PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Summer 2021 - 23

Will You Speak for Those
with No Voice?
By Bryan Langlois, DVM, Past President PVMA
Since starting my veterinary career in
2005, I have focused almost all of it
in the non-profit and humane society
realms. Part of this chosen path involves
being more involved with animal cruelty
cases and their prosecution. I have been
involved with hundreds of cases over
the past 15 years and dozens that have
gone all the way to trial. I have provided
education to veterinary students, new
veterinary graduates, veterinarians who
either have an interest in the area or
are asked to help in a case, and humane
officers. My goal in all of this has been
to give those who need it the proper
foundation to help successfully prosecute
these cases and not lose them on
avoidable mistakes.
By now, you are probably thinking this is
an article all about ME. Well, the truth
is, it really is all about YOU! Over the
last year or so, I have been providing
a lot of Continuing Education lectures
for the Humane Society Police Officers
in Pennsylvania. With the passing of
the new animal cruelty statutes in PA
(something the PVMA and our Legislative
& Regulatory Affairs Committee [LRAC]
were highly active in helping to craft and
support), more and more cases are being
both reported and prosecuted. With
those increased prosecutions comes an
increased need for veterinarians to assist
in the cases. Many humane officers,
especially those in some of the more
rural areas, are having trouble finding
veterinarians who can help with these
prosecutions.
I know this past year has been like none
other for everyone in this profession.
It has been one that has taxed and
stressed us in ways we never would have
envisioned before the pandemic. As we
work to try and return to a state of seminormalcy,
I am asking anyone who thinks
that they can be of assistance to those
who take on the hard task of prosecuting
cases to offer their services. You will help
in protecting innocent lives more than
you can possibly realize.
I realize there are reasons why some
will not want to take on this extra
responsibility, and I would never force
anyone who did not want to be involved
to do so. If you do have even the slightest
interest, or if you already do help in
these cases, I am asking that you please
let the PVMA know about it. We are in
the process of putting together a list of
veterinarians who can assist in cruelty
cases. This will allow us to direct humane
officers who reach out for help to a
veterinarian in their area who may be
available to assist. This list will be kept
by the PVMA and by the Director of
Pennsylvania Academy of Animal Care
and Control (who has taken over the
role of training new humane officers and
providing the CE they need to stay badged
as such). No personal contact information
will be given to any of the officers who
are requesting help, only your business
contact information. Specifically, we need
veterinarians whose area of interest
include Farm Animal, Equine, Exotics,
and Small Mammal. You do not need to
have a developed background in forensic
veterinary pathology to be a great
resource in cruelty cases. In fact, just by
you being there as the vet to provide
honest testimony on what was found
and to opine on those findings is often
enough to get guilty verdicts or even
guilty pleas.
If you're interested in being
included on this list, please
visit PaVMA.org/Cruelty and
complete the form. Members
must be logged in to submit
the form.
These cases can be time consuming, and I
do realize that everyone's time is already
stretched quite thin. I also know many
of these cases can be very emotionally
draining. As such, I am working with both
the PVMA and the Pennsylvania Academy
of Animal Care and Control to see how
both compensation for your time on
these cases and outlets to support your
emotional well-being can be provided to
you. This is in the early stages of planning.
I also can help to provide you with any
coaching and support you may need in
being involved in cases from the very
initial complaint all the way through to
testifying.
Over the past 15 years, I have found
just how crucial a role our profession
plays in ensuring that those who commit
animal cruelty are both properly charged
and convicted. We should be proud as
a profession for being such a trusted
and important part of this process. I
hope you will consider making yourself
available for these cases in the future.
If you should have any questions about
animal cruelty and its prosecution, please
do not hesitate to reach out to me at
DrBLanglois@gmail.com.
About the Author: Dr. Bryan Langlois
works in the non-profit and high quality,
high volume, spay/neuter areas of the
veterinary profession. He has worked with
many different organizations, Humane
Society Police Officers, and the Bureau
of Dog Law on both Animal Cruelty and
Dog Law Violation cases. Dr. Langlois
has helped many veterinary students
and new graduates navigate the process
of working up and testifying in animal
cruelty cases. He currently resides in
Bradford County, PA, where he hopes
to continue to provide much needed
veterinary services to the local animal
rescue community as well as low-income
areas of the county and beyond. In
addition, he has begun work with shelter
outreach services in the southern tier
region of New York. He can be reached at
any time at DrBLanglois@gmail.com.
Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association | 23
http://www.PaVMA.org/Cruelty
PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Summer 2021

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