Police dogs are routinely deployed during criminal investigations under a variety of circumstances. In instances where police dogs are involved in apprehension of suspects, contact with a suspect may be observed or may occur out of the line of sight. The interactions between suspect and dog may include the dog biting the suspect, or the suspect touching or exuding bodily fluids onto the dog. In either form of contact, potentially valuable DNA may be left from the suspect on the dog. This paper describes a proof-of-concept study investigating collection of human DNA from the teeth and hair of dogs. It used controlled settings, where the human DNA sources were touch and saliva, and field cases, where the human DNA sources were unknown. The results of sample analysis to identify DNA short tandem repeats (STRs) from each of these scenarios are provided. They highlight the potential and importance of collecting trace DNA from police dogs who may have had contact with suspects during attempted apprehension.

在各种情况下进行刑事调查时，通常都会部署警犬。在警犬参与逮捕嫌疑人的情况下，可能会观察到与嫌疑人的接触，或者可能发生在视线之外。嫌疑人与狗之间的互动可能包括狗咬嫌疑人，或者嫌疑人触摸狗或将体液渗出到狗身上。无论哪种形式的接触，嫌疑人的潜在有价值的 DNA 都可能留在狗身上。本文描述了一项概念验证研究，调查从狗的牙齿和毛发中收集人类 DNA。它使用了受控环境，其中人类 DNA 来源是触摸和唾液，以及现场案例，其中人类 DNA 来源未知。提供了用于从每种情况中识别 DNA 短串联重复 (STR) 的样本分析结果。他们强调了从警犬身上收集微量 DNA 的潜力和重要性，这些警犬可能在逮捕过程中与嫌疑人有过接触。