An Uncommon Accident and Unusual Cause of Death—A Fatal Domestic Ram Attack

Domestic animal attacks are not common; their fatal attacks are even rarer. Herein, a case of a 78‐year‐old woman attacked by a ram is presented. She sustained multiple head and chest injuries. The autopsy findings and the inspection of the scene revealed that the fatal aortic injury had been caused by direct force from the front, which subsequently caused a powerful anteroposterior chest compression, resulting in an incomplete tear by flexion and compression of the aortic arch. The aortic dissection propagated in both an ante‐ and retrograde direction, with intact adventitia. However, due to a rise in pressure in the formed false lumen, dissection propagated downward to the base of the heart, and further into the subepicardial adipose tissue, forming a subepicardial hematoma. This hematoma gradually compressed the proximal sections of the coronary arteries, impairing their filling, and producing a myocardial ischemia. In addition, circulation had probably been already disturbed by the right‐sided pneumothorax, as well as a possible pneumomediastinum.     

Effectiveness of Femur Bone Indexes to Segregate Wild from Captive Minks,Mustela vison,and Forensic Implications for Small Mammals

Utilization of free‐living populations of endangered wildlife species is usually strictly prohibited or restricted. Farming of endangered species can provide products that are in demand as a countermeasure. A novel forensic issue arises because it becomes necessary to discriminate the origin of given wildlife products. We tested the effectiveness of five measurements and four indexes of femur bone using farmed minks (n = 40) and escapees (n = 32). Results showed all measurements, namely body mass (L_f), body length (M_f), femur mass (V_f), femur length (M_b), and femur volume (L_b), were highly discriminatory. However, they are susceptible to the influence of nutrition level and sex. Femur length index (I_fl), femur linear density (D_l), and femur volume density (D_v) eliminated the influence of level of nutrition and were highly effective. However, I_fl and D_l were influenced by sex (p = 0.000). Because D_v was not influenced by sex (p = 0.683) and was highly effective, it was the preferred index.     

Fatal Eurasian Brown Bear Attacks—Two Swedish Fatalities in Modern Times

Fatal bear attacks on humans are uncommon with only one reported case in Sweden since 1902. The bear population is, however, growing and the frequency of confrontations is likely to increase. Case I-A 40-year-old hunter and his dog were found dead near a bear's den. Autopsy showed that a large portion of the face, facial skeleton, and anterior portion of the brain was missing. Autopsy of the bear showed two nonfatal gunshot wounds. Case II-A 61-year-old man and his dog were found dead outside a hunting lodge. Autopsy revealed numerous wounds, including partial evisceration of the intestines. The victim's blood ethanol concentration was 0.27%. These cases confirm the presence of risk factors identified by the Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project, that is, provocation by a dog, encountering an injured bear, and appearing close to its den. An additional possible factor in case II was ethanol intoxication.     

Criterion Analysis and Content Validity for Standardized Behavioral Tests in a Detector-Dog Breeding Program

Many working-dog programs assess behavior during a dog's first year of life with the aim of predicting success in the field. However, decisions about which tests to administer are frequently made on the basis of tradition or intuition. This study reports results from a survey given to U.S.A.'s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) detection-dog handlers (N = 34). We categorized and summarized handlers’ responses regarding traits they felt were important for work. We used this criterion analysis to examine the content validity of the TSA's puppy tests. Results indicate that 13 of 15 traits that are currently being measured are relevant. However, several traits not currently measured were identified as being highly important, notably “play” and off-duty “calmness.” These results provide support that the TSA tests are measuring traits relevant to operational search team performance but also highlight other traits that may be profitable to assess in this and other detection-dog programs.     

Fatal Injury Caused by a Ram (Ovis Aries) Attack

Animal‐inflicted injuries to humans are a major public health problem around the world resulting in great morbidity, money loss, and mortality. They are related to wild and domestic animals alike. Animals can cause injuries by various mechanisms—biting, stinging, crushing, goring, stomping, butting, kicking, pecking, etc. We present a case of a ram's attack with fatal consequences. A 4‐year‐old, 120 kg jezersko‐sol?ava breed ram with prior history of aggressive behavior inflicted multiple injuries to his 83‐year‐old owner, who died in the hospital a few hours later due to severe blunt force injuries sustained in the attack. The autopsy revealed the cause of death to be multiple injuries of the thorax and the head. Sheep, even though they are not considered aggressive or large farm animals such as cattle and horses, can inflict serious injuries with devastating results.     

Youthful animal abuse and later problem behavior outcomes: findings from two generations

The objective of this study was to document the long-term relationship between youthful animal abuse and a variety of problem behavior outcomes later in life. Data were used from a national, longitudinal, and multigenerational sample collected by the National Youth Survey Family Study, which assessed families across 27 years from 1977 to 2004. The analytic sample consisted of 2538 individuals who were analyzed using multivariate ordinary least squares and logistic regression modeling that controlled for important demographic factors. Hypotheses were tested across two generations separately showing that a history of animal abuse does, indeed, predict later problem behaviors, including serious offending, marijuana use, other drug use, alcohol use, and deviant beliefs. Depending on the outcome examined, each model accounts for 5–34% of the variation in respondents’ problem behaviors. Within each model, animal abuse was often one of the strongest predictors. Implications of these findings, the study’s limitations, and future research directions are discussed.     

Cruelty to Animals and Violence to People

The topic of animal cruelty has been largely neglected by criminological researchers. However, studies suggest that children who are cruel to animals disproportionally tend to be violent to people later in life. Case histories of serial killers and mass murderers suggest that many were cruel to animals in their childhood. Furthermore, it is argued that cruelty to animals in a family tends to be associated with domestic violence, child abuse, and elder abuse. Unfortunately, much of the previous research was based on small, unrepresentative samples, with poor or no control samples and retrospective information. Prospective longitudinal surveys of large representative samples are needed. Family based prevention programs might be effective in reducing cruelty to animals, but experimental evaluations of such programs are required. The time is ripe for a major research program to advance knowledge about the causes and prevention of animal cruelty and its implications for criminology.     

19世纪后半期俄国远东地区对中国东北农畜产品的需求

19世纪中叶俄国占领中国黑龙江以北、乌苏里江以东大片领土并向该地派遣驻军和移民后，俄国远东地区所需物资、尤其是农畜产品极度缺乏，所缺农畜产品中的相当大部分需从相邻的中国东北购买。19世纪后半期中国东北农畜产品的对俄输出，一方面满足了俄国远东地区对粮食、肉类和畜力的迫切需要，从而为该地区的经济发展提供了先决条件；另一方面，对中国东北农牧业的发展也起到了一定的促进作用。     

猪 犬和兔胃黏膜分区及黏膜皱褶的分布特征

采用胃外翻充盈观察法、全胃切开观察法和方格测试面积法对猪、犬和兔胃黏膜分区和黏膜皱褶分布进行了比较解剖学研究。结果显示,猪的贲门腺区和胃底腺区比较大,幽门腺区比较小;犬和兔的胃底腺很大,幽门腺区比较小,贲门腺区很小。猪和兔胃底腺区的颜色比较深,幽门腺区的颜色比较浅;犬的贲门腺区和胃底腺区的颜色差别不大。猪、犬和兔贲门腺区和幽门腺区的黏膜皱褶相似;猪的贲门腺区和胃底腺区的黏膜皱褶差别不大;猪和兔胃底腺区的黏膜皱褶相似;犬的胃底腺区发达,黏膜呈脑沟脑回状。猪、犬和兔胃小弯附近区域的黏膜与贲门腺区、胃底腺区和幽门腺区的黏膜有移行关系,可视为移行区。胃黏膜分区及黏膜皱褶分布的研究为动物胃的生理学和病理研究提供了基础资料。     

A fatal elephant attack

A rare case of an elephant attack is presented. A 44-year-old man working as an elephant keeper was attacked by a cow elephant when he tripped over a foot chain while the animal was being medically treated. The man fell down and was consequently repeatedly attacked with elephant tusks. The man sustained multiple stab injuries to both groin regions, a penetrating injury to the abdominal wall with traumatic prolapse of the loops of the small bowel, multiple defects of the mesentery, and incomplete laceration of the abdominal aorta with massive bleeding into the abdominal cavity. In addition to the penetrating injuries, the man sustained multiple rib fractures with contusion of both lungs and laceration of the right lobe of the liver, and comminuted fractures of the pelvic arch and left femoral body. The man died shortly after he had been received at the hospital. The cause of death was attributed to traumatic shock.