CSI goes to the dogs-pit bulls! DNA database used in dogfighting rings! Great step forward.

I read a story today about dogfighting that actually made me smile and pump my fist in the air. Alright!!!! Before I did this writing thing, I worked, and lectured for a forensics lab, most specifically, the CODIS program which was the Combined DNA Index System, a nationwide database started in 1991 with DNA of sex offenders to tie crimes and offenders together. Today it is huge, and worldwide. A fact I take some personal pride in, and for the dedicated scientists I worked with that made it a reality.

This technology is now being used in the dogfighting world. The dogs from last summer’s largest dogfighting ring in US history were DNA typed and profiled and entered into a database. They, and their offspring, can be traced back to tie in breeders and rings throughout the country. Better living through science-I LOVE IT!

Investigators believe the database, officially called the Canine Combined DNA Index System, can be used to prosecute future dogfighting suspects by tying their animals to other known dog fighting rings.

"We know all these networks buy and sell dogs in a fairly small circles," says Tim Rickey, the former head of the Animal Cruelty Task Force of the Humane Society of Missouri. "This will be an import tool. They can tie animals back to one or more convicted dogfighters and show they're from the same bloodline. It's a solid piece of evidence in a criminal case."

Although in its infancy, I know personally how big this can get. It went in humans from convicted sex offenders to all felons and in some state all arrestees. It can tie together crimes where there is no other evidence. Same goes with dogfighting rings. Breeders will no longer be able to to deny responsibility. It will take legislation, and time, but I see this as a huge tool in the fight against organized animal fighting.
Here's an explanation of how the system works and what it might mean for future dogfighting cases, via the ASCPA:

The database is similar to the FBI's human CODIS, a computerized archive that stores DNA profiles from criminal offenders and crime scenes and is used in criminal and missing person investigations. DNA analysis and matching through the database will help law enforcement agencies to identify relationships between dogs, enabling investigators to establish connections between breeders, trainers, and dog-fight operators. Blood collected from dog fighting sites will also be searched against the Canine CODIS database to identify the source.

"The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory has one of the largest sample databases in the world, said Beth Wictum, Director of the Forensics Unit of the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory in UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. "This is important for estimating the rarity of a DNA profile. The Canine CODIS database is unique because it includes many more DNA markers than are normally tested, and that provides greater power when calculating match probability or assigning parentage."

When DNA was in its infancy, and I was starting out in the program, I never dreamed of the implications. Here I am nearly 20 years later and it is assisting with another passion of mine. Life does work in mysterious ways. Thanks for reading!