Forensic Veterinary Investigations, LLC provides a wide variety of Clinical, Research and Training services including Veterinary Forensics, Forensic Accounting, Ethnographic Research and Forensic Biological Anthropology.

 
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Expert Witness Service

We provide advice and opinion for use in investigations and for attorneys involved in criminal cases and civil disputes involving animals. This includes animal welfare, cruelty cases and matters involving injuries due to neglect or deliberate injury. We advise communities on animal shelter construction and management practices. In forensics cases, we can be the primary examiner or form an independent opinion based on evidence previously gathered.

 
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Projectile Recovery

We retrieve projectiles from animals shot by law enforcement in self‐defense or for humane reasons. We will document trajectory and the animal’s physical condition in order to provide support for the officer’s actions, when appropriate. We will review cell phone or surveillance  video to interpret the animal's behavior leading up to the shooting.

 
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Research and Writing

We research and evaluate policies, programs, and animal welfare problems and provide constructive feedback on the development of projects or process improvement. We write research and disseminate articles, opinion pieces, and policy reports to the media, law enforcement organizations, and social service agencies.

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Consulting

We help veterinarians determine whether a case raises suspicions of abuse and requires reporting to authorities. We assist in case packaging and help a veterinarian prepare for the court process. We will summarize the case and present to prosecutors.  While not a guarantee that the referring veterinarian will not be summonsed into court, this minimizes the risk of days lost to the legal process. Consulting with us is also a primer in case preparation for the future.

 
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Training

Forensic Veterinary Investigation, LLC  advocates for the use of veterinary forensics in the investigation of crimes against animals, but we can't do it all ourselves.  We are available for lectures at veterinary, criminal justice and legal trainings and continuing education meetings in order to help develop other experts in all of our areas of expertise.

 
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Crime Scene Investigation

At the request of federal, state or local law enforcement, we will visit a crime scene in order to identify evidence of animal cruelty.  Our veterinary expertise can evaluate the conditions in which an animal was kept. We identify and interpret physical marks of animal behavior which may further elucidate the chain of events.

 

Forensic accounting

Some crimes against animals are motivated by perversion, others power. Others are motivated by "payola".  Greed drives some to breed animals in inhumane conditions for profit, while others will pit animals against one another in fights for the opportunities that come with illicit gambling. A solid forensic accounting investigation can crack the case open, help strengthen a complicated case, prove racketeering, or get the bad guys on "spitting on the sidewalk" statutes.

Forensic Anthropology

When blunt and sharp force trauma impact animals, bone injury evidence is often left behind.  Nutritional disease or long term neglect will also impact the skeleton. There are times when the only evidence of animal abuse left behind are the bones.  In cases like this, we can perform forensic casework, including digital radiography, CT and research in taphonomy, trauma, biomechanics and osteology to better understand evidence found in the form of bony remains.

We consider for consultation requests or referrals from: law enforcement in cases suspected of criminal abuse; animal control officers in cases of unknown cause of harm or death; veterinarians seeking second opinions; and attorneys who have accepted cases for potential civil litigation.

Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to accept the volume of case inquiries that come in from individuals. Your local veterinarian or veterinary school department of pathology should be able to assist in many cases and your local humane society, animal welfare organization or animal control officer may be able to make a referral to an appropriate resource.

If you are an animal control officer, peace officer, DPW worker or veterinarian seeking examination of an "Animal Doe" with injuries of unknown origins, please contact us by clicking here.