Forensic veterinary assessment of the expert informativeness of biotransformation patterns of dog and cat corpses in various states of decomposition

Currently, there is no universal algorithm for determining the time of death of an animal. The purpose of the study was to provide a comprehensive argumentation of the forensic veterinary diagnostic significance of the biotransformation phenomena of 28 dog and cat corpses with justification based on their thorough assessment of expert criteria for the duration of postmortem intervals. The study used special and logical-philosophical methods: physical, observation, cyto/histomorphological, forensic veterinary autopsy, analysis, synthesis, deduction, and induction. Early mortalities: rigor mortis, drying, spots, cooling, and late mortalities: decay, skeletalization, fragmentation, patterns of biotransformation, their time ranges, and morphological characteristics are identified. The criterion informativeness of the ‘idiomuscular’ and ‘pupillary’ supravital reactions has been proved. The dynamics of disorganization of venous blood of dog and cat corpses within 48 h after death was determined. The sequence of postmortem succession by the entomofauna is shown. According to the concept of ‘evidence-based’ veterinary medicine, the key stages of postmortem decomposition of dog and cat corpses at different levels of structural organization are illustrated. Based on the analysis of the results of the empirical study, it is substantiated that in the interval of more than 72 h from the moment of death, the answers to the questions in the expert’s opinion, due to the large number of complex processes that occur in the tissues of dog and cat corpses, are often only probable