30 Mar 2021
Vet Melinda Merck, speaking at WSAVA’s online congress, says practices should work with other local agencies to address increasing problem.
John Bonner
Job Title
Grief is grief – whether it’s your grandma or your goldfish – says Jane.
Veterinary staff have a duty to help identify incidents of domestic abuse affecting both humans and animals – but they can also assist victims in finding a safe place to start a new life, a meeting was told.
Speaking at the WSAVA’s online congress, US vet Melinda Merck said companion animal practices should work with other local agencies to address a problem seen with increasing frequency across the globe.
Dr Merck – of Veterinary Forensics Consulting in Austin, Texas – is widely regarded as the leading authority on animal abuse cases in the US and edited the textbook Forensic Investigation of Animal Cruelty.
She maintained that the COVID pandemic had an immediate – and entirely predictable – effect in increasing the numbers of adults, children and pets at risk of being injured by a member of their own household.
Dr Merck said that within 15 minutes of the announcement of lockdown in California, all the available vacancies had been snapped up in shelters for the victims of domestic violence in Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States, with more than 10 million inhabitants.
“Those people knew that being stuck at home with their abuser was going to be a huge issue,” she said.
Veterinary staff should be alert to the possibility that animals with non-accidental injuries will be brought to their practice. Some of the warning signs are well established, such as multiple animals being brought in over time by the same owners, or clients giving histories that are inconsistent with the observed lesions.
But there is also a growing body of published research on the nature of non-accidental injuries in pet animals that will help clinicians to distinguish between the results of a deliberate assault and those due to other causes, such as road traffic accidents, Dr Merck said.
Every small animal practice should have an information folder available for use by staff, outlining how they should respond to a suspected non-accidental injury case, she suggested.
The presumed perpetrator will often accompany the person bringing the animal in for treatment. Staff should, therefore, devise a strategy to keep them apart so that the caregiver – who is very likely to have also suffered violence themselves – can be persuaded to give a true account of what happened.
When there is clear evidence of ill-treatment, the practice should always report the incident to the appropriate agency – police, social services or an animal welfare charity.
Dr Merck reassured colleagues that these concerns will be listened to, as there has been a major change in the way that US law enforcement agencies deal with animal cruelty incidents at both local and national level. The FBI now records these cases on its database as the information has been shown to be useful in investigating other crimes.
Concerns over possible animal abuse will be used when seeking warrants to search a property, due to the frequent associations between these incidents, and both gun and drug offences, she explained.
The responsibilities of veterinary staff in dealing with these incidents will not end with the successful investigation and prosecution of those committing domestic violence.
It is well established that human victims are often reluctant to leave an abusive relationship because of the risks of violence against the family pet, Dr Merck warned. It is likely that this is partly because there is nowhere suitable for them to go. Only about 10% of US and Canadian shelters offering places for the victims of domestic violence are able to take in animals.
