The Rural Voice, 2004-12, Page 58The leading edge
DNA solves cattle homicide case
DNA has become an important
weapon in solving murder cases in the
human population and now it is
helping in cattle as well.
Four pregnant Angus cows were
maliciously shot and killed on a ranch
east of Chinook, Montana. The
morning of February 13, 2003, two
dead cows were discovered by the
owners, Ken and Dawn Overcast.
The Overcasts called the Blaine
County Sheriffs department and
reported the crime immediately. The
investigating officer reported that,
after being shot by a 9mm rifle, one
cow had her back slashed and her
back strap removed.
The other cow was shot but only.
had her back slashed by a knife. The
criminal was apparently scared away
before being able to remove the meat
from her. The other two cows
wandered off, dying later of fatal
wounds from the shooting.
Blaine County Deputy Sheriff, Pat
Pyette, took samples from the
cowhide of the cattle, containing hair
and eight -inch sections of rib bones
from cow No. 1 and No. 2 and sent all
the evidence for DNA testing, hoping
to link the evidence to the perpetrator.
The analysis of the DNA samples was
completed at the University of
California — Davis, Veterinary
Genetics Laboratory, School of
Veterinary Medicine.
After an anonymous call to the
Blaine County Sheriffs department,
deputies had a suspect. They served a
search warrant at the suspect's
apartment. During their search,
deputies seized a pair of Sketchers
work boots, a package of meat in the
freezer, and a hunting knife. The
deputies also sent the collected
evidence to the Veterinary Genetics
Laboratory to be compared to that of
the cow's DNA.
"The trend for DNA testing of
animals was originally designed to
keep the breeding records accurate,
but with today's advanced technology,
we can connect the animal's DNA to a
weapon that may have been used at
the crime scene," stated Beth
Holcomb of the University of
California Veterinary Genetics
Laboratory. "From this day forward,
DNA evidence will play an
increasingly important role in solving
malicious crimes against animals."
On July 29, 2003, the DNA profile
indicated that the blood on the
defendant's boots matched the hide
sample submitted as Cow No. 1 at
every marker. The report further
indicated that the blood on the knife
was a mixture of two or more cattle.
DNA evidence was a key piece of
evidence in charges filed against
Wesley J. Anderson, accused of
shooting and killing the four Angus
cows. Anderson pled guilty to a
reduced charge of one felony count of
Criminal Mischief and was sentenced
at the Blaine County Court on July 13,
2004 by Judge McKeon.°
Genetic mapping of Hereford cattle complete
The first complete bovine genetic sequence has been publicly released to
researchers worldwide.
Scientists from around the globe contributed to the $63 million project that
mapped the three billion pairs of DNA that contribute to the construction of a
Hereford. The complete genetic picture is expected to advance agricultural
production research into areas such as feed efficiency, disease resistance and
meat quality. Genetic traceability is also high on livestock scientists' agenda for
follow up from the bovine genome sequencing project.
The project was led by Richard Gibbs of the Baylor College of Medicine's
human genome sequencing project in Houston, Texas. Work is also under way to
expand the model, using full-length DNA sequencing by the University of
British Columbia's Cancer Research Centre in Vancouver. The project is
continuing with partial sequencing of Holstein, Angus, Jersey, Limousin,
Norwegian Red and Brahman cattle breeds expected to be completed in 2005.0
— Source: The Western Producer
54 THE RURAL VOICE
National atlas of wind
resources will assist
windpower development
A national atlas that maps the
country's wind resources, released
in October, may help Canada catch
up to other countries in the
production of "green" electricity.
The massive database of high-
resolution wind statistics makes
Canada the first large -area country
to have a comprehensive wind
atlas for its entire territory,
according to the Canadian
government.
"It's nice to have wind turbines,
but you need to know where to put
them," said Environment Minister
Stesphane Dion in announcing the
completion of the project.
The Canadian Wind Energy
Atlas, as it is formally known, "is
a way to see the wind", Dion said.
It will make it faster to identify
potentially productive wind -farm
sites by reducing the need for
extensive field studies, among
other things.
"This will help demonstrate the
magnitude of Canada's wind
resource potential," said Robert
Hornung, president of the
Canadian Wind Energy
Association (CWEA).
Canada's wind power potential
is "far superior" to that of many
European countries that are far
ahead in tapping this renewable,
clean energy source, Hornung
said. While Denmark gets 15 per
cent of its electricity from wind,
and Spain and Germany five per
cent each, Canada generates only
.4 per cent of its electricity from
windmills. CWEA feels Canada
could derive 20 per cent of its
electrical needs from wind power
and wants to see Canada
producing 10,000 megawatts,
about five per cent of its needs, by
2010. There.are only 440
megawatts in Alberta and Quebec
at present. The federal government
has budgeted $260 million over 15
years to encourage wind energy
development.0
— Source: The Globe and Mail