The importance of knowing how “communicating science” in court in large animal’s practice: case report in a flock

The veterinarian - during his/her professional work - is often involved in legal issues as an expert witnesses (Court-appointed Expert or private technical consultant). The Court-appointed Expert or Official Technical Consultant (OTC) is an auxiliaries of the Judge with particular competence in a specific field, called to express opinions, and to gather reasons, although final decisions are exclusively up to the magistrate. In all cases in which a judge nominates an expert, the parties are able to be assisted by an expert called private technical consultant (PTC). PTC formulates his/her deductions regarding the actions of the court-appointed expert and can submit reports in support of or in opposition to the report of the OTC. In the clinical of farm animals several situations can require a specific preparation to ensure adequate support to the judge. In view of rising litigations relating to farm animals, Authors examine a case report about a damage assessment suffered by a farmer of Sardinian ovines as a result of aggression of an owned dog, Labrador, 10 months old. Established a dispute, the judge - for the damage evaluation of - appealed to technical and scientific expertise of a veterinarian.The legal dispute, in the presence of one OTC and two PTCs, was mainly concerned on the evaluation of the stress-induced mastitis caused by the aggression of dog through the somatic cell count in milk of ewes. According to the interpretation of OTC, the damage was mainly attributed to the pursuits of the flock by the dog, probably for a playful intention of the dog rather than a real aggression. From the exam of this case it is possible to emphasize the key role of Veterinarian, as technical consultant (OTC and/or PTC), that is more often called in the process of science communication and through its expert report available to the judicial, give the tools for the solution of several legal proceedings.