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Veterinary Forensic Pathology: Forensic Necropsy, Animal Cruelty Investigations and Applications in Animal Welfare

A Special Issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615) belonging to the section "Veterinary Clinical Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2027 | Viewed by 752

Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Veterinary Medicine, Texas Tech University, Evans Drive, Amarillo, TX 79106, USA
Interests: forensics; veterinary pathology; cruelty; legal; abuse; forensic pathology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Veterinary forensic pathology is a young and growing discipline within anatomic veterinary pathology that not only focuses on determining the causes of death but also the circumstances under which death has occurred with the goal to assist the courts in determining whether a crime has been committed or not. Law enforcement, animal control officers, lawyers, prosecutors and judges have often very little experience in processing cases of suspected animal cruelty, as the necessary medical expertise has mostly been unavailable to assist the process. Increasing numbers of anatomic pathologists and forensic veterinarians are seeking training and acquiring expertise is filling this gap to provide expertise and help the investigators.

The Special Issue, titled “Veterinary Forensic Pathology: Forensic Necropsy, Animal Cruelty Investigations and Applications in Animal Welfare”, seeks to advance the knowledge in animal forensics pathology. We encourage the submission of original studies, case reports, and comprehensive reviews addressing key dimensions of forensic veterinary pathology, structures around forensic necropsy and its assistance in the investigation of cruelty cases, novel diagnostic approaches and methods in forensic pathology.

In addition to applied research in veterinary forensic pathology, we strongly welcome contributions that focus on ancillary veterinary forensic disciplines including veterinary forensic radiology–toxicology–entomology–osteology and genetics.

Through this multidisciplinary collection, we aim to foster scientific innovation and improve the diagnostic ability of forensic pathology that can aid investigators and courts in the investigation and prosecution of animal cruelty.

Dr. Nanny Wenzlow
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • forensics
  • veterinary pathology
  • cruelty
  • legal
  • abuse
  • forensic pathology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 1359 KB  
Article
Standardized Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) Enumeration and Veterinary Forensic Assessment in a Large-Scale Animal Starvation Scene: A Technical Note
by Ah-Young Kim, BokKyung Ku and Kyunghyun Lee
Animals 2026, 16(17), 2807; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16172807 - 7 Sep 2026
Viewed by 194
Abstract
Mass companion animal mortality scenes pose major veterinary forensic and animal welfare challenges, particularly when remains are commingled, variably decomposed, or skeletonized. In March 2023, the remains of 1256 dogs and cats were recovered from a private residence in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of [...] Read more.
Mass companion animal mortality scenes pose major veterinary forensic and animal welfare challenges, particularly when remains are commingled, variably decomposed, or skeletonized. In March 2023, the remains of 1256 dogs and cats were recovered from a private residence in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea, after prolonged deprivation of food and water. Because whole-carcass enumeration was not feasible across the entire site, a standardized skull-based minimum number of individuals (MNI) approach was used to derive the scene-wide count by combining direct counts of intact, non-duplicated carcasses with counts of isolated skulls from disarticulated remains. A representative subset of 22 specimens, consisting of 16 carcasses submitted by the investigating police and 6 isolated skulls collected during the scene investigation, underwent detailed forensic examination including postmortem radiography, full necropsy, and toxicological screening. Body condition scoring was possible in 5 of the 16 carcasses, and all five scored 1 to 3 on a 9-point scale, consistent with severe to extreme emaciation. Toxicological screening of all 16 carcasses was negative for all tested substance classes. Gross and Radiographical examination of the 6 isolated skulls identified external traumatic fractures and scavenging punctures in 3 specimens, breed-typical persistent open fontanels without evidence of trauma in 2, and an indeterminate suture-associated lesion in 1. This report proposes a practical and reproducible veterinary forensic workflow for large-scale companion animal mortality scenes in which extensive decomposition prevents reliable direct enumeration. The combined use of skull-based MNI estimation, structured necropsy, whole-body postmortem radiography, toxicological exclusion testing, and standardized skull morphology assessment supports evidentiary documentation and courtroom prosecution in mass animal cruelty investigations. Full article
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