Giving forensic veterinary opinions on conflict situations regarding poultry

Abstract

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.

Forensic veterinary evaluation of gunshot wounds to a dog’s head based on traditional examination methods and modern imaging techniques

“…Then, an in-depth analysis of these traces is made, based on which conclusions can be drawn about the course of the incident. Another crucial step is an examination by specialist doctors and expert witnesses appointed for this purpose (1,11,12). Multifaceted analyses provide information on a number of crucial questions regarding the characteristics of gunshot injuries.…”