Cat burglars beware

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.

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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).

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.