Infrared thermography for detection of blunt-force trauma injuries during animal abuse investigations.

Detection of bruising in living animal victims of abuse can be challenging due to animal temperament and anatomy. Visual assessment, combined with physical and serum biochemical evaluation, can fail to detect injuries. However, development and validation of a noninvasive, antemortem method for detecting bruising in domestic species could have important medicolegal implications. Key clinical message: Thermal imaging utilizing infrared wavelengths can assist in detection of trauma in cases of animal abuse where no visible injuries are apparent, aiding in providing appropriate medical treatment and guidance for the legal system.

Thermographie infrarouge pour la détection de traumatismes contondants lors d'enquêtes sur la maltraitance des animauxLa détection des ecchymoses chez les animaux vivants victimes de maltraitance peut s'avérer difficile en raison du tempérament et de l'anatomie de l'animal. L'évaluation visuelle, combinée à l'évaluation physique et une analyse biochimique sérique, peut ne pas détecter les blessures. Cependant, le développement et la validation d'une méthode ante-mortem non invasive pour détecter les meurtrissures chez les espèces domestiques pourraient avoir d'importantes implications médico-légales.Message clinique clé :L'imagerie thermique utilisant des longueurs d'onde infrarouges peut aider à détecter les traumatismes dans les cas de maltraitance animale où aucune blessure visible n'est apparente, contribuant ainsi à fournir un traitement médical approprié et à guider le système judiciaire.(Traduit par Dr Serge Messier).

Gross and histopathological evaluation of human inflicted bruises in Danish slaughter pigs.

BACKGROUND: Human inflicted bruises in slaughter pigs are hampering animal welfare, are an infringement of the animal protection act, and are a focus of public attention. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the gross appearance of human inflicted bruises in slaughter pigs and to compare the inflammatory changes in two lesions as a basis for estimating the age of lesions in the same pig. Pigs with human inflicted bruises slaughtered at two major slaughterhouses in Denmark from November 2013 to May 2014 were evaluated. After slaughter, the bruises were examined grossly and skin and underlying muscle tissue from two similar but separate bruises (a and b) on each pig were sampled for histology. RESULTS: Skin and muscle tissue from 101 slaughter pigs were subjected to gross evaluation. Eighty-one of these were also subjected to histological evaluation. Most frequently (51 out of 101 pigs, 50 %), bruises had a tram-line pattern due to blunt trauma inflicted with long objects such as sticks. Other bruises reflected the use of tattoo-hammers, plastic paddles, double U profiles and chains. Histological evaluation of two bruises from a pig with multiple lesions was found insufficient to assess the overall age of the lesions as substantial variation in the inflammatory response between bruises was present. CONCLUSIONS: Grossly, the pattern of bruises often reflected the shape of the object used for inflicting the lesions. When determining the age of multiple bruises on a pig more than two lesions should be evaluated histologically.

Blunt Force Trauma in Veterinary Forensic Pathology.

Veterinary pathologists commonly encounter lesions of blunt trauma. The development of lesions is affected by the object's mass, velocity, size, shape, and angle of impact and by the plasticity and mobility of the impacted organ. Scrape, impact, and pattern abrasions cause localized epidermal loss and sometimes broken hairs and implanted foreign material. Contusions are best identified after reflecting the skin, and must be differentiated from coagulopathies and livor mortis. Lacerations-traumatic tissue tears-may have irregular margins, bridging by more resilient tissue, deviation of the wound tail, crushed hairs, and unilateral abrasion. Hanging or choking can cause circumferential cervical abrasions, contusions and rupture of hairs, hyoid bone fractures, and congestion of the head. Other special forms of blunt trauma include fractured nails, pressure sores, and dog bites. Ocular blunt trauma causes extraocular and intraocular hemorrhages, proptosis, or retinal detachment. The thoracic viscera are relatively protected from blunt trauma but may develop hemorrhages in intercostal muscles, rib fractures, pulmonary or cardiac contusions or lacerations with subsequent hemothorax, pneumothorax, or cardiac arrhythmia. The abdominal wall is resilient and moveable, yet the liver and spleen are susceptible to traumatic laceration or rupture. Whereas extravasation of blood can occur after death, evidence of vital injury includes leukocyte infiltration, erythrophagocytosis, hemosiderin, reparative lesions of fibroblast proliferation, myocyte regeneration in muscle, and callus formation in bone. Understanding these processes aids in the diagnosis of blunt force trauma including estimation of the age of resulting injuries.

Benchmarking the United States bison meat industry: stakeholder perceptions, production parameters, and live animal factors affecting meat quality.

The objectives of this study were 1) to understand stakeholder perceptions regarding the bison industry, 2) to benchmark live animal characteristics and production parameters of the bison industry, and 3) to identify live animal factors related to animal welfare and their effect on specific quality characteristics of bison meat. A survey was conducted both online and in-person at the National Bison Association Winter Conference (2022). Descriptive statistics were performed on a total of 110 surveys. Most stakeholders (94%, n = 104) agreed that the industry should continue to grow, and the majority (99%, 108) agreed that animal welfare impacts meat quality. Facility design (80%, n = 88), animal handling (78%, 86), employee training (56%, 62), and transportation duration (56%, 62) were selected as the factors that affect animal welfare. More than half of the stakeholders selected flavor (67%, n = 74) as the most important quality attribute of bison meat. For the in-plant antemortem and postmortem parameters data was collected from three plants in the United States over the course of a year. A total of 2,284 bison (bulls: n = 1,101; cows: n = 199; heifers: n = 984) were included in the study. Antemortem measurements such as distance traveled, vocalization, prod use, mobility, and head bumps were measured, followed by postmortem measurements that included bruise score, live weight, dressing percentage, ribeye area, and instrumental color. Approximately 97% of bison (n = 2,213) had at least one bruise. The average distance traveled from producer to slaughter plant was (mean ±â€…SD; 823 ±â€…583 km) and the average dressing percentage was (mean ±â€…SD; 60.5 ±â€…3.3%). Average (mean ±â€…SD) fat thickness and ribeye area were 1.4 ±â€…1.1 cm and 62.6 ±â€…9.8 cm2, respectively. Approximately 30% (n = 676) of the bison in this study head bumped between 1 and 5 times in the restraining chute or the single-file gate before being stunned. Linear regression indicated that differences in lean a* were associated with plant, number of head bumps in the chute, ribeye area, fat thickness, live weight, and sex class (P < 0.05). Logistic regression indicated that season, sex class, live weight, plant, and season were associated with differences (P < 0.05) in bruising. These results can be used as a baseline for current production parameters and serve as the foundation for future research to monitor improvement.

This project evaluated bison industry stakeholder perceptions on management, animal welfare, and meat quality with in-person and online surveys. Additionally, multiple live animal factors were measured to benchmark their influence on specific meat quality attributes. From the stakeholder surveys, animal handling, bison behavior, employee training, facility design, and transportation duration were identified as the most critical factors that could impact animal welfare in the bison production system. Moreover, the stakeholders understood that animal welfare is a critical component for bison production and that it directly affects meat quality. Live animal production parameters such as distance traveled, season, number of head bumps in the chute, sex class, and live weight were associated with differences in fat thickness, ribeye area, blood splash presence, and instrumental color of bison meat. The results from this study can be used as a baseline for industry improvements and future research.

Physical examination and CT to assess thoracic injury in 137 cats presented to UK referral hospitals after trauma.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to describe clinical examination and thoracic CT (TCT) findings in cats after trauma, and to identify physical examination findings associated with both abnormalities on TCT and the need for therapeutic interventions. METHODS: A multicentre, retrospective, observational study was conducted. Cats admitted to the participating hospitals with a history of blunt trauma and that underwent TCT were eligible. Data were collected on signalment, history, physical examination, TCT findings and subsequent interventions. RESULTS: In total, 137 cats were included. Road traffic accidents (RTAs) were the most frequently reported cause of trauma (69%). Tachypnoea (32%), pale mucous membranes (22%) and dyspnoea (20%) were the most common abnormal findings on thoracic examination. The most frequently identified thoracic pathologies on TCT were atelectasis (34%), pulmonary contusions (33%), pneumothorax (29%) and pleural effusion (20%). Thoracocentesis was the most commonly performed intervention (12%), followed by chest drain placement (7%). A total of 45 (33%) cats had no physical examination abnormalities but did have abnormalities detected on TCT; six of these cats required interventions. Increasing numbers of thoracic abnormalities on clinical examination were associated with increasing likelihood of having abnormal findings on TCT (odds ratio [OR] 2.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.21-3.44, P = 0.008) and of requiring an intervention (OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.32-2.51, P <0.001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: RTAs were the most common reported cause of blunt trauma. Atelectasis, pulmonary contusions and pneumothorax were the most common abnormalities identified on TCT, and thoracic drainage was the most utilised intervention. TCT may be useful in identifying cats with normal thoracic physical examination findings that have significant thoracic pathology, and a high number of abnormal findings on thoracic examination should raise suspicion for both minor and major thoracic pathology. The results of this study can be used to assist in selecting appropriate cases for TCT after blunt trauma.

Prevalence of skin lesions in turkeys at slaughter.

1. The aims of this study were (i) to evaluate the prevalence of welfare-related cutaneous lesions in turkeys at the end of the rearing period and (ii) to study the correlations between lesions. 2. The percentage of lesions in each flock was determined by observation at the slaughterhouse. Sixty flocks were investigated in 13 slaughterhouses between April and July 2006. 3. All flocks showed a high proportion of turkeys with footpad lesions, with 40·7% of turkey flocks having severe footpad dermatitis. A significant number of feet had swelling of the footpad and deviated toes (60·0% and 21·4% respectively). Arthritis was observed in 25·4% of the carcases and an average of 30·1% had breast buttons on the keel. 4. Positive correlations were found between evidence of feather pecking and arthritis, toe deviations and swelling of the footpad. Deviated toes, swelling of the feet and feather pecking were negatively linked to the most severe scratches (P < 0·001). 5. A method is proposed to assess turkey welfare at the slaughterhouse based on several criteria: footpad lesions, arthritis, severe scratches, deviated toes, swelling of the footpad and breast buttons.

Effects of certain risk factors on presence and severity of carcass bruising in cattle: A study in Turkey.

The aim of the study was to examine the effects of some pre-slaughter factors on the total carcass bruise severity score and the presence of carcass bruises. Bruises on 1027 cattle carcasses were evaluated with the "The Australian Carcass Bruise Scoring System," and at least one bruise score was determined in 92.7% of the carcasses. The total carcass bruise severity score increased as the animal's age, transport time, and AWACT (the Welfare Impact Score of Stockperson Actions) score increased (P < 0.001). The probability of the presence of carcass bruising increased 2.751 times in the autumn (P = 0.031) and 2.200 times in the summer (P = 0.072) compared to the winter. Carcass bruises tended to be 1.747 times more common in females than males (P = 0.065), and 65.9% less in the Simmental than Brown Swiss breed (P = 0.060). Human contact (OR = 1.685; P = 0.079) and electric goad using (OR = 1.762; P = 0.069) on the slaughter corridor tended to increase the probability of the presence of carcass bruises. In conclusion, to reduce the presence and severity of carcass bruises, it may be beneficial to focus on the improvement of handling and coercion practices applied by the stock person, to slaughter the cattle in the nearest slaughterhouse, and to pay more care to the handling of culled cattle.

Probability and number of bruises in bovine carcasses according to animal type, handling and transport.

The aim of this study was to evaluate pre-slaughter risk factors on the probability of bruising and the number of bruises in different regions of the bovine carcass. The study evaluated the data from 4061 batches of slaughtered cattle, totalling 199,026 carcasses, from Hereford and Aberdeen Angus animals in crosses with continental European breeds and Zebu cattle. The factors that caused injury were sex, handling conditions (score), vehicle type, vehicle load density (kg/m2), travel time (minutes), travel distance (kilometres), physiological maturity (dentition), animal reactivity (score), and carcass fat (score). The type of vehicle had the greatest influence on the probability of carcass bruising and affected all carcass cuts. More bruising occurred in vehicles with a greater load capacity. A higher chance of bruising was seen in groups of older animals, those with an excitable temperament and, especially, in groups of females. Higher load densities during transport resulted in a greater chance of bruising occurring in all cuts except the hindquarters. Distance and travel time are unstable in the models, but also detrimental, increasing the probability of bruising and the number of bruises in the various cuts. The results of this study suggest that good practices in the welfare, handling and transport of the animals, as well as training the personnel responsible for their handling, should be adopted to minimise the risk of injury at different locations on the carcass.

Social isolation impairs feed intake, growth and behavioural patterns of catfish under culture conditions.

Globally, the culture of fishes is important for food production. There is a growing interest in understanding and improving the welfare of cultured fish from both ethical and production perspectives. Social isolation is a common practice in catfish farming. This study assessed how social interactions affect the feeding behaviour, growth performance, and behavioural pattern of Clarias gariepinus under different social conditions. Juveniles of African catfish with a mean weight of 23.6 ± 1.09 g were stocked in 20L-aquaria (1.7 m × 1.2 m × 1.0 m) and fed twice daily in isolated (one fish/tank; N = 6 replicates) and non-isolated (six fish/tank; N = 6 replicates) conditions for a 36-day experimental period. Feed intake and growth response were monitored, while behavioural patterns were observed twice per week using focal sampling techniques for a total of 40 minutes per day. Wilcoxon two-sample tests and GLMs were used to analyse the data. Social context significantly (P < 0.001) affected the feed intake, feeding duration, and other observed behavioural patterns. However, the time of feeding (P > 0.001) did not affect the feed intake or the duration of feeding. Fish cultured in non-isolated conditions consumed more pellets (63 ± 2.36). The duration of feeding was longer in isolated conditions (431 s) while the latency to feed increased significantly (P < 0.001) from the first and fifth day of the experiment for the non-isolated and isolated, respectively. Behaviourally, isolated groups were inactive (Ws = 446.34, z = 5.397; P < 0.01) and displayed fewer aggressive acts (Ws = 0.95, z = 1.19; P < 0.01), while non-isolated groups were more active (Ws = 564.39, z = -5.397; P < 0.01) and displayed more escape attempts (Ws = 11.56, z =  -5.47; P < 0.01). Non-isolated groups had higher (Ws = 23.41, z = 1.06; P < 0.01) number of scars and bruises. Furthermore, non-isolated fish had a higher specific growth rate (2.36 ± 0.12), feed conversion ratio (1.27 ± 0.01) and a better condition factor (1.01 ± 0.08). Conclusively, these findings are relevant to African catfish welfare as social isolation changes the behavioural attributes, feeding pattern and growth rate of C. gariepinus. However, social context should be monitored since it resulted in more scars and bruises, which might affect the acceptability and welfare of this aquatic fish species.

Visual Assessment of Contusion-Like Lesions Caused by Live Sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates) Attachment in an Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin (Sousa chinensis).

We observed contusion-like lesions caused by live sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates) attachment in an Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis). Our report assists in differentiating epidermal lesions for visual health assessment in this vulnerable species and other cetaceans, and this adds new host and epibiont records for E. naucrates and S. chinensis, respectively.

Horse welfare at slaughter: A novel approach to analyse bruised carcasses based on severity, damage patterns and their association with pre-slaughter risk factors.

The study presents a novel veterinary forensic approach to analyse the bruising of horse carcasses, based on the nature of the bruises and how they are grouped in certain anatomical areas. Data on pre-slaughter logistics was obtained for 113 journeys with horses that travelled from Mexico and the USA to a Mexican abattoir. We found that carcass bruising was a highly prevalent problem (79% of carcasses had bruising) and was especially problematic in journeys lasting longer than 12 h, independently of the animal's country of origin, sex, age, lairage time or vehicle type. Multivariable logistic regression showed that the most severe bruises were not dispersed randomly on the carcass and that their distribution was associated with the presence of medium-sized bruises on the abdominal wall, front and rear limb. Cluster analysis suggested four damage patterns based on bruise location: severe and concentrated bruising, as well as non-severe bruises on the rear limb, thoracic-wall or more dispersed throughout the carcass.

Lung Ultrasound for Pulmonary Contusions.

Lung ultrasound (LUS) has high sensitivity for the rapid and reliable diagnosis of pulmonary contusions (PC) in patients who have sustained trauma. LUS diagnosis of PC exceeds that of thoracic radiographs in multiple animal and human studies. The sonographer should understand potential caveats and confounding variables for proper diagnosis of PC with LUS. LUS does not replace conventional radiography or computed tomography, especially in the polytrauma patient. LUS should be used concurrently with other point-of-care ultrasound trauma protocols to rapidly optimize patient assessment before movement to the radiology suite.

Optimising the sampling procedure for forensic investigation of bruises on pigs.

BACKGROUND: Human-inflicted bruises on pigs are a violation of the law and affected tissue is regularly sent for forensic investigation. The authors aimed to evaluate the variation in inflammation within and between human-inflicted porcine bruises in order to determine the optimal sampling procedure. METHODS: Skin and muscle tissues from the centre and ends of 21 bruises were evaluated histologically. Moreover, RNA was extracted from the subcutaneous fat tissue. The bruises were detected during meat inspection at the slaughter line, and all carcases were kept at 5°C for 12-24 hours before sampling. RESULTS: The sampling site with the most infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages differed between bruises inflicted on the same pig and between bruises inflicted on more pigs within the same delivery. The extracted RNA had RIN (RNA integrity number) values from 3 to 6.5. CONCLUSIONS: Tissue samples should always be taken from both skin and underlying muscle tissue. Samples should be collected from several sites along each bruise, and all bruises should be sampled in order to include the site of maximum tissue damage and inflammation. Moreover, RNA of sufficient quality for quantitative PCR and subsequent age estimation cannot be obtained from carcases kept for 12-24 hours at 5°C.

Diagnosis of pulmonary contusions with point-of-care lung ultrasonography and thoracic radiography compared to thoracic computed tomography in dogs with motor vehicle trauma: 29 cases (2017-2018).

OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of lung ultrasound (LUS) using the Veterinary Bedside Lung Ultrasound Examination (VetBLUE) protocol and 3-view thoracic radiographs (TXR) compared to thoracic computed tomography (TCT) for diagnosing the presence and quantification of pulmonary contusions (PC). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study conducted from February 2017 to June 2018. SETTING: Private emergency and referral center. ANIMALS: Thirty-two dogs having sustained motor vehicle trauma were consecutively enrolled. Three dogs were excluded from statistical analysis. All dogs survived to hospital discharge. INTERVENTIONS: Within 24 hours of sustaining trauma, dogs had LUS, TXR, and TCT performed. Using the VetBLUE protocol, LUS PC were scored according to the presence and number of B-lines and C-lines, indicating extravascular lung water. Thoracic radiographs and TCT were scored for PC in a similar topographical pattern to the VetBLUE protocol. Lung ultrasound and TXR were compared to "gold standard" TCT for the presence and quantification of PC. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: On TCT, 21 of 29 (72.4%) dogs were positive and 8 of 29 (27.6%) dogs were negative for PC. When LUS was compared to TCT, 19 of 21 dogs were positive for PC (90.5% sensitivity) and 7 of 8 dogs were negative (87.5% specificity) for PC. LUS PC score correlated strongly with TCT PC score (R = 0.8, P < 0.001). When TXR was compared to TCT, 14 of 21 dogs were positive for PC (66.7% sensitivity) and 7 of 8 dogs were negative (87.5% specificity) for PC. TXR PC score correlated strongly with TCT PC score (R = 0.74, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In this population of dogs with motor vehicle trauma, LUS had high sensitivity for diagnosis of PC when compared to "gold standard" TCT. LUS provides reliable diagnosis of PC after trauma. More patients with PC were identified with LUS than with TXR, and additional studies are warranted to determine whether this increased sensitivity is statistically significant.

Causes of bruising in carcasses of beef cattle during farm, transport, and slaughterhouse handling in Brazil.

This study aimed to assess preslaughter factors responsible for the occurrence of bruises to front, rib, loin, hip, and round sites of cattle carcasses. Data from the slaughter of 148 loads of cattle were assessed, totaling 4,611 carcasses. Evaluated bruising factor variables were animal gender, journey distance (km), vehicle type (m²), journey time (hours), load density (kg/m2 ), handling and facilities conditions (optimal, acceptable, and unacceptable), and unloading waiting time (min). Gender had the strongest influence on carcass bruising, being the first variable to enter in the majority of models related to the carcass sites. Female carcasses displayed higher bruising in all sites. Densities above 401 kg/m² caused more bruising. With the exception of the loin, unacceptable, and acceptable conditions assigned to farm facilities and handling resulted in higher average bruising. Articulated vehicles with a greater load capacity were more likely to cause bruising. The effects of variables causing bruises act differently in the various carcass sites. In this sense, the results of this study suggested possible management practices for specific problems during the preslaughter period to minimize losses by bruising to different carcass sites.

Forensic age determination of human inflicted porcine bruises inflicted within 10 h prior to slaughter by application of gene expression signatures.

Prediction-models based on gene expression profiles from experimental bruises are capable of determining the age of bruises with a precision of ±2 h. However, these models have not yet been applied on tissue from pigs in forensic cases requested by the police. We applied two prediction-models, based on mRNA expression of 13 (prediction-model no. 1) and 4 genes (prediction-model no. 2) involved in inflammation, on forensic cases of porcine bruises in order to determine if gene expression profiles can be used for age determination in forensic cases. Subcutaneous fat tissue from bruises notified to the police was sampled: 1) within 6 h after slaughter (group no. I, n = 142), and 2) after freezing the skin for up to 1 year (group no. II, n = 40). qPCR of genes involved in inflammation was performed to predict the bruise age after partial least squares analysis. mRNA expression data were obtained for 52.8% and 7.5% bruises in group nos. I and II, respectively. Prediction-model no. 2, based on the mRNA expression of Selectin E, Selectin P, Interleukin 6 and Nuclear Factor Kappa Beta Subunit1, was most suitable for predicting the age of bruises within 8 h prior to slaughter. In conclusion, mRNA expression profiles can assist in estimating the age of bruises. However, when applying gene expression signatures in forensic cases the age estimate should be interpreted together with histological manifestations. Subcutaneous tissue must be stabilized hours after the bruises are detected in order to obtain mRNA of a sufficient quality.

On-farm conditions that compromise animal welfare that can be monitored at the slaughter plant.

Handling and stunning at slaughter plants has greatly improved through the use of numerical scoring. The purpose of this paper is to encourage the use of numerical scoring systems at the slaughter plants to assess conditions that compromise welfare that occurred either during transport or on the farm. Some of the transport problems that can be assessed are bruises, death losses, and injured animals. Welfare issues that occurred on the farm that can be assessed at the abattoir are body condition, lameness, lesions, injuries, animal cleanliness and internal pathology. There are important welfare issues that cannot be assessed at slaughter. They are on-farm euthanasia methods, use of analgesics during surgeries, and the type of animal housing systems. Welfare evaluations at slaughter have the potential to greatly improve welfare.

Forensic aspects of incised wounds and bruises in pigs established post-mortem.

Recognizing post-mortem (PM) changes is of crucial importance in veterinary forensic pathology. In porcine wounds established PM contradicting observations regarding infiltration of leukocytes have been described. In the present study, skin, subcutis and muscle tissue sampled from experimental pigs with PM incised wounds (n=8), PM bruises (n=8) and no lesions, i.e. controls (n=4), were examined for signs of vitality over time. All tissue samples were subjected to gross and histopathological evaluation. Hemorrhages were present along the edges of PM incised wounds but deposits of fibrin were never observed. PM bruise led to hemorrhage in the subcutis visible on cross section of the skin in 3 out of 8 pigs. Histologically, hemorrhages in the subcutaneous tissue and disrupted muscle fibers were observed in PM bruises and could not be differentiated from similar lesions in ante-mortem (AM) bruises. Vital reactions, i.e. infiltrating leukocytes, hyper-leukocytosis and pavement of leukocytes, were absent in all incised wounds and bruises regardless of the time of sampling after traumatization. In conclusion, a vital reaction was not present in PM incised wounds, regardless of the time of sampling. Moreover, it was found that AM bruises free of leukocyte infiltration cannot be distinguished from PM bruises, an observation which is of crucial importance when timing bruises in forensic cases.

Thoracic bite trauma in dogs: a comparison of clinical and radiological parameters with surgical results.

OBJECTIVES: Canine bite wounds may cause severe underlying tissue trauma even with no clinically evident puncture wounds. In order to assess the ability of pre-operative diagnostic parameters to predict the extent of internal damage inflicted by a thoracic bite wound, the clinical, radiological and surgical data of 45 dogs that sustained thoracic bite trauma were recorded. METHODS: Clinical, radiographic and surgical parameters from 45 dogs of various breeds with thoracic bite trauma, were analysed (P<0.05). All dogs were treated according to a previously described protocol and had exploratory surgery including a thoracotomy. RESULTS: Mainly small-breed dogs were traumatised. Clinical and radiological data were suggestive of internal trauma but not reliable as accurate indicators for internal lesions. Only radiological evidence of lung contusion was significantly associated with the presence of surgically confirmed lung contusion (P=0.006). Dogs with postoperative wound complications had a significantly higher risk of dying than those without complications (P=0.04). CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This study concludes that according to protocol an optimal management of thoracic bite wounds in small dogs includes surgical exploration of the wound and the thoracic cavity in the presence of flail or pseudo-flail chest, fractured ribs, radiological evidence of lung contusion, pneumothorax or any combination of these.

Comparison of bruises and mortality, stress parameters, and meat quality in manually and mechanically caught broilers.

A field trial was conducted to compare manual catching of broilers with a mechanical catching method. Both methods were compared with respect to the incidence of bruises and dead on arrival, stress parameters, and meat quality. Also the dynamics of corticosterone, glucose, and lactate were investigated on the day broilers were killed. The broilers originated from 8 commercial broiler farms; visits were made on the day of catching during spring and autumn of 2001. Broilers of one house were caught manually, and those of the second house were caught mechanically. Plasma samples were taken before catching started, 30 min after the start of catching, 30 min before the end of catching, and at exsanguination of broilers from the first- and last-loaded transport vehicles. Postmortem measurements of pH, temperature, and water-holding capacity were made. Mechanical catching was associated with higher DOA percentages than manual catching in spring, although the difference was not significant in autumn. Catching method did not influence the percentage of bruises or meat quality. Moreover, corticosterone levels indicated that both methods induced the same amount of stress. The dynamics of corticosterone, glucose, and lactate levels showed a similar pattern. Plasma levels increased at the start of catching, and they further increased during transport, shackling, and stunning. However during catching itself, no large changes were observed. Our findings indicated that attempts to reduce stress in broilers during the last day of life could better be focused on factors other than catching.