Case studies and technical aspects of the forensic necropsy of exhumed companion animals

Veterinary forensics is becoming increasingly important in the acquisition of evidence in cases of animal cruelty, unlawful killing, violation of wildlife law and medical malpractice. However, although forensic veterinary necropsy is one of the main techniques for gathering information about actions that have resulted in the unlawful killing of an animal, forensic necropsy of exhumed remains is rarely performed. We hypothesized that necropsy of exhumed animals can provide valuable information for the elucidation of cause of death. Hence, the present study aimed to describe the pathological changes observed in the necropsies of eight exhumed companion animals and to determine the frequencies of causes of death and diagnoses. This retrospective and prospective study was performed during the period 2008–2019. The causes of death of six of the eight disinterred animals were attributed to neurogenic shock (37.5 %), respiratory failure (25 %) and hypovolemic shock (12.5 %), with 50 % of necropsies providing conclusive diagnoses of physical/mechanical lesions and 25 % of infectious disease. The deaths of two animals could not be elucidated because of the advanced state of putrefaction. Ancillary testing comprised computed tomography (50 %), radiography (25 %), immunohistochemistry together with polymerase chain reaction/sequencing (12.5 %) and toxicology (12.5 %). The results support our original hypothesis since it was possible to observe macroscopic alterations that disclosed new information about the events connected with the demise of 100 % of the animals and to achieve irrefutable conclusions about the circumstances of death in 75 % of the studied cases.