Pet CSI: How Dog and Cat DNA Nabs Bad Guys

article by Vicki Croke, published January 13, 2015

http://thewildlife.wbur.org/2015/01/13/pet-csi-how-dog-and-cat-dna-nabs-bad-guys/

Recently, scientists have been aiding lawyers in the courtrooms by providing evidence with DNA from a victim's pet. Since pets tend to leave either shed, drool, pee, feces, or blood in various place around their owner's home, it is very probable that if the suspect was in their home he/she would have picked up some of whatever was left by the pet. In this way, it is increasingly common for scientists to compare, for example, the DNA from dog hair on the suspect's jacket with the DNA of the victim's pet. The DNA profile of every animal is different enough that no other dog hair would give the same profile as the victim's dog. So, if the dog hair profile and the victim's dog's DNA matches up, lawyers can conclude it evident that the suspect either was in the victim's home or was in close enough proximity to acquire the victim's dog's hair. An entire field is being grown around this concept of using animal DNA in court, leading to the recent foundation of the International Veterinary Forensics Sciences Association.
This article relates to our study of molecular genetics. During this unit, we learned about how human DNA is used as evidence in court for crimes. But what if the crime left no human blood? What if the suspect only committed vandalism? Human DNA would not likely be available. Pet DNA however, would probably be acquired by the suspect, flagging him/her down to be connected with the household he/she stole from.