A combined morphological and molecular approach for hair identification to comply with the European ban on dog and cat fur trade

Abstract

Animal furs are encountering more and more the detriment of public opinion, that is increasingly sensitive to animals, their welfare and protection. The feeling of outrage against animal suffering is particularly intense when cats and dogs are involved, since these are the most popular pets in Western countries. However, in some Asian countries breeding of dogs and cats for the fur industry is a common practice. These furs and their finished garments are often mislabelled in order to be imported and sold to unaware consumers in Western countries. The European Union has issued the Regulation 1523/2007, which bans the use and trade of dog and cat furs. The main purposes of the Regulation were to normalise the internal market and to address the concerns of European consumers about the risk of inadvertently buying products containing these species. The Regulation states that several analytical methods (microscopy, DNA testing and mass spectrometry) can be used to exclude dogs and cats as source species, but an official analytical protocol was not provided. In this paper, we report on the development of a reliable and affordable method for species identification in furs, based on a combined morphological and molecular approach. Our protocol provides an initial morphological analysis as a time and cost effective screening test. Only samples that are morphologically not excluded as canid/felid furs, based on few selected microscopic features, are then submitted to DNA testing. The application of this protocol on seized furs reached 92% identification of species. Our approach assists in identifying frauds and reinforcing the ban on dog and cat fur trade, allowing (1) rapid inexpensive recognition of fake furs, (2) exclusion of non-canid/non-felid furs through fast microscopic morphological screening, (3) overall cost reduction with lower number of samples to be submitted to DNA analysis, (4) analytical protocol to stand in court in case criminal sanctions are to be applied.

Morphological Studies on the Guard Hair of the Mona Monkey (Cercopithecus mona) in Omo-Shasha-Oluwa Forest Reserves of Southwest Nigeria

“…Those with similar cuticle and medulla characteristics could be members that perhaps lived together as near kins, but got separated with the presence of Reserve boundaries that operate only as human delineations. The golden standard of molecular studies would be useful in establishing this relationship between individuals from the three Reserves (Mariacher et al, 2019). The cost, time, and technical expertise demanded for a molecular test is a great hindrance within the terrain where quick action and decision need to be made.…”

“…Mammalian hairs, except those of humans, are taxon-specific in terms of the medullae characteristics, scale patterns and cross-sectional shapes (Tridico, 2015). Where morphological distinctive features are not too clear, a combination of morphological (which is time and cost-effective) and molecular (use of DNA testing) analyses would provide valid taxon-specific results (Mariacher et al, 2019).…”

Proteotypic peptides of hairs for the identification of common European domestic and wild animal species revealed by in‐sample protein digestion and mass spectrometry analysis

“…The macroscopic and microscopic analysis can be used for identification [3,17,18]. To evaluate the shape and structure of the hair, cuts or cross-sections are prepared that are to be taken at the exact distances from the basal end.…”

Objective discrimination of fur type based on electrophoresis optimized for fur‐hair proteins

“…The correct identification of the origin of fur is also essential for investigating its smuggling. The discrimination of animal species based on fur is currently performed by observing species-specific morphological features of the fur hair, such as its thickness, length, and surface shape, using an optical microscope or SEM [2,3]. Fur discrimination using a microscope is a simple method; however, the results are subjective.…”

“…Fur discrimination using a microscope is a simple method; however, the results are subjective. In addition, the morphological characteristics of fur often change during dyeing and bleaching processes [3], introducing significant errors into the determination of the animal species. Hence, to correctly discriminate the animal species used for fur based on minute variations in their features, fur inspectors must be highly experienced.…”