, he suggests, can be repre- postulated relationship between the primary affect
sented in two dimensions by a continuum and utility attitude dimensions.
between positive and negative as shown in
Fig. 13.1. since they are considered to cause problems
Some animals appear to fit easily into for humans and often provoke feelings of
the upper-right quadrant, such as assistance ­revulsion and antipathy. Problems, or poten-
dogs. They are both highly useful and generally tially conflict, can arise when animals are
held in great regard by their owners and so- especially useful, but do not always engender
ciety. Animals regarded as pests might be affectionate feelings – farmed chickens, for
expected to occupy the lower-left quadrant example, are held in high regard for their

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 The Human–Animal Interaction 195

usefulness, but are not particularly loved. and some animals given additional signifi-
On the other hand, endangered species such cance, such as cows in Hinduism or pigs in
as the tiger or orang-utan pose problems of Islam and Judaism. Some cultures revere
significant imposition on human resources, certain types of interaction: hunting, for
but evoke great affection. For many people food or trophies, or bull fighting may be
there is an inherent difficulty in reconcil- considered a noble and enriching pursuit by
ing their affectionate feelings towards ani- those involved. Popular culture and the
mals with their relative utility, since animal media also significantly influence attitudes,
use invariably raises issues of welfare and and the relative coverage given to certain
killing. types of animals or types of animal use may
People’s basic attitudes to and percep- sway people’s opinions about how and
tions about animals are influenced or modi- what animals are. Certain types of dog
fied by many factors. Serpell suggests three are labelled as ‘dangerous’; anthropomorph-
categories of ‘attitude modifiers’: animal at- ized animals, such as meerkats, squirrels
tributes, individual human attributes and and penguins, are used in advertising cam-
cultural factors. Certain types of physical paigns; and children’s literature is full of
appearance or behaviour makes some ani- animal characters. The production of fur
mals likely to produce a positive emotional for clothing generates significant levels of
response in people. An aesthetically pleas- disapprobation, whereas the keeping of bat-
ing physical form, looking ‘cute’, and be- tery chickens or production of leather is
haviours to which we can, or believe we broadly accepted, despite comparable wel-
can, relate will raise their status and hence fare and moral concerns. Science also con-
consideration. Those who deliberately harm tinues to modify attitudes. Television pro-
such animals will be judged harshly. Even grammes describing the latest discoveries
legally sanctioned harms, such as the kill- about animal capabilities and the intricate
ing of non-native species (e.g. grey squirrels) balance of animal species in the environ-
or culling populations for disease control ment affects the attitudes of much of soci-
(e.g. badgers), may cause considerable outrage ety. Intensive animal farming and slaughter
and conflict. or the use of laboratory animals cause con-
The attitudes of individuals towards flicts of affect and utility and are much less
animals can be expected to vary with gen- commonly portrayed. Scientific study of
der, age, level of education, urban or rural animals still highlights the very many simi-
existence, childhood experience, religiosity larities between ourselves and animals, but
and personality. Broadly speaking, women, also raises significant concerns by using
younger adults, the higher educated, urban animals in research or applying scientific
dwellers, those who kept childhood pets and medical principles to further refine the
and the less religious have higher levels of already highly technological use of animals
positive Affect. Conversely men, older for food.
adults, the poorly educated, rural dwellers
and the more religious tend to have higher
levels of positive Utility. The nature of past,
or ongoing, relationships with animals will 13.7 The Range of Relationships
also modify people’s attitudes: some may
have experience of abusive childhood–­ While there is much to say about humans’
animal interactions or be heavily reliant on collective relationship with animals, it is at
animals to make a living (Serpell, 2004). the individual level that forensic practitioners
As previously outlined, the cultural at- generally become involved. The need for fo-
titudes of the past still affect our beliefs rensic science by the judicial system in the
about animals today and a great deal of bag- resolution of a legal dispute usually relates
gage still encumbers the relationship. Reli- to an individual person and their interaction,
gion colours attitudes, with the utility of whether brief or prolonged, with an animal
animals for man emphasized in most cases, or small group of animals. Commonly this

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196 P. Swan

involves the infliction, or omission, of par- racing of horses, dogs and pigeons, show
ticular acts by the individual on an animal, jumping and hunting. These animals are
but could also include the infliction of in- less likely to be regarded as significant indi-
jury by an animal; dog bites, for example. viduals in themselves, since the purpose for
Personal relationships with animals can range which they are kept often assumes a greater
from those characterized by deep affection emphasis.
and close bonding, through benign and prac-
tical utility, to feelings of fear, antipathy and
the deliberate infliction of harm.
13.9 Animal Cruelty

It is perhaps not surprising, given the preva-

13.8 Positive Human–Animal lence of socially permitted, animal-targeted
Relationships violence in the past, that animals are still
the occasional recipients of deliberately in-
There are numerous stories of dog owners flicted abuse. A relatively limited number of
rescuing dogs from drowning in situations studies have examined the reasons why
which endanger their own lives, sometimes some people abuse animals, often with the
resulting in their own death (WGRZ, 2014). focus of determining whether such people
In the serious bush fires in Australia in 2009, also pose a risk to others. Kellert and Felthous
the time taken to persuade people to leave (1985) questioned groups of aggressive
animals increased the risks for evacuees and criminals, non-­aggressive criminals and non-­
rescuers and several people died while try- criminals about their past experiences with
ing to save dogs, horses and cattle from the animals and proposed nine animal cruelty
flames (Thompson, 2013). There is increas- motivations:
ing recognition of the range and richness of • To exert control.
benefits that companion animals can bring to • Retaliation against an animal.
humans. Studies have confirmed that the pres- • To satisfy prejudice against an animal.
ence and companionship of animals, particu- • To express aggression.
larly dogs and cats, can reduce or ameliorate • To enhance one’s own aggressiveness.
the effects of loneliness, isolation and nega- • To shock people.
tive life events. They have a beneficial effect • Retaliation against another person.
on self-esteem, child development, social • To displace hostility.
interaction and have a suggested additional • Non-specific sadism.
therapeutic effect on those with autism or
learning difficulties (Mills and Hall, 2014). The relative frequency of these motiv-
Companion animals, for many, would be re- ations was further explored by Hensley and
garded as family members. Animals in the Tallichet (2005) by sending questionnaires
context of a close and ‘loving’ relationship to prison inmates in the Southern USA
will be generally treated with affection and (Table 13.2).
consideration and could be regarded as being There are inherent problems with stud-
at the most positive end of the affection and ies investigating ‘animal cruelty’, since the
utility spectrum. Working animals used by law definition of precisely what, and to whom,
enforcement agencies and the armed forces is considered cruel treatment (physical,
and assistance dogs are often uniquely useful psychological, what species? involving death?)
because of their innate skills or level of training. is somewhat subjective, and self-reporting
For a significant number of people, by perpetrators is vulnerable to both under-
their relationship with animals may be of an and over-representation. None the less, anger
impersonal, loosely benign or utilitarian na- and fun seem to be the main motivators for
ture without the need to seek out or main- animal cruelty, with dislike, fear and the
tain contact. Animals are used for leisure imposition of control being important, and
and sporting activities, such as showing, the possibly contributory, factors, since inmates

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 The Human–Animal Interaction 197

Table 13.2. Frequencies and percentages of inmates and egg’ theory and instead linking animal
who committed childhood and/or adolescent abuse with other complex and more general-
animal cruelty and their motivations for engaging ized deviant behaviour (Arluke et al., 1999).
in these acts (n = 112).

Motivation Number Percentage

For fun 43 38.4 13.10 Family Violence and The Link

Out of anger 54 48.2
Dislike for the animal 25 22.3 The proposed relationship of animal abuse
Shock people 5 4.5 and other sorts of interpersonal abuse, vio-
Fear of animal 24 21.4
lence and neglect, especially towards chil-
Impress someone 11 9.8
Revenge against someone 16 14.3
dren, forms the basis for ‘The Link’ (National
Control the animal 25 22.3 Link Coalition, n.d.). Acknowledgement of
Sex 16 14.3 ‘The Link’ between child maltreatment, elder
Imitation 17 15.2 abuse, domestic violence and animal abuse
forms the basis for a suggestion that social and
health services, veterinary practitioners and
could select more than one motivation. animal welfare organizations should work to-
Other findings were that inmates from an gether. They need to identify, and intervene
urban background were more than four in, those situations where a ‘red flag’ – neglect
times more likely to have abused out of fun, or non-accidental injury of an animal, for
and that those who abused alone were seven example – indicates that other family mem-
times more likely to have abused out of bers may be at risk. Using this approach, any-
anger. The abuse of animals has been con- one aware of, or investigating, an incident of
sidered for the past 20 years as one of sev- animal abuse, where that animal lives as part
eral potential diagnostic factors when diag- of a family, should alert social services or
nosing Conduct Disorder in children by the health professionals to the possibility of other
American Psychiatric Association (2013). family victims. In an echo of the sentiments of
Conduct Disorder is one of the most fre- Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), who wished to
quently diagnosed conditions in outpatient forbid cruelty towards animals, ‘to remove a
and inpatient mental health facilities for man’s mind from exercising cruelty towards
children and a substantial proportion con- other men, lest anyone, from exercising cruelty
tinue to show behaviours which in adult- upon brutes, should go on hence to human
hood then meet criteria for Antisocial Per- beings’ (Aquinas, 2000, 29), the modern focus
sonality Disorder. Children with Conduct is to regard the mistreatment of animals as
Disorder typically have little empathy or part of a wider social problem, the signifi-
concern for the feelings and well-being of cance of which is greater than just concern for
others, often destroy property and are often the animals involved.
aggressive to people and animals. Researchers Arluke has argued that childhood animal
have also tried to link certain types of child- abuse may be for many children a form of
hood behaviour with adult violence, some ‘dirty play’, which, along with other sorts of
studies point to a connection between a potentially undesirable childhood activities,
‘triad’ of behaviours in boys – bedwetting, enables children to act out certain adult be-
firesetting and cruelty to animals – and the haviours as part of their development and may
committing of violent aggressive crimes in reflect the conflicting values of society when it
adulthood (Miller, 2001). The presence of a comes to animals. After a series of detailed
‘violence graduation hypothesis’, whereby interviews with university students reflecting
abusers start their careers, often as children, on childhood animal cruelty, he states:
with animals and then progress on to in-
creasing levels of aggression and violence, When respondents reflected on and
is a matter of some debate, with some au- grappled with what their animal abuse said
thors challenging the simplistic ‘chicken about them, the stories they told themselves

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198 P. Swan

about themselves were no more or less sought in the excessive accumulation and
contradictory than those writ big across our acquisition of objects, often those things
society’s ambiguous and shifting canvas of considered ‘rubbish’ by others. The demo-
human–animal relationships. graphics of the different types of hoarding
(Arluke, 2002)
show some variations, however; animal
hoarders tend to be female, middle-aged or
Many animal abusers, in common with some
older, not in work, and do not begin their
child abusers, may express high levels of af-
hoarding behaviour early in life. Both object
fection for the animals they abuse. In chaotic
and animal hoarders tend to live in single-­
and violent households with poorly func-
person households, are socially isolated
tioning parental models, animals may find
and have a history of traumatic life events,
themselves scapegoated as an outlet for
with dysfunctional and chaotic childhood
anger, used as a instrument of control through
homes (Frost et al., 2011). While animal
the threat of harm or destruction, or categor-
hoarding is now recognized by many as a
ized as a ‘bad’ animal when compared to
psychopathological problem in its own
others in the house. Some poor treatment of
right, it may also be accompanied by other
animals may originate from a lack of famil-
psychiatric disorders, and its diagnosis and
iarity with their needs, conflicts over the
treatment is exceptionally complex. Animal
provision of their care, unrealistic expect-
hoarders typically identify strongly with
ations about their abilities, and unfamiliar-
animals and may describe their relation-
ity with effective ways of achieving desired
ship with them as being equivalent to, or bet-
behaviour (Deviney et al., 1998).
ter than, their relationships with people. The
reasons for having so many animals may
be due to passive acquisition, usually due
to uncontrolled breeding; or active, where
13.11 Hoarding and Bestiality animals such as strays or those in need of
‘rescue’ are sought. Perhaps the most strik-
A problem of, sometimes extreme, animal ing feature of animal hoarders is:
welfare concern, related to professed strong
animal affection is that of animal hoarding. that in the face of professed love and desire
This phenomenon has been increasingly to care for animals, there can be tremendous
recognized since the 1980s, mainly in the animal neglect and suffering. Invariably, an
USA, with a relatively limited number of re- animal hoarder will ignore, minimize, or
deny adverse events as obvious as starva-
searchers specifically addressing the topic.
tion, severe illness, and death along with
An animal hoarder has been defined as:
environmental effects of the hoarding, such
as household destruction.
someone who accumulates a large number (Patronek and Nathanson, 2009)
of animals; fails to provide minimal
standards of nutrition, sanitation, and
Hoarders’ profound lack of insight into the
veterinary care; and fails to act on the
deteriorating condition of the animals
reality of the situation for themselves and
(including disease, starvation, and even their animals, and their need for control,
death) or the environment (severe over- makes resolution particularly difficult. Animal
crowding, extremely unsanitary conditions) hoarders strongly resist attempts to remove
or the negative effect of the collection on animals from them, have an extremely
their own health and well-being and on that high recidivism rate and will invariably
of other household members. begin acquiring replacement animals at the
(Patronek, 1999) earliest opportunity even after prosecution
(Williams, 2014).
There are suggestions by mental health pro- Since incidents of animal hoarding often
fessionals that animal hoarding is an exten- require the involvement of a wide range of
sion of the pathological hoarding of inani- agencies: environmental health, housing,
mate objects where control and identity are social services, police, fire, mental health

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 The Human–Animal Interaction 199

and animal welfare, the challenges of deal- since self-reporting about acts generally ab-
ing with the problem can be significant, since horred by society is likely to be fraught
there could well be a poor understanding of with inaccuracy. There does seem to be a
the responsibilities, and legal authority, of group of people who view human–animal
each different agency. This can be further sexual relations as part of a spectrum of
complicated by unpredictable responses of available sexual experiences and as an ex-
the public and media to those hoarders who pression of warm feelings towards animals.
may be portrayed as selfless animal lovers Caucasian men more commonly practice
who have been unfairly punished for at- bestiality than women, with dogs of both
tempting to save animals (Williams, 2014). sexes being the most common species in-
One final area where the intentions of volved, along with horses and farm animals
humans may be judged as deluded, per- of either sex (Beetz, 2008). For many, there
verse or even malicious is bestiality. In are both moral and welfare concerns
most cultures it is, and always has been, a about whether animals can ever ‘consent’
great taboo, generating feelings of moral re- to such acts, even if there is no apparent
vulsion. In many jurisdictions, the per- infliction of pain or use of force or coer-
formance of any sexual acts involving ani- cion, and they appear to be willing or un-
mals is outlawed regardless of the details of concerned.
the specific act. The subject is generally not
discussed, and there have been limited
studies into its prevalence and practice. In 13.12 Conclusion
situations involving violence and injury, it
may be that there is merely an added sexual Because animals are part of, and sometimes
dimension to animal abuse carried out for central to, the lives of so many people, vet-
reasons of anger, fun, retaliation or sadism, erinary forensic practitioners will find
as discussed previously. Some acts may be themselves required in a wide variety of
the result of experimentation by children or situations. Human–animal relationships are
young adults, either as a result of their own far from fading in importance or reducing in
childhood sexual abuse or along the lines number, despite progressive urbanization
of ‘dirty play’. There have, however, been and industrialization. With increasing pro-
some more recent studies into a proposed tection for animals being sought by legisla-
‘zoophilia’, which, while it may involve tion around the world and the recognition
sexual acts between humans and animals, of important connections in our inter-
or ‘bestiality’, implies an emotional and actions with animals and with each other,
­affectionate dimension to the relationship. the need for veterinary forensics will become
The area is by its nature difficult to research, increasingly necessary.

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 Index

Note: Page numbers in bold type refer to figures; page numbers in italic type refer to tables; and page
numbers followed by ‘n’ refer to notes.

abductive reasoning 15 American Board of Forensic Odontology

abductivism 16 (ABFO) 167
abuse No. 2 Bitemark Scale 164, 164
animal 5, 6, 53, 193, 197–198, 199 American Board of Forensic Toxicology Inc.
child 169 (ABFT) 153
child sexual 199 American Dental Association (ADA) 166
substance 55 American Psychiatric Association (APA) 197
accelerants 74 American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors
acetate overlays 165–166, 166, 167, (ASCLD) 153
168, 172 ammunition 82, 83, 84, 85–87, 89, 97
admissibility 176–177 air weapons 106
Australia 186–187 calibres 83, 85
evidence 120, 182–183 cartridges 85–87, 92, 92, 94, 95–96
UK 184–186 composition 85–86
USA 183–184 fired 86–87, 95–96
adults unfired 96
dog bites 160–161, 162 see also ballistics; bullets; pellets
African Swine Fever 44 anabolic-androgenic steroids 21
ageing populations 41 analytical reasoning 177
aggression animal abuse 53, 193, 199
dogs 171 children 197–198
agriculture 44 prosecution 5, 6
air resistance 92, 94 animal psychology 46
air weapons 83, 84, 86 Animal Welfare Act (2006) 28, 29, 31, 32
ammunition 106 animal–human relationships 46, 195–196
guns animals
pellets 105, 106, 114 affect 194–195, 194
wounds 105–106, 114 historical context 189–190
pistols 84 worth 193
rifles 114 animated movies
algorithms 42 crime scenes 56
alpha nortestosterone 21–23 ante-mortem injuries 131

201

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202 Index

ante-mortem toxicology 149 biological concepts 6–8

antibiotics 41 biological science 6, 8, 10
farms 41 biological variability 155
food animals 151 biology 8, 13, 14
antibodies 154 bioterrorism 44
antimicrobial resistance 41 birds 3, 105
Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) 197 bite wounds 120
anti-terrorism 2 bitemarks
apes analysis 2, 14, 159–174
great 25–26, 30, 193 dogs 2, 159–174, 196
Arbidar Animal Hair and Fur Collection 77 false positive 168
archaeology 13 forensic techniques 163–167
forensic 13, 14, 19n human 162–163, 168, 169
arthritis 38 literature review 167–170
arthropods 150–151 photography 120, 164, 172
assistance dogs 194 rodents 162
asthma 38 black bears 71
athletes blood 13, 118–133
animal 151, 152 adhesion 125
Australia 186–187 analysis 120–121
autism 196 carbon dioxide 122
autonomy 27 clotting 120, 122, 123, 125
Avian Influenza 47 cohesion 124, 124
description 122
discolouration 122
bacteria 105, 169 drops 126, 128
badgers 195 dryness 122, 123
baiting 64 force of ejection 125
ball-bearing guns 105 forces acting in 124–125
ballistic coefficient 92 forces acting on 125
ballistics 4, 7, 8, 9, 81–117 interpretation 120–121
definition 82 maturity 119
external 82, 91–95, 97 oxygen 122
intermediate 82, 89–91 patterns 129–130
internal 82, 87–89, 91, 97 analysis 4, 9, 15, 119, 120, 131
terminal 82, 95, 97 plasma 122
wound 82 presumptive screening 121
bank cheques 140, 141 red cells 122
bank notes 140, 141 samples 119, 120, 154
Bar Law Reform Committee 187 cattle 4
barium nitrate 87 serum 125
barristers 9, 56, 178, 187 spatter 8, 120, 122–123, 131
Base of Economic Pyramid (BOP) 4, 45, 46 surface tension 124, 124
Bayes’ Theorem 16–17 on surfaces 125, 125
bears transfusions 119
black 71 types 119
brown 111, 111, 112 viscosity 124–125
polar 28 bloodstains
beavers 102 analysis 120, 125, 126
behaviour categories 129
dogs 170 close-up photographs 126
best practice 37 colour 123
bestiality 4, 198–199 deer 130
bias 180, 181, 183, 187 directionality 129, 129
bilirubin 130 observations 129
biliverdin 130 patterns 106
biofuels 43 photography 125, 126, 126, 127

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 Index 203

point of convergence 129 cattle 21–23

position 123 cruelty 29
shape 123 herds 104
size 123 pedigree claims 4
The Blue Dog© 171 skin 130
Bluetongue 44 CCTV cameras 120
bob cats chain of custody 55, 147, 149, 150, 163
hair 77 chemical analysis 3
bodily integrity 26 chemistry 6, 7, 13, 14
bodily liberty 26 chickens
bone cancer 18 farmed 194–195
bows 84 chikungunya virus (CKV) 44
brain tumours 18 child abuse 169
breast cancer 18, 42 children
British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection animal abuse 197–198
(BUAV) 191 dog bites 160–161, 162,
brown bear 170–172, 170
shootings 111, 111, 112 sexual abuse 199
bruises 122, 130–131 chimpanzees 25
colour 130–131, 132, 132 Chipperfield’s Circus 28
wound ageing 132, 132 chloracetate esterase 131
bullets 86, 96, 122 Christianity 193
fragments 102 chromatography 138, 154
handguns 102, 112 circuses 28
hunting 102 civil claims 4
identification 107 civil courts 25
pistols 94 clenbuterol hydrochloride 65
recovery 112–113 climate change 47
revolvers 94 clinical decisions 35
rifles 94, 102, 112 clinical thinking 10–11
skin penetration 103 clinical toxicology 146
storage 113, 113 cloning 46
wounds 107, 113–114 coaching bias 180
channels 97 cognitive abilities
bulls animals 27, 30
baiting 191 collaborations 38–39
fighting 195 One Health 39–41, 47–48
bush fires 196 College of American Pathologists
bush meat 64, 65 (CAP) 153
Common Law Admissibility Test 182
communication signals
camels 28, 77 dogs 170
Canada balsam 71 companion animals 196
cancer 18, 38, 42 comparative orthopaedic research 40–41
and trauma 18–19 comparison microscopes 69
cannonballs 90 Compassion in World Farming 29
capillary electrophoresis (CE) 154, 155 computer tomography (CT) 97, 107
CAPSS 123 conclusions
captive animals reporting 143–144
property status 24–25 stipulation of 143–144
carbon dioxide (CO2) 84, 122 Conduct Disorder (CD) 197
carcasses 106, 111 confidentiality 181–182
cartridges 85–87, 92, 92, 94, 95–96 confirmatory tests 154
cats conflict zones 47
dental formula 162 consciousness
hair 77 animals 192
shootings 114, 114, 115 consumers 39

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204 Index

contamination 43, 149, 163 cruelty 5, 28–29, 31, 52, 53, 64, 73, 196–197
bacterial 105 cattle 29
cross- 14, 112 definition 31
evidence 51 legislation 190–192
contract research 3 motivations 196–197, 197
control hair samples 67, 70, 77–78 suspects 54
cortisol 149 crystallography 14
cost–benefit analyses 192 culling 195
councils culture
local 53, 54 popular 195
Court of Appeals 26
courts 7, 8, 11, 16, 17, 36, 176, 180, 181, 187
animal suffering 33 dairy products
civil 25 melamine in 43
evidence 13 Dangerous Dogs Act (UK, 1991) 161, 171
facts 12 data
procedures 8 interpretation 15
skills 9 pharmaco-vigilance 43
cow pox 38 databases
coyotes 77 veterinary practices 42
Crime Scene Investigators (CSIs) 13, 16 Daubert Ruling 135, 169
crime scenes 2, 5, 15, 106 Daubert Standard 152
animals 120 Daubert Test 184
animated movies 56 Daubert vs Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals
arrival at 53–54 (1993) 169, 184
dead animals 61 dead animals 59, 61
definition 53–54 decisions
documentation 120 clinical 35
evidence 120, 126, 149 decomposing bodies 74
evidence collection 50–51, 59 deduction 15
evidence logs 57, 59, 61 deer
examination 13, 17, 54–55 antlers 130
examiners 53 bloodstains 130
final survey 61 hairs 69, 130
hair 63, 64 hunting 130
human 120 deformation 102
measuring 57 Dengue fever 44
photography 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, dental casts 165, 166, 172
120, 149 dental charts
physical evidence evaluation 59 dogs 165
processing 9, 123 dental formula
protection 55 cats and dogs 162
recording 56–59 Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
sketching 56–57, 58, 59 (DARD) 4, 22
toxins 146 diabetes 38
videos 56 mellitus 41
crimes 9 diagnosis 43, 48
human 64 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) 46
wildlife 64, 97 diseases
Criminal Bar Association (CBA) 187 control 38
criminal law 181 epidemiology 38
criminology 14 pandemic 47
critical thinking 10–11, 181, 182 prevention 44
crossbows 84 species 41
cross-contamination 14, 112 treatment 42
cross-examination 176, 187 viral 44
crossroads disciplines 12 zoonotic 40, 44

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 Index 205

disputes domestic animals

legal 36, 37 property status 24–25
resolution 180, 195 doping 151
DNA 6, 9, 13, 67, 119, 120, 165 dot matrix printers 139
analysis 4, 7–8 DPX 70
canine 164 drugs
dog bites 168–169 analysis 70
hair 70 illegal 150
profiling performance-enhancing 149, 151, 152, 154
hair 63 dye analysis 70
saliva 172
short tandem repeat 169
documents 119 education
age 143 dog bites 170–171, 172
altered 142 e-Health 42
crime scenes 120 electromagnetic spectrum 139
dating 143 electronic collars 3
evidence 4, 9, 53, 134–145 ElectroStatic Detection Apparatus (ESDA) 139, 141
evidential value 141–144 elucidation 177–178
fraud 137 embryos 46
security features 140–141 endangered species 64, 195
specimen 136 energy 39, 43
dog bites 2, 159–174, 196 kinetic 91–92, 101
adults 160–161, 162 enlightenment 190–192
breed-related incidence 161, 162 Entellan 70
breed-specific legislation 171 entomology 150
children 160–161, 162, 170–172, 170 entomotoxicology 150
DNA 168–169 entrance wounds 89, 102–104, 105–107
education 170–171, 172 environmental disaster relief 45–46
fatalities 159, 160 environmental toxicology 47
human victims 167, 172 enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) 154
incidents epilepsy 46
data 171 equal consideration principle 27
non-fatal 159–160, 161 erythrocytes 122
prevention and risk mitigation 170–171 ethical use
risks and relative incidence 160–162 of animals 46
dogs European Network of Forensic Handwriting
aggression 171 Examiners (ENFHEX) 144
assistance 194 European Network of Forensic Science Institutes
behaviour 170 (ENFSI) 144, 153
breeds euthanasia 32, 132
dangerous 161 evidence
registrations 161 admissibility 120, 178
communication signals 170 collection 50–61
dangerous 195 contamination 51
dental arcades 162, 163 courts 13
dental charts 165 crime scenes 120, 126, 149
dental formula 162 criteria 120
DNA 164 documentary 4, 9, 53, 134–145
electronic collars 3 documentation 67
fighting 65 expert 182–183, 184, 187
hair 77, 78 firearms 86, 97
heart complications 4 forensic 5, 15
intraoral examination 165 handwriting 135–138
racing 151, 196 hidden items 59
skin 103 hierarchy 35, 36, 36, 37, 181
teeth 162 items 57

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206 Index

evidence (continued) evidence 86, 97

living 5, 51, 52, 54, 55, 181 prosecution 97
multiple independent sources 180, 181 types 83–84
non-living 55 Firearms (Amendment) Act (UK, 1988) 82
opinion 187 fired ammunition
photocopies 141–142 retrieval 95–96
polygraphs 183 fired cartridge cases 95–96
quality 35, 36, 37 fired projectiles 96
reliability 183 firing mechanisms 84–85
scientific 152 flaming 113
storage 51, 59, 61 flash hiders 90, 91
trace 13, 63 fluid dynamics 123
transfer 119 foie gras 29, 30
veterinary 51 food
evolution 6, 8 human 39–40, 40
examination production 43, 46, 48
cross- 176, 187 security 43
Exchange Principle 63 food animals
excretion 156 antibiotics 151
exit wounds 89, 102–104, 107 force pattern analysis 119
expert evidence 184, 187 forceps 112
admissibility 182–183 Ford vs Wiley (1889) 29
expert reports foreign-body reactions 105
contents 185–186 forensic archaeology 13, 14, 19n
requirements 176–178 forensic evidence 5, 15
expert witnesses 9–10, 15, 17, 19, 33, 177, 178, forensic philosophy 12–23
182, 183, 186–187 forensic science 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, 35–49
appearance 3 definition 13–14
duties and responsibilities 185 Forensic Science Regulator 184
roles 175–176 forensic scientists 156
expertise forensic testing
relevant 182 accreditation 153
experts 182, 184 forensic toxicology 47, 146–158
bias 183 forensics 13–15
definition 175–176 forgery 142, 143
obligations 178 handwriting 136–137
exploitation 28 Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance MS
external ballistics 82, 91–95, 97 (FTMS) 155
extravasation zone 100 foxes
eyewitnesses 120, 176 red 77
fracture repair 41
fragmentation 102
facts 15–16 fraud
false negatives 149, 152, 154 documents 137
false positives 149, 152, 154, 168 Frye Standard 152
falsificationism 16 Frye vs United States (1923) 183–184
family violence 197–198 funding
famine 45 research 48
farming 29, 195 fur 149, 195
antibiotics 41 singeing 20
chickens 194–195
feathers 3
singeing 103 Gas Chromatography (GC) 70, 154
fibres 63, 78, 113 gaseous combustion products 89–90
Field vs Leeds City Council (2000) 183 gastro-enteric infections 44
fighting 64, 65, 190, 191, 195 geese
firearms 81–117, 83 force-feeding 29
definition 82–83 gelatine 70

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 Index 207

genetic manipulation 46 medulla types 74, 76, 76

genomic fingerprints 169 microscopical analysis 71–74
German Shepherds 78 microscopical observations 71, 71
GIFT (Get It First Time) 65 microscopy 68, 69–70, 78, 120
glass 13, 16, 63 preparation 70–71
goats 77, 103 moles 77
gold standard 37 mount creation 70
good guidance 37 packaging and storage 67
graphology 137–138 persistence 78–79
gravity 125 photographic evidence 67
great apes 25–26, 30, 193 Pit Bull Type (PBT) animals 2
grey squirrels 195 red foxes 77
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 39 retrieval methods 65, 66
guns root
stun 83–84 growth stage 72
sub-machine 83, 84 shape 74, 77
see also air weapons; ammunition; scale
handguns; rifles; shotguns casts 70
gunshot residue (GSR) ) 89, 96, morphology 74–75, 75
103, 113 shaft
diameter 72
profile 69
haemoglobin 121, 122, 130 shrews 77
haemorrhages 100 sketching 71
hair 9, 62–80, 149 species identification 64, 74–77, 78
analysis 68–74, 78 target 63, 77–78
evidence sheets 71 samples 70
bob cats 77 Tibetan antelope 70
bodily fluids 67 transfer 65, 78–79
camels 77 handguns 83, 84–85, 95
casework 77–79 bullets 102, 112
cats 77 cartridges 94
colour banding 74, 77 injuries 101
control 77–78 pistols 83, 84, 86, 94
samples 67, 70, 77–78 revolvers 83, 86, 90, 94
coyotes 77 handwriting
crime scenes 63, 64 characteristics 135–136, 138, 142
criminal casework 64 comparison 143
cross-section 70 evidence 135–138
damage 64, 74 feature examination 135–136
decomposing bodies 74 forgery 136–137
deer 69, 130 reproduced 142
definition 63 styles 135
DNA 63, 70 harm 195
dogs 77, 78 health
evidence 63–64, 65 mental 5, 6, 46, 53, 55
bags 67 physiology 38
tape 67 public 40, 41
forensic analysis 2 health care
form 71, 72, 73 animal 39–40, 40, 44
general structure 67–68, 68 human 38, 39–40, 40, 41, 48
German Shepherds 78 innovation 42–43
goats 77 management 42
heat exposure 73–74 technology 41–42
horses 3 translational approaches 39
human 63, 78 heart disease 4, 38
llama 77 Hemastix 121, 121
mammals 68, 69 hidden bias 180

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208 Index

hierarchy of evidence 35, 36, 36, 37, 181 injuries 59, 101
High Performance Liquid Chromatography ante-mortem 131
(HPLC) 70, 138 missile wound 101–102
High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography post-mortem 131
(HPTLC) 143 ink 138–139
Hinduism 195 chemical examination 143
hitting dating methods 143
of animals 28 ultraviolet 140
hoarding 5, 32, 198–199 inkjet printers 139–140
holograms 141 insects 150
Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act insulin 38
(USA, 2013) 151 insurance
horses indemnity 182
racing 151, 196 intent 32
tail hair 3 intercanine width 165, 165, 168
host–pathogen interactions 38, 47 intermediate ballistics 82, 89–91
HPLC-MS (FTMS) 155 internal ballistics 82, 87–89, 91, 97
human attitudes International Laboratory Accreditation
to animals 193–195, 194 ­Cooperation (ILAC) 153
Human Estrogen Receptor (HER) 42 interpretation 11, 17, 37, 119
human health care 38, 41, 48 blood 120–121
expenditure 39–40, 40 intoxication 146, 155, 156
human medicine ion trap MS (ITMS) 155
costs 43 iron 122
Human Rights Act (UK, 1998) 25, 26 Islam 195
human–animal interaction 189–217 ISO 17025 standard 153, 184
human–animal relationships Isotope Ratio Analysis 3
46, 195–196
humans 28
bitemarks 162–163, 168, 169 Jones vs Kaney (2011) 9, 182
crimes 64 journal articles 177, 181
food 39–40, 40 Judaism 193, 195
forensics 5, 9 junk science 17–19, 152
hair 63, 78
population 39 kerosene 3
psychology 46 killing
studies 38 animals 33–34
suffering 33 kinetic energy 91–92, 101
teeth 162 knowledge 16, 17, 48
victims 51 management 40, 48
hunting 191, 195 scientific 15, 16, 17
beavers 102
bullets 102
deer 130 laboratories 146, 149, 150
hydrocarbons 3 accreditation 151, 153
animals 195
competence 4
Ikarian Reefer case (1993) 185 reported results 144
imaging techniques reports 177
3D 107 selection 151–153
impartiality 183, 186 standards 152–153
indemnity insurance 182 laser printers 139, 140
induction 15, 16 law 14
infection 39, 43, 47 animals 24–34
pandemic 40 criminal 181
influenza 44 enforcement 193, 196
information 40 property 25

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 Index 209

lawyers 29 medullary index (MI) 74, 77

lead styphenate 87 melamine 43
learning difficulties 196 Meltmount 70
leather 195 mens rea 32
legal disputes 5, 36, 37, 51, 178 mental health 5, 6, 46, 53, 55
legal personhood 25, 26 metabolism 156
legal status mice 32
animals 27 microchips 59
legal system 178 microprinting 141
legal test 32–33 microscopes
legal things 24–25 comparison 69
legislation microscopy
animal cruelty 190–192 hair 68, 69–70, 70–71, 120
liability 32 analysis 78
life saving 54 Microsoft Paint 126
Likelihood Ratio 16 migration
limits of detection (LOD) 153 birds 3
liquid chromatography (LC) 154 milk 151
liquid paraffin 70 miscertification 4
Listeria monocytogenes 43 missile wound injuries 101–102
living evidence 5, 51, 52, 54, 55, 181 models
storage 51 animal 40, 41
llama moles 77
hair 77 moral schizophrenia 28
Locard principle 14, 119 motion 119, 120
mounting mediums 70
machine guns 86 multi-species studies 47
maggots 150 muzzle
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 124 attachments 90–91
magnetism testing 113 velocity 91–92, 94
malaria 44 Mylar film 141
mammals
hair types 68, 69
skin 105 nanotechnology 42
market sizes 39–40, 40 nanotoxicology 47
mass spectrometer (MS) 154–155 National Link Coalition 197
mast cells 131 natural science 7, 14
mathematics 6, 7 natural variation 136
meat 190 necessity 28–30, 31, 53
bush 64, 65 necropsy 106, 107, 111, 149, 156
demand 43 neurological rehabilitation 46
pigs 27–28 nitrocellulose 87
processing 41 nitroglycerine 87
media 3–4, 195, 199 Noah vs The Attorney General et al. (2002) 29
printed 139–140 Nonhuman Rights Project 26
medical records Nonhuman Rights Project vs Lavery (2014) 26
electronic 42 non-living evidence 55
medical research 38, 40, 47 N-rays 17–19
medical science 14
medical toxicology 47
medicine 48 objective tests 32
comparative 40, 48 observations 11, 16, 178
evidence-based 35, 36–37, 38 bloodstains 129
medulla One Health 37, 38, 39, 40–43, 44, 47
slides 70–71 collaborations 39–41
types 74, 76, 76 core objectives 47–48
medullary fraction (MF) 74, 77 opinion evidence 187

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210 Index

oral bacteria 169 pigs

orang-utans 195 meat 27–28
organizations 39 practical autonomy 28
orthopaedic research skin 103
comparative 40–41 pistols 83, 84, 86, 90
ownership 192 bullets 94
pets 192–193 Pit Bull Type (PBT) animals 2
oxygen poaching 64
blood 122 poison 148, 149, 153–154, 155, 156, 157
identification 146, 147
pests 32
pain 46, 52, 53 poisonings 64
paint 13, 63 malicious 147
paper 140–141 polar bears 28
chemical examination 143 police 53, 54, 55, 149, 187
paraffin oil 71 Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) 3
passports 140 politicians 37
pathogen distribution 47 polygraph evidence 183
pathologists 59, 107 polyvinyl acetate 70
pathology 6 popular culture 195
pellets 96 population
air rifles 114 ageing 41
airguns 105, 106 human 39
sheaf 104 post-mortems 7, 146, 147
shotguns 102, 104–105, 113 injury 131
tungsten-bismuth-tin (TBT) 104 toxicology 149
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 151 post-traumatic stress disorder
performance-enhancing drugs 149, 151, 152, 154 (PTSD) 159, 170, 171
personhood status 52 poverty 43–44, 47
persons 24–25 practical autonomy 26, 28
pesticides 147 PREGS protocol 54–61, 55, 61, 121, 123
pests 193, 194 primates 71
poison 32 primer 87, 89, 96
pets 195 printed media 139–140
custody cases 25 printers 139–140
ownership 192–193 professional witnesses 176
pharmaceutical companies 39–40 projectiles 82, 83, 84, 86, 88, 90,
pharmaceuticals 42 92, 97
pharmaco-vigilance data 43 accuracy and precision 94–95
philosophy of science 15–17 energy changes 92, 93
photocopies energy transmission 103
evidence 141–142 fired 86–87, 96
photography 119, 177 full metal jacketed (FMJ) 86
animal hair 67 hollow-point (HP) 86
bitemarks 120, 164, 172 intermediary objects and ricochet 95
bloodstains 125, 126, 126, 127 mass 91, 100
crime scenes 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 120, 149 range 94
infrared 164 recovery 113
reports 181 rifles 99
ultraviolet 164, 168 rotation 101
physical science 7, 8, 14 subsonic 94
physics 6, 7, 119, 120, 123 supersonic 94
physiology trajectory 92, 94
animal 40 washing 112, 113
health 38 wounds 95, 97
pig bombs 2 propellants 87–88, 89, 103
pigeon racing 196 particles 89–90

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 Index 211

property confidentiality 181–182

animals as 51–52 expert 176–178, 185–186
law 25 laboratories 177
property status over-penetration 181
animals 25–27, 30 photography 181
domestic and captive animals police 149
24–25 resilience 180–181
proportionality 29, 30, 31 structure and lucidity 181–182
prosecution 5, 6, 54, 97 witnesses 149
Protection of Animals Act (UK, 1911) 29 rescue animal 198
pseudoscience research 3
definition 17 animal 39
psychiatric disorders 198 comparative orthopaedic 40–41
psychology 8, 46 contract 3
public health 40, 41 embryo 46
puppy farms 3 funding 48
purchasing power 44 great apes 25–26, 193
PVA 70 medical 38, 40, 47
retrospective 180, 180
translational 37, 38,
quadrapole MS (QMS) 154
39–41
The Queen vs Bonython(1984) 182, 183
responsibilities 26
retrospective research 180, 180
R vs Cannings (2004) 186 revolvers 83, 86, 90
R vs Thomas Bowman (2006) 185 bullets 94
R vs Turner (1975) 175, 182 rifles 83, 84, 85, 86, 90, 95
rabies 160, 165 air 114
racehorses bullets 94, 102, 112
drug administration 65 projectiles 99
radiocarbon dating 143 Rift Valley Fever 44
radiographs 149 rights 26
radiologists 107 animals 192, 193
Raman spectroscopy 138, 139 Roberts vs Ruggerio (1985) 29
rats 32 rodent bitemarks 162
Raymond vs Lachman (1999) 25 Royal Commission on Vivisection
reasoning (1876) 31, 191
abductive 15 Royal Society for the Prevention of
analytical 177 Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)
recoil reducers 90, 91 2, 31, 191
records 181–182
recycling 140, 143
red foxes Salem Witch Trials 167
hair 77 saliva 164
Refractive Index 70 DNA 172
reliability swabs 120, 165, 172
Australia 186–187 samples
evidentiary 183 blood 119, 120, 154
rules 177 cattle 4
UK 184–186 collection 147–151
USA 183–184 transportation 149–150
religion 195 urine 154
rendezvous subjects 14 saving life 54
report writing 4, 9, 175–188 scale (hair)
rules 178–179 casts 70
reports morphology 74–75, 75
bias 180, 181 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) 70,
conclusion 143–144 103, 139

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212 Index

science 17, 33, 37, 152, 180 social science 14

biological 6, 8, 10 social work 5, 6, 53
evidence 152 sociology 8
forensic 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 35–49 soil 13, 120
junk 17–19, 152 solicitors 54
knowledge 15, 16, 17 sound suppressors 90, 91
medical 14 source-pathway-receptor (SPR) model 3
natural 7, 14 species 38
philosophy of 15–17 diseases 41
physical 7, 8, 14 endangered 195
social 14 identification
translational 37 aids 77
veterinary 7, 8, 10, 181 hair 64, 74–77, 78
scientists 12, 36 specimen documents 136
screening tests 154 sport
SDNA profiles 16 animals 193, 196
seals 28 squirrels
SeaWorld Orlando 26–27 grey 195
segmental hair analysis 65 stag-carting 130
seizure status
animals 54, 59, 61 animals 192
selection bias 180 personhood 52
sentiency 27, 28 property 24–25, 25–27, 30
sexual abuse statutory enforcement officers 53
children 199 sterile water 96
sexual assault steroids 21
animals 52 strict liability 32
sexual offenders list 52 strychnine 153
sheep stun guns 83–84
skin 103 sub-machine guns 83, 84
worrying 64 subsonic projectiles 94
shootings 82, 120 substance abuse 55
brown bear 111, 111, 112 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) 186
cats 114, 114, 115 suffering 5, 28, 29, 33, 52, 53, 54, 192, 193
distances 104 courts 33
wild grey wolf 107, 108–109, prevention 54
108, 109, 110 unnecessary 28–30, 31–34, 52, 53
shot 86, 88, 90, 94, 95, 96, 103 supersonic projectiles 94
shot animals Supreme Court 9, 26
before necropsy 106–107 suspect descriptions 63
investigating 106–113 swabbing 113
practical approach 107, 111–113 Switzerland
shotguns 83, 85, 88, 90, 95 Civil Code 25
pellets 102, 104, 113
wadding 96
wound channels 104 target hairs 63, 77–78
wounds 104–105 recovery 65
shrews 77 tasers 83–84
signatures 136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143 technology
single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) 86 development 40, 48
sketching health care 41–42
animal hair 71 teeth 162
crime scenes 56–57, 58, 59 Telehealth 42
skin 103, 130 television 3–4
slaughter 195 terminal ballistics 82, 95, 97
slavery 27 testimony 131
smallpox vaccinations 38 evidence-based 36, 37

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 Index 213

tetrazine 87 United States of America (USA)

Thin Layer Chromatography admissibility 183–184
(TLC) 70, 138 Constitution 26, 27
Tibetan antelope hairs 70 Federal Rules of Evidence 152
tigers 195 reliability 183–184
time of flight MS (TOFMS) 155 urine samples 154
tissue growth 131 Utilitarian theory 192–193
Tissue-Clear 70 Utilitarianism 27–28
Tissue-Tek 70 utility animals 194–195, 194
Toth vs Jarman (2006) 183
toxicodynamics 155 vaccines 38, 48
toxicogenomics 47 veal calf crate system 29–30
toxicokinetics 155–156 Vehicle Identification Number
toxicology 3, 47 (VIN code) 57
ante-mortem 149 veterinary attention 32
clinical 146 veterinary call-out services 3
environmental 47 veterinary evidence 51
forensic 47, 146–158 veterinary forensics 1–11
medical 47 breadth of field 5–6
methods 153–155 definition 5
post-mortem 149 veterinary practices
samples 149–150, 150 databases 42
toxins 146, 147, 149, 154, 155, 157 veterinary science 7, 8, 10, 181
trace evidence 13, 63 vets 12, 29, 176, 177, 178, 180, 187
trace materials clinical setting 10
transmission 14 fees 32
trade obligations 182
animal 5 victims
training animals as 52
animal 32 human 51
translational research 37, 38, 39–41 Video Spectral Comparators
translational science 37 (VSC) 139
trauma videos
and cancer 18–19 crime scenes 56
diagnostics 107 violence
treatment family 197–198
of animals 190–191, 192 graduation hypothesis 197
plans 42 viral diseases 44
truth determination 7 virtopsy 107
tuberculosis 44 viruses
tumours vector-borne 44
brain 18 vivisection 31, 191
tungsten-bismuth-tin (TBT) pellet
104
typewriters 139 wadded packaging 113, 113
water
sterile 96
Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) 23 watermarking 140
Ulster Society of Prevention of Cruelty to weapons 86, 87, 88–89, 96, 105
Animals (USPCA) 3 biological agents 2
ultrasonographic examination 107 toolmarks 87
ultrasound 97 type 95
unfired ammunition 96 see also air weapons; firearms; guns
United Kingdom (UK) welfare
Accreditation Service (UKAS) 184 animals 31, 33, 192
admissibility 184–186 West Nile Virus 44
reliability 184–186 whales 26–27

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214 Index

wild grey wolf wounds

shootings 107, 108–109, 108, 109, 110 airgun 105–106
wildlife crimes 64, 97 ante-mortem 131
wills appearance 60, 61
authenticity 143 bite 120
witnesses 176, 178 bullet 107, 113–114
reports 149 entrance 89, 102–104, 123, 124
see also expert witnesses exit 89, 102–104, 107
wolf patterns 99
wild grey 107, 108–109, 107, 108, 110 post-mortem 131
working animals 190, 196 projectile 95, 97
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 151 shotgun 104–105
World Health Organization (WHO) 41 writing 136
wound ballistics 82, 99–115 instruments 138–139
basics 99–102
research 97
wound channels 99–104, 106, 107 X-rays 17, 18, 29, 86–87,
bullets 107 102, 103
narrow 101, 102, 111 xylene 70, 71
permanent 99, 100
rifle bullets 99, 100–102, 100
shotguns 104 zoonotic disease 40, 44
temporary 99–100, 102 zoophilia 199

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