Abstract:

The dog is the most common domestic animal in human environments and in many situations a dog may be a victim, a perpetrator or a link between a suspect and a crime scene. Therefore, biological material derived from dogs may constitute evidence in forensic caseworks and it may be necessary or helpful to obtain genetic profiles that would aid individual identification. Currently, the assessment of the genetic diversity of breeds, population structure, inbreeding, and the development of methodologies for population assignment are important areas of research in dogs and related species such as the grey wolf. Therefore, canine short tandem repeat (STR)-based genotyping is used by a significant number of population geneticists; however, for reasons we present here, it is utilized by a relatively small number of forensic practitioners. An extensive bibliographic search revealed a highly fragmented canine genotyping community working under less than well defined standards. In this work, we discuss the present developments and limitations of STR-based canine genotyping. Furthermore, we recommend that a collaborative strategy for the implementation of standardization and harmonization is crucial to the development of forensic canine genotyping.