baltimoresun.com

« AKC praises Oprah expose | Main | Eddie's Wheels For Pets »

April 6, 2008

CSI: It's not just for humans, anymore

As we noted last week, animal law is a fast growing field. So too is animal forensics.

Late last year, on the heels of Michael Vick's conviction for bankrolling a dogfighting ring, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) rolled out its first mobile animal CSI unit.

Since then, it has been traveling the country, helping law enforcement to pursue and prosecute animal cruelty offenders.

The high-tech Mobile Animal Crime Scene Investigation Unit -- let's just call it the ASPCAMACSIU to keep it simple -- operates under a forensic veterinarian, Dr. Melinda Merck.

It contains a surgical suite, a digital microscope and x-ray machine, anesthesia/oxygen machine, soil sampler, GPS unit, crime scene tape and blood spatter photo scales. For more information, click here.

Posted by John Woestendiek at 7:51 AM | | Comments (0)
        

Post a comment

All comments must be approved by the blog author. Please do not resubmit comments if they do not immediately appear. You are not required to use your full name when posting, but you should use a real e-mail address. Comments may be republished in print, but we will not publish your e-mail address. Our full Terms of Service are available here.

Please enter the letter "j" in the field below:
About Jill Rosen
Jill Rosen is a reporter at The Baltimore Sun. During her nearly 20 years in journalism, she has covered news and features — including a surprising number of stories that involved animals. There were the dog Christmas carolers in State College, Pa. There were the hounds who toured with a production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The story of a preschool teacher at Baltimore’s Father Kolbe School who had to replace her class guinea pig, who died over the winter holiday. A harrowing tale of what it was like to make homemade pet food ...

Though her clean freak of a mother refused to allow her to get a dog, she has had a number of pets through the years, including goldfish named Bob and Fingle, a betta fish named Ichabod, a wild rat terrier named Wendel, who she shared with a roommate, and, currently, sweet, sweet kitties named Leo Sesame and Milo Pumpkin and a little rescued pup named Teddy Bean. She, Leo, Pumpkin and Teddy Bean live in Baltimore.
-- ADVERTISEMENT --

Your pet photos

More animal photos
Most Recent Comments
Stay connected