Animal Care & Control Training Webinars | National Animal Care & Control Association (nacatraining.org)

In animal cruelty cases, the animals themselves—living or deceased—are evidence of the crime. Traditional law enforcement property rooms are not equipped to handle this nature of evidence, making animal shelters, veterinary clinics, and laboratories essential to maintaining the viability of these cases by holding and caring for the living animals and animal remains that were collected as evidence.

While important evidence is collected from these animals initially, there is a misconception that they need to be held in a protective evidentiary status until the trial resolves, months or even years later. This presentation will recognize the challenges of holding animal evidence and explain how those challenges impact essential partners’ ability to assist with animal cruelty cases. Presenters will explain why it’s not necessary to continue to hold animals in the pendency of trial and address due process and discovery concerns. Attendees will leave this presentation with tools and proposed solutions to resolve this widespread problem.