A random kitten, possibly British. Photo via Flickr.

There is a database of British cat DNA, and it was just used to convict a man of manslaughter. The University of Leicester announced that British authorities found the incriminating evidence in the form of a cat hair with help from the University of California Davis’s Veterinary Medicine animal forensics lab. “The 10 million cats in the U.K. are unwittingly tagging the clothes and furnishings in more than a quarter of households,” said Jon Witton of the University of Leicester.

A hair found on a man’s dismembered body was matched up to 3 of 152 samples in the nation’s Feline DNA Database, leading authorities to find that the hair belongs to the pet of suspect (and victim’s neighbour) David Hilder. Police say that the cat hair was just “one element in a wide range and samples,” but we still want to give full credit to Tinker. They also say that the cat is safe and sound, in the care of new owners who will hopefully not kill anybody.