Successes Stories
Dog Attack On Family Pet
In April 2009, two dogs allegedly broke into a house through a cat door, then attacked and killed a pet cat. The two dogs, one an American Staffordshire Terrier and the other an English Staffordshire Terrier, were seen roaming the nearby streets and were seized by local rangers. Reference swabs were taken from these suspect dogs. The rangers noted that one of the dogs had a bleeding head wound. An external section of the cat door with apparent blood staining was submitted to Animal Network for examination. It was thought that the apparent blood on the cat door originated from one or both of the suspect dogs, possibly from an injury sustained while breaking into the house.
A canine DNA profile was obtained from the apparent blood stain on the cat door which matched the profile obtained from the suspect American Staffordshire Terrier.
Dog Attack On A Person
In October 2008, a woman was attacked by a stray dog in her local park. She sustained bruising and abrasions during the attack. The long sleeve shirt that the victim was wearing at the time was submitted to Animal Network for canine DNA analysis. Local council rangers seized a suspect American Staffordshire Terrier crossbreed dog and reference swabs were collected. The long sleeve shirt was visually examined and found to have areas of damage with possible dog saliva staining on the right sleeve and the lower left side.
A canine DNA profile was obtained from the shirt. This canine DNA profile matched the canine DNA profile from the suspect dog. The case resulted in a successful court prosecution with costs awarded against the dog’s owner. The offending dog was destroyed.
Dog Attack On Livestock
In September 2007, five dead and three seriously injured sheep were found on farmland in a North Eastern Shire of Victoria, allegedly mauled by a neighbour’s German Shepherd. A sample of wool was collected from around a bite mark from one of the deceased sheep. Local council rangers seized a suspect dog and a swab was collected from the dog to be used as a reference sample. The wool sample and the reference swab were submitted to Animal Network for canine DNA analysis.
A canine DNA profile was obtained from the wool sample which matched the canine DNA profile obtained from the reference suspect dog sample. This case resulted in a successful court prosecution with costs awarded against the suspect dog’s owner. The offending dog was destroyed.