Future recommendations

This five-year retrospective study of veterinary forensic necropsies in the Netherlands identified recurring patterns in suspected animal abuse cases, as well as variability in operational practices and case handling procedures. The findings should be interpreted within the context of a developing forensic field in which standardisation and data integration are still evolving.

The majority of cases were submitted by police and governmental agencies. Variability was observed in packaging and storage conditions across submissions, including the use of non-compliant packaging and non-refrigerated storage in a subset of cases. While some improvement was observed in 2024, including increased use of sealed forensic body bags, the findings suggest heterogeneity in pre-submission handling practices. From a forensic perspective, greater consistency in submission, packaging, transport, and storage procedures may support more uniform preservation of evidentiary material. Development or refinement of national-level guidelines, in combination with appropriate logistical support and training, could contribute to standardisation of these processes [22, 29].

Veterinarians were infrequently represented among submitting parties in this dataset. Given their position in animal healthcare systems and their legal obligation to report suspected animal cruelty, this low submission rate may reflect structural or procedural factors such as uncertainty regarding reporting pathways or variability in engagement with investigative authorities. Previous studies have similarly identified uncertainty regarding reporting procedures and legal thresholds as potential barriers [7, 36]. Further work could explore how reporting processes and inter-agency communication influence veterinary involvement in forensic case initiation.

Standardised protocols for submission and handling of animal remains may support more consistent case processing across provinces. Such protocols would ideally be complemented by appropriate infrastructure (e.g., refrigerated storage capacity, standardised packaging materials) and training initiatives across veterinary, law enforcement, animal welfare, and judicial sectors, with emphasis on evidence preservation and interdisciplinary communication.

Future cases would benefit from incorporating ancillary testing, such as histopathology, toxicology, and microbiology, particularly when relevant samples have been collected and are available for further analysis. This would improve diagnostic certainty and strengthen the forensic and scientific interpretation of findings.

To promote systematic knowledge sharing, we also recommend the establishment of a centralized national database of veterinary forensic cases. Such a system, modelled after successful examples in Spain, Brazil, and the United Kingdom, would allow for trend analysis, geographic monitoring, identification of repeat offenders, and evaluation of long-term preventive strategies [24, 25]. At present, veterinary forensic data in the Netherlands are not centrally aggregated, which limits systematic evaluation of trends over time and across regions. Integration of veterinary forensic information into broader public health or violence-related datasets may further support interdisciplinary research, particularly given the documented associations between animal abuse and interpersonal violence [2, 5].

In selected cases, early involvement of veterinary forensic experts at the scene may provide additional contextual information relevant to postmortem interpretation, such as environmental conditions, decomposition stage, and entomological activity. This would allow for example for entomological sampling and more accurate postmortem interval (PMI) estimations, which are otherwise nearly impossible without firsthand environmental context.

Further research is warranted into methodological tools specifically designed for veterinary forensic applications, including postmortem interval (PMI) estimation techniques adapted from human forensic science. Approaches such as temperature-based models [54–56], entomological analyses, and decomposition scoring systems may benefit from further validation in animal cases.

Finally, sustainable institutional support, dedicated funding, and formal integration of veterinary forensic science into national forensic frameworks would help ensure consistency, reduce reliance on ad-hoc arrangements, and maximize the contribution of these investigations to animal welfare enforcement and broader public safety efforts.