Perícia criminal oficial veterinária em MS: Papel dos exames complementares no esclarecimento de causa mortis em cães e gatos

Abstract

Forensic veterinary medicine plays a key role in providing technical and legal support for environmental crimes, especially in cases of animal cruelty. This study evaluated the contribution of complementary histopathological and toxicological examinations to determining the cause of death (cause of death) in necropsies of dogs and cats performed within the scope of the official criminal forensics service of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, as well as their association with the presence of direct or negligent human action. A total of 37 cases with police reports and an intact chain of custody were analyzed. Complementary examinations were performed in 29/37 animals (78.4%): histopathology alone in 9, toxicology alone in 6, and both in 14; eight animals were evaluated only by gross necropsy. The cause of death was established in 34/37 cases (91.9%), mainly distributed as exogenous intoxications (16/37; 43.2%), trauma (7/37; 18.9%), pathologies associated with negligence (7/37; 18.9%), and pathologies unrelated to human action (4/37; 10.8%); three cases (8.1%) remained undetermined. In 2 × 2 contingency analysis, the performance of complementary examinations was significantly associated with defining the cause of death (corrected OR = 37.55; 95% CI = 1.69–833.36; p = 0.0072). The presence of identified human action markedly increased the likelihood that a complementary examination would be considered essential for elucidating the death (corrected OR = 39.77; 95% CI = 1.94–817.05; p = 0.0017) and was more frequently related to trauma/intoxication causes than to strictly pathological causes (OR = 12.57; 95% CI = 1.20–131.90; p = 0.0289), without excluding the importance of slowly progressive diseases associated with negligence. The toxicological profile showed a predominance of bromadiolone intoxications, with occasional cases involving aldicarb and terbufos. Despite the wide confidence intervals, reflecting the regional case load, the results demonstrate that histopathology and toxicology are essential technical-scientific tools for elucidating suspicious deaths, strengthening accountability for animal cruelty and highlighting the need for multicenter expansion of the sample to refine effect estimates.