Use of DNA fingerprint analysis in identification of the sire
Morton, D.B.; Yaxley, R.E.; Patel, I.; Jeffreys, A.J.; Howes, S.J.; Debenham, P.G.
Veterinary Record 121(25-26): 592-594
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-4900 PMID: 2830701 Document Number: 298791
The technique of DNA analysis was used for the first time in dogs to establish proof or disproof of paternity. Two cases are cited. The first required resolution of uncertainty of the identity of the sire of puppies born to a bitch within a pack of Siberian Husky dogs. DNA prints derived from blood samples from a puppy, the dam and the putative sire showed at least 14 DNA bands present in the puppy but not in the dam that must, therefore, have been inherited from the sire; these bands were found in one of the putative sires indicating his paternity, since the probability of one DNA band existing in an unrelated dog is 46%, and thus the chance possession of 14 bands is calculated as one in 100 000. The second case confirmed doubt of a dog's ability to have sired a litter; 9 bands present in one or both of two puppies were absent in the dam and not found in the putative sire. In cases involving more than one potential sire, all members of a litter should be DNA-printed.