A gray plush dog stuffed inside a suitcase, an abandoned white Jeep, a cage containing a 3D-printed rib cage, discarded wine bottles and a plush Siamese cat sitting inside a tent were among the clues scattered throughout a mock crime scene that served as the final exam for four University of Florida veterinary students.
As he set up the mock crime scene at 6:30 a.m. on July 24, Dr. Adam Stern, a professor of forensic pathology at the University of Florida, told The Sun the exercise capped an intensive two-week veterinary forensics training program designed to teach future veterinarians how to investigate cases involving animal cruelty, neglect and other crimes.
“In today’s case, our story was the county was cleaning out this area and came across this campsite that no one was here at the time. Some tents, vehicles, sleeping bags were left here but looks like someone was here but not here now,” Stern said. “They (the county) smelled a rather foul odor and just looking around they saw a suitcase with a lot of blood.”
The program, held July 13-24, taught students how to recognize, document and investigate cases that could ultimately support law enforcement efforts and help secure justice for animals, Stern said.
Since 2018, Stern said the University of Florida Veterinary Forensic Sciences Laboratory has assisted investigators and attorneys throughout Florida and beyond and has become an international leader in veterinary forensics.
The laboratory is the only multidisciplinary veterinary forensic laboratory housed within a veterinary school in North America and provides expertise in forensic pathology, DNA analysis, toxicology and crime scene response, Stern said.
Before the final exam, The Sun spoke with the four students on July 21 about their experiences in the two-week program.
Breona Green, a third-year UF veterinary student, said the first week focused on photography, documentation, forensic entomology and evidence collection. Students also learned how necropsies, or animal autopsies, can help determine how and when an animal died.
“You learn to ask questions like, ‘How did this pet die? Do you know when this pet died?’ It’s been a lot of, ‘This is why this is important. This is why you should document it.’ You should always have an answer to the whys,” Green said. “It’s all about context.”
Green added that Stern assigns mock cases while students perform autopsies on animals from real forensic cases that may ultimately go to court.
“One of the dogs that we had last week was a projectile case so we know that the owner was shot and killed and the dog was shot and killed as well,” Green said. “We know this dog did not pass away from starvation or any other kinds of trauma and went towards an MRI, found the bullet, looked for signs of hemorrhaging and looking at the bones and the bones were shattered. We also matched the caliber of the bullet that we know the dog was shot with.”
Matias Di Polo, a fourth-year veterinary student from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts and Nevis who is completing his clinical year at UF, said he initially expected to learn about recognizing animal cruelty and neglect and the veterinarian’s role in court proceedings.
Instead, Di Polo said he gained practical experience in crime scene photography, evidence collection and analysis, crime scene processing and forensic pathology.
“The ability to discern what is or not relevant in a crime scene is a skill that totally needs to be trained. It’s one of the hardest skills we’ve tried to find so far,” Di Polo said. “The cigarette box next to the cage may or may not be relevant, but a cellphone further away from the cage maybe isn’t directly in contact with the animals at any point but may have evidence in it that is important.”
The course also featured guest lectures from professionals in related fields. Among them were UF adjunct assistant professor of animal law Jamie McManis, cyber investigator Jacob Lloyd and UF adjunct lecturer Adam Leath, who discussed dogfighting investigations.
Third-year student Jenna Bennett said one of the most memorable aspects of the lectures was learning about animal cruelty cases that had been prosecuted in court.
“Jacob talked a lot about dogfighting and how prevalent those communities are on Facebook, which was kind of crazy. I did not know about that,” Bennett said. “Jamie went over some cases that she had done as a prosecutor which was also very interesting.”
On July 28, Stern confirmed that all four students successfully processed the mock crime scene and uncovered evidence supporting allegations of animal abandonment, animal neglect and the improper disposal of animal carcasses.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: UF vet students follow clues in mock animal crime scene
Reporting by Elliot Tritto, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Elliot Tritto, Gainesville Sun | USA TODAY Network
