Multidisciplinary approach to fatal dog attacks: A forensic case study

摘要

Dog-bite-related injuries and fatalities are increasing in incidence and represent an important public health concern, as dogs are more and more becoming an integral part of human social life. We report the case of a 27-year-old woman who was found dead in her home. Her body was discovered lying face down in a large pool of partially desiccated blood with signs of having been dragged. Site examination revealed the presence of severe injuries on the face, neck and head, which were then traced back to the dog she owned. Death was attributed to exsanguinations due to a neck blood vessel's laceration with fracture of the fifth cervical vertebra. This was uncommon because the dog bites injured the vertebral artery only without any lacerations of the carotid artery. Confirming that the injuries are dog-bite related was based on a multidisciplinary approach including histological findings, odontological examination of bite marks and DNA analysis. Dogs are social animals known to have an inherent pack instinct. They can become excited and aggressive and therefore attacks may occur. Many cases of dog attacks have been reported and sometimes the severity of the wounds can lead to death. In the literature, dog-bite frequencies have been estimated at between 9 and 18 per 1000 subjects. Many epidemiological studies indicate that the majority of dog-pack attacks are among children or elderly women and this can be considered as a worldwide problem. Most cases of death involving the presence of domestic-animal bite marks are actually non-violent in nature; these marks are often mistaken for signs of criminal assault, which highlights the importance of an accurate post-mortem examination to clarify whether such an injury occurred before or after the time of death and its imputability to the presence of animals at the death scene. Forensic approaches to fatal dog attacks have been published. The investigations usually involve the examination of bite marks and tooth prints. Then the detection of the offending dog can be made by comparisons of the dental casts of the dog with the victim's wounds. It is also possible to obtain a canine-specific short tandem repeat (STR) profile from the dog's saliva left on the wound area, which may provide a link between the victim and the suspected animal.