Subject of forensic veterinary examination and its significance in the theory and practice of forensic examination
Authors: Yatsenko I.V. 
Published: December 2022

The article covers the issue of the forensic veterinary examination subject and reveals its significance in the theory and practice of forensic examination. It has been established that the subject of forensic veterinary examination is a set of factual data and circumstances of the case (proceedings) related to the harm caused to the health and life of the animal, in particular, the nature, mechanism, order, sequence, severity, lifetime or postmortem and the longevity of the formation of bodily injuries, the occurrence and spread of animal diseases, the occurrence of their injury or the cause of death, defective provision of veterinary care, safety and quality of animal feed and feed additives established by a forensic veterinary expert on the basis of using special knowledge, by using appropriate means (methods) based on the results of a comprehensive study of material and materialized objects, as carriers of information, in order to solve identification, diagnostic and situational tasks of forensic veterinary examination.

It is shown that the actual data and circumstances that constitute the subject of complex forensic veterinary-biological, veterinary-molecular-genetic, veterinary-ballistic, veterinary-art, etc., are carried out by integrating special knowledge, in particular, in veterinary medicine, animal biology, molecular genetics, ballistics, art history are: species, group, age, sex and organic-tissue belonging of biological material of animal origin the presence or absence of poisons in the body of animals and their poisoning (mammals, animal hydrobionts, bees, etc.); damage and pestilence of animal hydrobionts caused by electro trauma, damage and death of animals from the action of firearms, explosive or projectiles.

It is argued that the criterion for distinguishing closely related types of forensic examinations, in particular: forensic-veterinary, forensic-biological, forensic molecular-genetic, etc. are the properties of material objects of research and the direct subject of forensic-expert research. It is shown that the exact definition of the subject of forensic veterinary examination allowed: to develop and formulate typical issues, which are both tasks made for solving the forensic expert; outline the range of evidence that can be established during forensic veterinary examination; determine the nature of special knowledge of the forensic veterinary expert, which follows from the subject of forensic veterinary examination; conduct forensic veterinary examination of only those material objects that are material carriers of information within the subject of this examination or complex forensic examination by integrating special knowledge, in particular, in veterinary medicine and other sciences, in particular animal biology, toxicology, chemistry, ballistics, art criticism, etc.; to supplement part 2 of article 242 of the CPC with paragraph 6 on the obligatory appointment of a forensic veterinary examination to clarify the severity and nature of damage caused to the animal's health, as well as to determine the cause of death of animals; include recommendations on the appointment of a forensic veterinary examination in the content of methods for investigating certain types of offenses against animals; dissociate forensic veterinary examination from forensic examinations of related genera or species, in particular, forensic biological, forensic molecular genetics, etc.; develop methods and separate methods of forensic veterinary examination to study the properties of its specific material objects in order to obtain the information contained in them in order to solve typical expert tasks; initiate complex forensic veterinary and biological, veterinary-molecular-genetic, veterinary-ballistic, veterinary-art expertise, etc., by integrating special knowledge, in particular, in veterinary medicine, animal biology, molecular genetics, ballistics, art criticism, etc.; organize an effective forensic veterinary examination in a specialized expert institution; identify promising areas of research work in the field of forensic expertise in general and forensic veterinary expertise in particular.