In animal cruelty cases, it’s important for the sake of the animals – and for society – that someone is there to reveal truth and serve justice. Sean McDonough is one of those people.

In 2012, a 12-year-old girl in Orleans County reported she had witnessed a man kick a kitten to death in the parking lot of the apartment complex where she lived. The man, who lived at the complex with his girlfriend, claimed the kitten had fallen from a tree and died, and he was simply moving it out of the way.

McDonough, associate professor of veterinary pathology at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, conducted the necropsy at the college’s Animal Health Diagnostic Center, one of a few labs in New York state that perform post-mortems on animals. Based on his findings, Orleans County District Attorney Joseph Cardone took the case to trial, at which McDonough testified.

Recognition of the link between human and animal abuse has helped spur a slowly growing system for investigating and prosecuting crimes against animals.

When cats fall, most commonly from high-rise buildings, there is a pattern of injuries, McDonough said. They spread their legs and their fur slows the fall, and they tend to land horizontally on their feet, at times breaking limbs, with contusions on their undersides, possibly bruising or breaking their chins.

“The pattern and the types of injuries [in the kitten] were not compatible with falling from a height, but they were compatible with being struck with a heavy object or being kicked,” at least twice, McDonough said. Based on his testimony, the jury found the defendant guilty and the judge sentenced him to two years in state prison, due to a felony animal abuse charge and because he committed the act in front of a minor.

Pathologist Sean McDonough, associate professor of veterinary medicine, has been performing necropsies at Cornell since 1997.

Even in heinous crimes, a pathologist’s job is not to advocate for one side or the other.

“I am not there to convict a guilty party; I am not there to ensure an innocent person goes free,” McDonough said. “I am there to help the court understand what happened to the animal, and they decide whether or not a crime was committed.”

In legal cases involving an animal’s death, necropsy reports provide invaluable information to district attorneys, juries and judges.

They also give voice to silent victims: the animals themselves.

When people commit deadly crimes against animals, the corpse has a tale to tell. It’s a veterinary pathologist’s job to translate that story.