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This paper analyses veterinary expert opinions and determines the most common reasons for appointing veterinarians as expert witness in cases related to different animal species. The paper also summarises twenty one years of services provided by the Department of Forensic Veterinary Medicine and Administration, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn in 1995 -2015. The analysis was based on 319 expert opinions, of which 172 concerned various animal species and is presented in this work. Criminal judicial bodies were the most common ordering party, followed by civil judicial bodies, natural persons, public administration authorities and insurance companies. To determine the trends in conflicting situations in the expert opinions issued over 21 years, two periods of opinions were distinguished: the first period covering the years 1995 -2005 (73 expert opinions) and the second one covered 2006 -2015 (99 expert opinions). The authors demonstrated that in the second period, companion animals (mainly dogs) were far more often the subject of expert opinions than in 1995 -2005 and the cases predominantly referred to animal cruelty issues. The second most common group were production animals (cattle, horses and pigs) followed by wild living animals. The expert opinions concerned the animals themselves but also animal products, particularly the observance of sanitary and hygiene measures at different manufacturing stages. The diversity of cases and conflicts in which a veterinarian acts as the expert witness is also increasing.

The specific nature of poultry production requires conflicts in poultry breeding and husbandry issues to be resolved with the input of veterinarians called to provide expert opinions. The objective of this paper is to analyze veterinary opinions and to determine the most common sources of conflicts related to poultry production. This study was carried out on 147 expert opinions issued by the Department of Forensics and Veterinary Administration at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn in 1995 – 2015 for clients from all over Poland. The analysis was performed by dividing the study material into two groups: the years 1995 – 2005 (100 expert opinions) and 2006 – 2015 (47 expert opinions). It was demonstrated that for both periods the civil courts were the most common ordering party, followed by private persons and insurance companies. It was discovered that chicken broilers were the most conflicting issue (71 expert opinions) in the first of the investigated time periods, with turkey and layer hens constituting the topic of 66 expert opinions. In the second time period, turkey issues were predominant, with an increase in the issued opinions by one-third. A comparison of the results for both decades revealed a nearly four-fold reduction in the expert opinions on chicken broilers and an over three-fold decrease in the number of opinions related to layer hens and geese. This fact, together with a reduced demand (by over 50%) for the opinions included in the second group, indicates that poultry production (rearing) has become less conflicted, especially in chicken broiler, layer hen and geese production. However, the number of expert opinions on turkeys has increased by over 35%. In 51.0% of the analyzed cases, microorganisms and their toxins were the conflicting issues in poultry breeding and rearing, while the composition and physical conditions of feed mixtures also gave rise to conflict situations in 26.5% of cases. Errors relating to incubation and hatching technologies were the subject of 15 expert opinions (10.2%), whereas medical (veterinary) errors and producer mistakes were listed in 7 (4.8%) and 5 (3.4%) cases, respectively. There is a downward tendency in cases with microorganisms and their toxins as the source of conflicts and they are being replaced by other conflicting issues.

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