Postmortem Changes in Skin Appendages of Domestic Dogs: A Preliminary Comparative Histological Study Between Body Regions, and Possible Forensic Implications

This study describes postmortem histological changes in skin appendages of domestic dogs in the first seven days after death. The objective was to document the progression of autolytic change in the sweat glands, sebaceous glands, and hair follicles and to compare it between body regions and sides. Skin samples were collected bilaterally from the neck, thorax, abdomen, and thigh of nine dog carcasses (female, non-pedigree, short-haired, 5–10 years old, ~10 kg). The carcasses were kept at 10–12 °C in Karditsa, Greece, and sampled at 0, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, and 168 h postmortem. Sections were stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin and Alcian Blue-PAS. The rate of change varied by structure, body region, and side. In this cohort, autolysis appeared earliest in the abdomen and on the dependent (left) side. The sweat glands and hair follicles reached the most advanced stage recorded by 48 h, whereas the sebaceous glands remained unchanged for 24 h, except in the dependent abdomen. The three structures changed over different periods, giving complementary timelines. These findings provide the first structured reference data on postmortem change in dog skin appendages, a baseline for early postmortem interval estimation and for recognizing antemortem lesions.