Police found the barkeep's body beaten and stabbed to death in the alley outside his pub. But some blood samples from the scene did not belong to the victim. And further testing revealed the samples were not human at all. With that turn of events, investigators might have reached a dead end. But far away they found an ally in the University of California, Davis, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory -- perhaps the only lab in the world with the extensive DNA databases to make animal genetic sleuthing possible. The lab has long led the world in DNA parentage testing for horse registries, like the American Quarter Horse Association. But increasingly technicians find themselves analyzing crime scene data from around the globe for agencies including the London-based New Scotland Yard. The lab started conducting DNA-based forensics work for outside agencies and individuals almost five years ago, said Marcia Eggleston, executive director of the lab. "Since the late '80s or early '90s the capability has been there; but it was the mid-'90s before we were approached," Eggleston said. "Now it's snowballing." In the 1999-2000 academic year, the lab handled 91 cases. The year before it had handled just 22. And they are handling more criminal cases, a change from primarily civil work a couple of years ago. Work has come from throughout the United States -- a murder from South Bend, Ind.; a dog abuse case from New Port Richie, Fla.; a cattle rustling case from Arizona; an assault case from Iowa. In the case of the murdered barkeep, the UC Davis lab confirmed that the non-human sample found in the alley was dog blood. Ultimately, technicians were able to prove it came from the particular dog the investigators suspected -- a dog owned by the prime suspect in the case. Often, as in this case, police have a good idea who committed a crime, but they haven't been able to establish a clear connection between that person and the crime scene, said lab supervisor Glen Byrns. "In this case, it would leave the suspect to explain why his dog was cut and bleeding and why his dog's blood was found next to the dead body," Byrns said. In another case the lab helped investigate, a woman noticed that while she was being sexually assaulted, her dog urinated on a hubcap of the attacker's pickup. Police swabbed the tire. The suspect who was identified by the woman denied ever being near the victim's house. But the dog's DNA perfectly matched the DNA traces left on the suspect's pickup's tire. And in another case, cat fur found on a suspect's clothing linked him to a crime inside the home where the cat lived. "We're never the smoking gun," Byrns said. "We're just one more piece of tape that holds the case together. It shows someone was somewhere they absolutely swear they weren't." Seeking to help out in the Cody Fox case, two years ago the lab offered its services free to the Tehama County Sheriff's Department. Technicians helped police identify the pit bulls that in September of 1998 severely mauled the then-11-year-old, so the dogs' owner could be held accountable. "If there was any chance of him saying it wasn't my dog, we were going to eliminate it," Byrns said. The lab also works on animal abuse cases. For instance, owners have been arrested after dragging animals behind their cars when blood samples taken off a road match the injured or dead animals' DNA profiles. In other cases, the animals are the criminals themselves. For example, one of three Great Danes belonging to a Simi Valley woman attacked a 9-year-old boy. Since authorities couldn't be certain which dog bit the boy, they considered destroying all three. But torn clothing the boy was wearing, which contained saliva -- and therefore DNA -- was forwarded to the lab. The DNA profile matched perfectly with blood samples from the suspected dog; the other two Great Danes were spared. Parentage testing is what put the lab in its unique position to help out on forensic cases. In 1994, the lab was confronted with a horse parentage case involving a dead sire. The case helped begin research into methods for extracting DNA from peculiar sources. The horse was dug up and a sample was ultimately obtained from inside a tooth. Hundreds of post-mortem cases followed. "Those gave us a lot of experience working with unusual samples," Byrns said. In addition to animal hair, animal DNA has now been drawn reliably from sources including skulls, saliva, a single spot of dried blood on a piece of wood, dander off a comb, dead skin, urine, feces and museum hides. Almost 80 percent of the work the lab does is animal parentage typing for horse registries worldwide, Byrns said. Last year, some 120,000 horses were typed and the lab has some 500,000 individual horse DNA samples on hand. While the lab's DNA samples for cattle (16,000) and dogs (9,000) are smaller, "It's still very statistically significant," Eggleston said. UC Davis' lab now maintains rapidly growing databases not only for horses, cattle and dogs, but also for llamas, alpacas, sheep and elk. Data like that becomes extremely important in forensics cases. In the recent New Scotland Yard case, investigators first looked unsuccessfully throughout Europe to find a lab willing to DNA type animal blood. The overseas labs probably could have extracted the DNA without a problem, Eggleston said, but then what would they have to compare it to? "You have to back it up with statistics. You have to have background on thousands of animals with these markers to generate statistics to back up what you've done." Neither Byrns nor Eggleston knows of any other labs, university or otherwise, that can match UC Davis' animal forensics profiling capabilities. The lab charges up to $1,000 per case, which would include expert testimony in court if need be. The cost is designed to discourage frivolous cases, not as means of generating profit. The lab serves law enforcement as part of the university's mission to assist the public. "I think it's a necessary service," Eggleston said. Meanwhile, the novelty of dealing with more forensics cases and law enforcement officials from far away places doesn't show signs of wearing off. "It's like a soap opera," Eggleston said.