Recognizing that some agencies lack the budgetary resources to fund veterinary forensic case support for investigations, we have the following suggestions:
- Inquire whether the local district attorney’s office is willing to pay. FVI, LLC is a registered vendor with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our VC# is available upon request. This is most likely to be a possibility if there is a suspect who has been charged or who is likely to be charged.
- While FVI, LLC is not a non-profit charitable organization, our pro-bono work can be supported by tax deductible donations to the American Veterinary Medical Foundation Veterinary Care Charitable Fund (AVMF-VCCF). You may encourage stakeholders to make donations to support our work. The donation form can be found at http://bit.ly/DonateFVI. Instruct donors to enter the case name in the “Name(s) for Recognition ” field.
- Funds may be raised through a Go Fund Me or similar campaign promoted on Facebook and other social media campaigns.
- Some charitable non-profit organizations will pay fees on behalf of a municipality. If your town animal shelter has a “Friends of” group they may be a resource. Another is the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF). They will consider paying for veterinary forensics on a case-by-case basis. The best approach is to call the Director of the Criminal Justice program, Lora Dunn at the ALDF to inquire if your case might qualify. Her direct line is (503)231-1602 x307. You can also e-mail her directly at ldunn@aldf.org or send her a fax at(503)231-1578. If your case qualifies, they will need a letter of request on letterhead and other documentation such as a copy of the incident report.
We will consider cases for pro-bono work without supporting funds if the agency has made a good faith effort to secure payment without success. Pro-bono cases will be performed based on FVI work load and availability; paid cases must take priority. Please contact us to discuss.