CSI for animals: Forensic vets battle pet abuse, neglect

Because animal abuse is suspected, this dog won't be handled like the other pets coming in for treatment to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — it will go instead to a specialized team of forensic veterinarians who are trained to treat animals while also developing evidence for possible criminal charges.

The New York-based nonprofit has a team of three forensic vets dedicated to capturing evidence to punish animal abusers — their jobs include traveling to crime scenes and working with the New York Police Department in a new partnership that has seen cruelty-related arrests doubled in the past two years.

The team leader, Dr. Robert Reisman, developed evaluation standards that are used nationwide in determining cases of abuse and neglect, and testified in some of the first animal cruelty cases to use DNA at trial to obtain felony convictions.

The nonprofit agency has also created an animal forensic sciences program at the University of Florida, and has a traveling team of forensic vets that help out around the country — an ASPCA crew rescued some 600 animals from a no-kill shelter in North Carolina in January suspected of abuse and neglect.

Veterinarian Laura Niestat said that in addition to starvation, the vets often see cases of neglect in which tight collars wear off layers of skin, frostbite destroys ears and tails, and extreme matting of fur chokes limbs like a tourniquet.