Fauna selvatica avvelenata:
un caso clinico ed un commento all’ordinanza ministeriale sui bocconi avvelenati
Poisoned wildlife and the law: a clinical case and a comment on the ministerial decree on poisoned baits
Authors
Mariacher A.
Medico Veterinario - Centro di Referenza Nazionale per la Medicina Forense Veterinaria - Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana, Grosseto
Fico R.
Medico Veterinario – Responsabile del Centro di Referenza Nazionale per la Medicina Forense Veterinaria - Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana
Summary
The malicious use of poison is probably one of the major causes of wildlife mortality in Europe to date. It is no surprise then that a veterinary practitioner may be called to attend to critically ill wildlife. These situations, in addition to intrinsic diagnostic difficulties, can give rise to legal uncertainty about the correct way of proceeding and the responsibilities of the various stakeholders involved.
This paper focuses on a specific event, namely the deliberate poisoning of wildlife. Starting from a clinical-pathological case of poisoning due to zinc phosphide in a European badger (Meles meles), the various procedural steps are followed by examining the responsibilities and actions provided by the veterinarian, according to the latter Ministerial Decrees on Poisoned Baits (OM 21/06/2017).
The paper also provides information on signs of suspect poisoning in wildlife, samples to be submitted to toxicological analysis, interaction with the forensic veterinary pathologist and the importance of an accurate data collection to assess the poisoned baits phenomenon at a national scale.
Keywords
Criminal code; Poisoning; Wildlife forensics
