Cow Crime Crackdown: DNA Guides the Way
ARGENTINA - Cattle rustlers in Argentina may face a new threat to their illicit trade by proposals to use genetic tests to aid police investigations.
5 January 2009
1 minute read
According to a Reuters report published in the Los Angeles Times, experts say lax controls and the sheer scale of some Argentinean ranches make life easy for rustlers.
However, plans are underway to expand a pioneering database of genetic samples from 10,000 cattle that has helped police solve 270 cases of cattle-rustling since it was established in Buenos Aires province seven years ago.
Steaks or sausages suspected of coming from stolen animals can be used as a source of DNA to cross-reference with the samples of hair, blood or flesh kept in the cattle database, which is managed by the state-run Genetic Veterinary Institute, also known as Igevet.
TheCattleSite News Desk
