Crime scene team exposes animal cruelty

— -- Secrets lie in the bones — and in the tissue and in the shape of the wounds, and the severity and type of injuries.

And these days, when investigators are poring over X-rays, bone fragments, bullet trajectories or other details, it may be to establish whether a crime was committed against an animal.

Forensic crime-scene investigations are no longer limited to human victims. Many of the very same techniques brought to public awareness by the popular CSI television series are being used to make cases against those who have harmed or killed cats, dogs, horses or other animals.

Applying forensic science to animal victims is a specialty still so new that it's fairly rare. But two self-taught experts who make up the recently formed Veterinary Forensics unit of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are writing book and chapter (three how-to tomes so far) and sharing their knowledge almost as quickly as they develop it.

Melinda Merck is a veterinarian who ran an Atlanta-area cat clinic for years before becoming intrigued with forensic science in the '90s. Randall Lockwood has a doctorate in psychology and has developed expertise in cruelty and violence. They travel the country to investigate crimes against animals (including the Michael Vick dogfighting case and a notorious Atlanta puppy-torture case last year).

They're regularly called on to offer expert testimony in court (they're tracking toward 60 this year); and by the end of December, they will have spoken at nearly 100 conventions and conferences to instruct veterinarians and law enforcement officials who might someday find themselves in the midst of a cruelty investigation or court case.

"Animal cases are similar to crimes against young children who can't speak for themselves," says Merck. "You have to use every resource and every investigative tool to attempt to put together the pieces of the puzzle."

Helping 'range of responders'

Although stronger animal cruelty laws and heightened public awareness of animal cruelty have spurred greater interest in punishing offenders, most officials have no experience in putting together a rock-solid animal case.