3 Non-Accidental Injury
Introduction
Most injuries to animals are accidental and have no darker connotations. Nevertheless, many veterinarians are presented at some point during their working careers with patients whose case histories give rise to concern that their injuries are not purely the result of an accident. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in the UK recognises this possibility and advises in the College’s ‘Guide to professional conduct’ that ‘When a veterinary surgeon is presented with an injured animal whose clinical signs cannot be attributed to the history provided by the client, s/he should include non-accidental injury in the differential diagnosis’.1 This chapter highlights the features that assist in the separation of accidental injuries from deliberate injuries.
Some cases of physical abuse are straightforward – for example, those perpetrators witnessed abusing animals in full public view. Others, however, are hidden, with the violence taking place behind closed doors at home. In the past it has often been assumed that owners who take their animals for veterinary treatment are unlikely to be abusive. This belief has been dispelled.2
Difficulty of diagnosis
The diagnosis of physical abuse is not simple, and this is true for both the veterinary profession and the medical profession. The difficulties involved are particularly well described in the paragraphs that follow. The words were written for medical health professionals dealing with child abuse cases, but they also apply to veterinarians as they have the same doubts and fears as their medical colleagues.3
Age, sex and breed of dogs and cats who have suffered a non-accidental injury
Dogs and cats aged less than 2 years are more at risk than older animals, and male dogs are more likely to be attacked than females.4
There is evidence that mixed-breed dogs and domestic short-haired cats are at increased risk, as are Staffordshire bull terriers.4
