Abstract

Aim. This review evaluates how electromagnetic field (EMF) dosimetry methods developed for humans can be adapted to veterinary species and identifies the anatomical, dielectric, and practical factors that govern exposure assessment in animals. Current evidence. Literature on human dosimetry, animal dielectric measurements, veterinary exposure scenarios, and recent experimental animal reviews was synthesized to compare tissue layering, water content, adiposity, skull structure, body size, and thermoregulation across species relevant to veterinary care. Synthesis. Maxwell's equations remain the governing framework for both human and animal tissues; the principal differences arise from species-specific geometry, dielectric parameters, boundary conditions, and thermal physiology. The revised analysis shows that skin thickness, water-rich tissues, subcutaneous fat, and body size jointly influence reflection, penetration depth, specific absorption rate, and temperature rise. Planar multilayer models are useful as transparent screening tools, but curved anatomy, breed variation, implants, and near-field clinical devices often require three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain or finite-element modeling. Available animal dielectric datasets are still fragmentary and are concentrated in a limited number of species and tissues. Experimental biological evidence remains heterogeneous and does not yet justify species-specific regulatory limits derived directly from current veterinary literature. Conclusions. Veterinary EMF safety work should prioritize validated dielectric databases, breed-aware computational phantoms, standardized exposure reporting, and practical clinic-level risk management based on source characterization, distance, exposure time, and monitoring of vulnerable animals.

Key words: electromagnetic fields, veterinary dosimetry, layered tissue models, specific absorption rate, radiation safety