CSI-Style Animal Forensics: A Growing Field

A doctor driving around in Florida isn’t likely to turn heads. That is, unless the car is equipped with an evidence refrigerator, exam table, and slide-out cargo floor.

Melinda Merck, D.V.M.,is behind the wheel of that "souped-up" Subaru Outback, the nation’s second mobile animal crime scene investigation (CSI) vehicle.

She’s also at the helm of the rapidly growing field of veterinary forensics.

“Our victims can’t testify, even if they’re alive, so they’re really evidence-based cases,” says Merck, the senior director of veterinary forensics of the ASPCA’s anti-cruelty team. “We usually have no witnesses or reluctant witnesses so prosecutors liken the investigations to child abuse cases because of the evidence that’s needed.”

A crucial aspect of their fact-finding forensics mission is necropsy, or animal autopsy.

Animal Forensics: The Importance of Necropsy

Dr. Merck, who’s testified at high-profile cases including the Michael Vick dog-fighting and the Atlanta puppy-torture trials, says necropsy can reveal nothing, or it can turn up a lot.

For example, necropsy can uncover blunt force trauma underneath the skin because animals don’t bruise. Its presence alone is significant, but if these bruises are in the process of healing, they establish a history of animal abuse. Or, if the cause of death is apparent (like a gunshot), blunt force trauma is considered an additional injury. It can show the sequence of events.

“Necropsy results often enable the state to seek an enhanced penalty by showing the degree and/or duration of suffering involved,” says Scott A. Heiser, a senior attorney and criminal justice program director with the Animal Legal Defense Fund in Portland, Oregon.  

“But a necropsy does more than just prove the cause of death,” Heiser adds. “It serves as a way to either corroborate or refute witness statements, including the defendant’s statement, about how the injuries were inflicted.”

Forensics: An Aid in the Crackdown on Animal Abuse

The crackdown on animal cruelty--that had previously taken decades--is an overnight success.

“Many years of effort from all the humane organizations are finally coming together,” says Merck. “Law enforcement are forming animal crime units, vets are coming for training and are taught [at] vet schools, and people tasked with doing these investigations are seeking information.”

“For a long time officers wouldn’t seize an abused animal’s body, let alone secure an exam and necropsy. But now they know better,” echoes Heiser.

Moreover, elected officials have gotten the message that people who commit animal cruelty are at risk to commit other crimes– a critical development that’s leading to tougher laws such as mandatory arrest statutes. Already, the effort has made a huge difference in dog-fighting investigations.

Animal Forensics: A Growing Field

To further her already-vast expertise, Merck collaborates with Mike Warren, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she’s an integral part of the nation’s first-ever veterinary forensic science program.

"First-ever" is becoming an increasingly familiar phrase in the field.

This summer, Dr. Merck and her colleagues will turn to technology to meet growing demand for education by launching the first-ever online college credit veterinary forensic course.

“Our reach can be international, even,” says Merck.

Unfortunately, there remain other educational challenges.

“We have a rough road with animals because we have to educate the judge and the jury as we testify," Merck says. "All we have to have is one juror who believes it’s a waste of time to sit on an animal case, or that there are better things law enforcement should be doing with their time. We’ve come a long way, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”