Britain has its first forensic science laboratory to solely focus on crimes against animals. It is a welcome improvement to animal welfare in the UK. It is called ArroGen Veterinary Forensics. The service is dedicated to bringing about prosecutions in animal-related cases by working with the police and the RSPCA.
The operations director is Alexander Stoll. He is the lead forensic veterinary pathologist. The infamous Croydon Cat Killer case appears to have prompted this development. In that case apparently scores of corpses of mutilated cats have been stored in freezers during the hunt for the killer. He eludes the police. He is believed to have killed and mutilated about 250 cats.
Post-mortem examinations have been conducted on some of those cats but the new, specialist laboratory will examine DNA to try and track down the perpetrator. The laboratory will also eliminate from the enquiry cats who have been killed by foxes thereby narrowing the search area. The idea is to determine a geographic pattern enabling the police to close in on the killer.
ArroGen Veterinary Forensics is a partnership between the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Surrey and ArroGen Forensics.
It was recognised that the lack of a dedicated animal focused forensics service was leading to animal abuse crimes slipping through the net.
Dr Stoll said:
“It is an integrated approach to increase prosecution rates by improving forensic evidence and the intelligence that is available to the police and RSPCA. It will be a one-stop shop for investigations involving animals. It is becoming well documented that animal cruelty can be used as a component part of domestic violence and there is evidence to indicate that people who harm animals are more likely to abuse humans.”
ArroGen also expect to tackle the taboos subject of sexual abuse of animals.
“There’s lots of expertise in sexual assault and abuse of people, were looking to apply that to the animal feel.”
This laboratory is a very welcome addition to the pursuit of animal welfare in Great Britain.
Surce: Times newspaper
So cats will still be being flattened by autos, ingest deadly environmental toxins, and torn in half by predators.
All could be prevented by launching strong cats-on-your-own property campaigns and laws with those misplaced funds that will never save the lives of any of your cats. But no, you’d rather blame the rest of the whole world for the deaths of your cats from your own criminal negligence instead of implementing actual solutions to your problems.
Some cultures never grow-up and want to play victim all their lives.
Congrats to the UK!
I’m very impressed and interested in seeing more prosecutions and awareness with this. Law enforcement and prosecution with likely use this new “tool” if for no reason than just because it’s there, but perhaps the animal lovers in them will inspire the lessers to get with the program. It could inspire the US to do the same. I see only good coming from this!
I was very impressed with this Albert. I shows a commitment to animal welfare from law enforcement which is very encouraging.
I am impressed with the establishment of the ArroGen Veterinary Forensics laboratory. What a great step forward in the ongoing battle against animal cruelty. This is a much needed advancement. I hope that this idea takes hold and remains viable. We need science labs of this type in the US.