{"doi":"10.2460/ajvr.82.1.28","title":"Computed tomographic assessment of brain tissue disruption and skull damage in equine cadaveric heads caused by various firearm-ammunition combinations applied as potential gunshot methods for euthanasia of horses","abstract":"OBJECTIVE: To evaluate with CT the characteristics of brain tissue disruption and skull damage in cadaveric heads of adult horses caused by each of 6 firearm-ammunition combinations applied at a novel anatomic aiming point. SAMPLE: 53 equine cadaveric heads. PROCEDURES: Heads placed to simulate that of a standing horse were shot with 1 of 6 firearm-ammunition combinations applied at an aiming point along the external sagittal crest of the head where the 2 temporalis muscles form an inverted V. Firearm-ammunition combinations investigated included a .22-caliber long rifle pistol firing a 40-grain, plated lead, solid-core or hollow-point bullet (HPB); a semiautomatic 9-mm pistol firing a 115-grain, jacketed HPB; a semiautomatic .223-caliber carbine firing a 55-grain, jacketed HPB; a semiautomatic .45-caliber automatic Colt pistol firing a 230-grain, jacketed HPB; and a 12-gauge shotgun firing a 1-oz rifled slug. Additional heads placed in a simulated laterally recumbent position were shot with the semiautomatic 9-mm pistol-HPB combination. All heads underwent CT before and after being shot, and images were evaluated for projectile fragmentation, skull fracture, and cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem disruption. RESULTS: Computed tomography revealed that all firearm-ammunition combinations caused disruption of the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem that appeared sufficient to result in instantaneous death of a live horse. Hollow-point ammunition was as effective as solid-core ammunition with regard to brain tissue disruption. Brain tissue disruption was not affected by head positioning. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results indicated that the examined firearm-ammunition combinations, when applied at a novel aiming point, appear to be reasonable options for euthanasia of horses.","journal":"American Journal of Veterinary Research","year":2020,"id":112087,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":4,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.7949,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":531369,"name":"Howard R. Ketover","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":225208,"name":"Scott Hetzel","orcid":"0000-0002-0244-2959","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":530812,"name":"Kenneth R. Waller","orcid":"0000-0002-5672-2585","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":530813,"name":"Sabrina H. Brounts","orcid":"0000-0001-8748-7912","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":531368,"name":"Jane R. Lund","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":11,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:13:09.353152Z","pmid":"33369492","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}