Cat burglars beware

—By Pam Squyres

| Sat Sep. 9, 2000 12:00 AM PDT

DNA evidence has proven so useful in police work that, the US Department of Justice is developing a bank of DNA culled from ordinary house cats, reports the SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER.

Recent Must Reads

9/8 - Just stop it.

9/7 - Hothouse blues

9/6 - Too famous for jail

9/2 - Robocop lives

No, there isn't a feline delinquency problem spreading across the US. It turns out that criminals who own cats frequently have cat hair on their clothes, just like law-abiding cat owners. Some of that cat hair winds up at crime scenes, and can provide important clues to solving a crime if it can be traced to an individual cat, and from there to its owner. The DOJ is asking cat owners to voluntarily send in a sample of Fluffy's genetic material (although why the criminally inclined would do so is a mystery).

Advertise on MotherJones.com

Cat-based crime fighting has already borne fruit: A man in Canada was convicted of murdering his ex-wife, based partially on the fact that hair from his cat, Snowball, was found at the murder scene. Snowball was questioned and released.

Get Mother Jones by Email - Free. Like what you're reading? Get the best of MoJo three times a week.

Photo Essays + Slideshows

Returning from Iraq, the Damage Done

It's easy to send soldiers off to war. It's harder to face them when they come home.

Hot Town, Summer in the City

Bronx Riviera feeling dirty and gritty.

Can You Spot the Future Americans?

A mosaic of immigrant ID photos.

Chernobyl, 25 Years On

Radiation checkpoints. Contaminated mushrooms. A quarter century after the meltdown, meet the families who chose to stay.

See All