Episode 90

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Published on:

11th May 2025

Animal ForensiCon 2025: Bovine Distance Evaluation with João Bittar, DVM

Dr. João Bittar, Assistant Professor of Beef Cattle Extension at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, talks about the importance of long-distance observation of livestock in determining their physical and behavioral health.

The 2025 Animal ForensiCon: The Animal Forensic Investigations Conference is a three-day event, offered in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida from May 7th to 9th, 2025. The conference is hosted by the University of Florida’s Veterinary Forensic Sciences Laboratory.

ForensiCon offers workshops and educational sessions on a wide variety of topics pertaining to criminal investigations, law, small animal investigations, equine and livestock investigations, and wildlife crimes. This conference is open to anyone interested in animal forensic investigations. Attendees will also have the opportunity to network with faculty, experts, and investigators

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joão-henrique-jabur-bittar-1524b084

Transcript
DrG:

All right, for our large animal friends, I have Dr.

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Bittar here who's gonna be talking

about distance examinations

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for non veterinarians.

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Thank you so much for being here.

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João Bittar: Oh, thank you.

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It's a pleasure.

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And then I hope I can contribute to

your learning, a little bit at least.

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DrG: Excellent.

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Thank you.

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Um, let's start by telling

the audience, who you are.

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What do you do?

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João Bittar: Well, I'm a veterinarian

and a graduate from Brazil.

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And then spend a few years

there, moved to upstate New York.

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Work with some dairy cattle.

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Then moved to Florida, did a residency,

masters, moved to Georgia, did a PhD.

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Then I moved to the

Caribbeans to be a professor.

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Now I'm back in Florida.

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So I have a little bit of experience

on the eastern part of the Americas.

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And then, being involved with Dr.

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Adams Stern quite a bit on this work

so it's a little bit new for me for the

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forensic, but I hope to be able to share

more than some of my experience on this 23

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years of, uh, after veterinary graduation.

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Uh, and especially the bovine.

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So it's kind of interesting because the

population now is becoming a little bit

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more city and less rural, so people are

kind of forgetting and then they even

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don't understand where food comes from.

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Although we have good parameters

to take care of the livestock,

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sometimes there's a fine

line of neglecting or not.

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So I hope I can share some of the

experience with the, the forensic people

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on the cattle side, you know, to help in

their cases if they come along with one.

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DrG: Yeah.

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And I think that's really important

because, and you're gonna be talking

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about distance examinations and that's

like the first thing that you see right?

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Is looking at them from afar.

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And I know from one of the lectures

yesterday that was about how people

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may think that something doesn't look

as good as it should or vice versa.

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João Bittar: Yeah, that's a good point.

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And then like, uh, I choose this

topic because I see that, uh, you

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might not have on the, the case know,

the forensic, the neglecting case.

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You may not, the technician may not

have access to, you know, palpate

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the animal, get closer to the animal.

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So then observing to the distance, I think

is, a technique that should be mastered

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or at least understandable, you know, to

benefit, okay, to understand the case.

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Is this animal in good condition or not?

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Is he or she's sick?

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And then, I think that's my goal.

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And then we'll see, hopefully we can,

we can get the, the crowd inspired,

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you know, and then, uh, take a little

bit more about how the cattle behaves

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and then how they, the, the variations

we can see, like, especially here in

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the south, different breeds, you know,

the, the challenge of the weather.

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And then, uh, it's almost

hot all year around.

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A lot of flies, so.

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But the winter becomes a little bit rough

with, uh, limited food availability.

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And then I, I wanna focus half of

my talk on the body condition score.

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I think that's a very good tool to be

more objective in, to have a snapshot of

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the nutritional condition of the animal.

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So.

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DrG: The distance evaluation and

the physical condition of the cattle

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is kind of obvious, but are you

looking also for the, their behavior?

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João Bittar: Yes.

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You, you, uh, nailed.

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I try to get the audience, you

know, to focus on some individual

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and also the population.

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So behavior, you know, and then, uh,

a lot of times when you are away, it's

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kind of hard to get the cattle move

because cattle is a prey animals, and

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then, but we're trying to not, uh, let

them realize that we're staring them.

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Then they can hide what they're

showing the clinical signs.

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But, uh, it's interesting to see

like the cattle can move, you

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know, see how they're walking the

strides, you know, if they're lame.

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Or their appearance.

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It's a kind of challenge, but,

uh, I think it'll be, be okay.

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You know, especially like, uh, trying

to point the audience to some specific

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parts of the animals to pay attention.

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Also their behavior.

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You know, like I, I mentioned, I have

some, I am very visual guy, so I have

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quite a few pictures and videos, so kind

of trying to brainstorm a little bit.

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Okay.

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What you're seeing here.

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So there's, uh.

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What is different, you know?

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DrG: Yeah.

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And by looking at them from a distance,

then potentially you're like, they

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don't, they don't always notice you,

so they can act like in their natural

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environment, not being concerned about you

looking at them and that kind of stuff.

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João Bittar: That's right.

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And then, uh, it gives us a little

bit about how the, at least it can

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give some estimation know about

how much close contact they're they

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having with the, the, the human.

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You know, like in the point, okay, is

there just like example winter time?

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Is this animal being

fed frequently or not?

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Sometimes when they see, realize a person

coming by, uh, if the cattle are hungry,

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you know, they come running for, you

know, especially to look for food or not.

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And then when I say distance, sometimes.

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It could mean a few meters away or a

few yards away, but at least the point

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is you cannot touch, you know, you can,

you just need to rely on your most of

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your available, one of the most of the

important ones, uh, feature that we have,

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that the, the vision, the sight, you know?

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We see, and then

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interpret that.

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DrG: Yeah.

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I think it's becoming a lost

thing that we don't use our,

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our eyes and our hands as much.

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Like with technology, we are thinking

about everything needs too much technology

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and realistically we are like the best,

how you say, observer of what's happening.

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João Bittar: Yes, ma'am.

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I kind of, uh, sometimes joke

or, or make a little more fun

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environment to learn with my students.

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Depending if they are vet students

or a lay person that I, I'm

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trying to, to teach something.

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So, uh, go back to the basics, you

know, and then we need to observe

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really good, you know, with smell and

then if you can, uh, see and then hear.

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So I think that's, the

sight will be very focused.

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Okay.

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What you're seeing.

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So what is the environment like

around, you know, what their behavior,

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like you've been mentioned before.

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So if they, when the cattle realize

they're being seen, they watch Okay.

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How, how they they perform.

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Some run away, so they're

standing, uh, laying down.

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So how they're laying down

it, it's, it's interesting.

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So we're gonna be a little bit like

a James Bond here on the side, but,

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uh, and then I, I also reinforce to

my students, you know, the animal and

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then, even though I'm a large animal

veterinarian, so I can try to put in

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prospect for the small animal as well.

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They don't come and say, Hey doc, hey,

my leg, right leg right here is painful.

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You know, you need to find out.

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And then sometimes, cause you

know, it's dangerous, the animal

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can bite, they can kick you.

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So that's this combination of

observe, you know, and then there's

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a lot of ancillary diagnosis and

resource technology that we have.

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But in this case, we're, we're gonna

start from the principle and the basics.

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You know, we don't have much.

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Maybe a binocular, a phone

with a good zoom, you know?

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And then we go from there.

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DrG: Yeah.

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And I think that that's gonna be really

useful for investigators to be able to

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determine what they need to get a warrant

for or not like, if they get called to a

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case, they can observe the behavior and

the physical health of the animals and

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then say, yes, I have enough to go get

a warrant, or no, they, they look okay.

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There's not enough evidence to come in.

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João Bittar: That's right.

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And then I, that's why I'm focused

again on the body condition scoring.

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So to be, uh, less subjective so they have

more common sense, kind of good way to,

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to be objective on the, the comparison.

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Okay.

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These animals, what are

they overall body condition?

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Like in, do they have

excess of muscle and fat?

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Maybe they just don't have fat and they're

still losing some muscle mass, you know?

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And then, i'm gonna point it out a little

bit, like very quick about the, about the

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stages of the animal in their production.

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For example, a dry cow, different

from a heifer or a, a female cow

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that calves for the first time.

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So her, uh, nutrition

requirements are way higher.

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So that animal, if she has a calf

on her side, she may be low body

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condition score because she's getting

some of her resources to produce milk.

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Milk is very expensive.

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And then aligned to

the environmental area.

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You know, do they have hay?

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You can see, uh, some leftover hay,

you know, these animals being fed.

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Height of the forage available in

the pasture so that to make that,

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uh, a little, like I said, the body

condition, then maybe teach a little

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bit about the stage of the production,

then they can say, okay, winter time,

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lot of cows with babies, you know,

they're low body condition score.

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But we see, okay, they have signs

that they're being fed, how?

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With hay or other know feed troughs.

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You can see cattle, um, bunching

up in a little feed area.

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So that can give you the, the

technician, the information with

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objectivity, you know, to go and

then further proceed on their case.

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You know why they're, like you said.

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As for the warrant or maybe

just being the lookout?

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You know, I apologize.

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I'm not a hundred percent in the forensics

of the laws, but at least, uh, we're

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trying to work together trying, at least

with the experience with livestock,

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specially cattle helps the technician on

their case, you know, to, to back them up.

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Like I said, I try to be less subjective.

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Because that's the way you can

give a good proof on your case.

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DrG: Yeah, no, I, I completely agree

because again, like it's when we're

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going into forensics, or to examine

something forensically for any evidence

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of cruelty and neglect, we have to

know the medicine behind it, right?

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So even, even though you're not

necessarily a forensic investigator.

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You're an expert in your field,

so you're able to say, this is,

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you know, this is what I'm seeing.

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This is why it's okay,

this is why it's not okay.

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And then somebody that has the legal

knowledge can then take your information

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and put it in a legal perspective.

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João Bittar: That that's right.

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And I completely agree.

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And also I'd like to reemphasize the,

uh, needs, you know, to work as a

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teamwork, you know, like the legal

one, the person that knows more the

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law, the one that knows more about the,

the condition of the animal, you know,

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if they are alive and then if they're

dead, also if the pathologist as well.

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So it's, I think it's, uh, good to

have this, uh, team approach, you

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know, to get to the deliverable

that's to understand the case and

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then, uh, further pursue legally.

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DrG: Excellent.

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Well, this has been very educational

and I think that, it's, it's

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necessary and I think it's wanted.

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So thank you so much for being here, and

thank you so much for what you're doing.

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João Bittar: I appreciate,

thanks for having me here.

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And any, if guys have any

question, I'm always available.

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So there are resources and

then I am one if needed.

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So, and then I always say if

I don't know the answer, I

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will try my best to find somebody that can

help, you know, find having that answer.

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Thanks again.

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The Animal Welfare Junction
Veterinary Forensics
The Animal Welfare Junction is a podcast developed to bring awareness to different topics in animal welfare. The host, Michelle Gonzalez (Dr. G) is a veterinarian who provides affordable veterinary care in the State of Ohio, and also a Forensic Veterinarian helping with the investigation and prosecution of cases of animal cruelty and neglect.
The topics presented are based on the experiences of Dr. G and our guests and include discussions about real cases, humane projects, and legal issues that affect animals and the community. Due to the nature of the discussion, listener discretion is advised as some topics may be too strong for some listeners.

About your host

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Alba Gonzalez

Michelle González (DrG) was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Her passion growing up was to become a veterinarian. She obtained a B.S. in Zoology at Michigan State University and the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at The Ohio State University, followed by a 1-yr Internship in Medicine, Surgery, Emergency and Critical Care at the University of Missouri-Columbia. In 2006 she founded the Rascal Unit, a mobile clinic offering accesible and affordable sterilization, and wellness services throughout the State of Ohio.
Dr. G is involved in many aspects of companion veterinary medicine including education, shelter assistance and help to animals that are victims of cruelty and neglect.
DrG completed a Master’s degree in Veterinary Forensics from the University of Florida and a Master’s in Forensic Psychology from Southern New Hampshire University. She is currently enrolled at the University of Florida Forensic Science program. She assists Humane organizations and animal control officers in the investigation, evaluation, and prosecution of cases of animal cruelty and neglect.