Case 89

A teenager was attacked by a pack of seven dogs: pit bulls and mixed pit bulls. This injury was one of the superficial bites (Image 89a). A reverse image of the bite is shown in Images 89b through 89d. The total number of bites and severe injuries resulted in the teenager’s death from multiple organ damage. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429170423/e1d751c1-a9c7-4bb9-9d59-53742c84031a/content/fig89a.jpg"/>

What does Image 89a show?

When can such a death be the result of child abuse? How does one differentiate animal bites from human bites reliably? In cases of animal bites, how does one approach these fatal injuries as negligent homicide?

What is the role of the forensic odontologist in evaluating these cases?

200 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429170423/e1d751c1-a9c7-4bb9-9d59-53742c84031a/content/fig89b.jpg"/> https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429170423/e1d751c1-a9c7-4bb9-9d59-53742c84031a/content/fig89c.jpg"/> https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429170423/e1d751c1-a9c7-4bb9-9d59-53742c84031a/content/fig89d.jpg"/> 201

Image 89a shows the typical pattern of a dog bite with short, straight, anterior segment and deep penetrations/punctures of the canines. The canines often produce tissue tearing. The child was attacked and killed by a pack of seven pit bull/pit bull mix dogs. She sustained mortal wounds over her entire body particularly the arms (defensive wounds) which were almost to the bone. She did not die during the attack but on the way to the hospital. The owner had been warned on several occasions to keep the dogs locked up and under control since they were terrorizing the neighbourhood. On this particular day, the pack of dogs got out and went down the road and killed the girl while she was getting groceries out of her car. The owner was arrested and was offered a plea but refused. He was convicted and sent to prison for 15 years.

Animal bites are considered abuse/neglect when an infant or child is left unsupervised in the unrestricted presence of a dog or other animal. ¹ Dogs are predators trained as pets, and children’s play often mimics the dog’s prey in the wild, with high-pitched screaming, random movements and no sense of space infringement. Distinguishing dog/cat bites from human bites involves comparing the morphology of the teeth as well as the shape of the jaw pattern. ² The overall bite mark pattern is very different. Human bite marks are oval/ovoid; animal bites are longer, narrower, with a short straight anterior segment. The human dental formula is four incisors, two canines, four premolars and three molars. Canines and felines have six incisors, long curved canines, two premolars and three molars. Human bites usually leave contusions and superficial abrasions. Incisors leave a rectangular mark; canines leave a triangular mark. Image 89b shows the same image as 89a with the overlay of the teeth superimposed. The blue insert is simply an image adjustment to give a different colour perspective of the bite mark. Image 89c shows a scratch, which could be misinterpreted as a bite mark. Image 89d is a different bite mark. There were many additional bite marks which are not shown.

The role of the forensic odontologist is to assess the overall bite pattern, its outline form and individual teeth markings, and come to a conclusion as to whether the bite is human or animal. ³ Also, if multiple dogs are involved the bite can be compared to the suspected animals, especially as to size of the arch. In this case, at least one bite mark could be matched to each of the dogs.