Show notes
A bite from a dog can have many ramifications. These can include the emotional impacts on the dog’s guardians, or the dog practicing an undesirable behavior, or even the potential fate of the dog. And of course in our litigious society, we often will see civil and even criminal ramifications when a dog inures a person or other animal.
For this episode of Fresh Bites on The Bitey End of the Dog, I chat with Melissa McMath Hatfield who is an expert on expert witness work in dog bite cases. Melissa does an excellent job of breaking down what can happen when a bite incident ends up in court, and what to expect from both the plaintiff and defendant sides.
For additional resources on helping dogs with aggression, visit:
https://aggressivedog.com
About Melissa:
Melissa McMath Hatfield, MS, CBCC-KA, CDBC, has combined her experience as a trial consultant and her passion for the human-canine relationship to develop and strengthen the canine-human relationship through understanding, knowledge, and empathy.
Hatfield earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology (1981) and is a retired Licensed Psychological Examiner. As owner of McMath Trial Consultants for 42 years, her area of specialization has been in jury selection, developing jury profiles, focus groups, case presentation, voir dire, and witness preparation. She has been published and presented to numerous state and national bar associations and is considered an expert in jury selection for both state and federal courts. She has participated in high-profile cases in both civil and criminal courts across the country.
Hatfield is a Certified Canine Behavior Consultant and a Professional Member of both the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) and the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT). She has been published in the IAABC Journal, the APDT The Chronicle of the Dog, the Royal Spaniel, and the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel The Bulletin. Her articles have received numerous nominations in the Dog Writers Association of America’s writing competition. Relative to this presentation, she was published in the IAABC Journal, August 2017, “Witness for the Prosecution” and the APDT, Chronicle, Spring, 2018, “Witness for the Prosecution…Dog trainers, behaviorist may be called for expert testimony.” She presented a 2015 E-Training Webinar, “Identifying and Assessing Mental Health Issues in the Dog,” and “Attachment Scales as a Tool for Trainers, Shelters and Behavior Consultants,” at the APDT 2017 fall conference in Richmond Virginia.
Currently, Hatfield has a private practice in which her skills as a trial consultant and certified canine consultant can be combined to assist the professionals who find themselves in litigation. However, her primary focus is temperament assessments and behavior evaluations of dogs that are exhibiting mental health issues, such as anxiety, aggression, fear, and other behavior problems.
Hatfield lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with her very supportive husband, Dick, and two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Haviland and Huntington, who is currently aspiring toward his AKC Championship. However, her love of dogs could not be summarized fully without mentioning her beloved first Cavaliers, Champions Truman, Princeton, and Stetson McMath. Oh, the bittersweet of the human-canine relationship!
For a list of her publications and further information, please go to:
www.lovingdogs.net
www.mcmathtrialconsultants.com
Learn more about options for help for dogs with aggression here:
AggressiveDog.com
Learn more about the CANIS Conference here:
CANIS Conference
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