Pit Bulls & Incorrect Breed Identification Costs Dogs Their Lives

Is that "pit bull" on your shelter's adoption floor really a pit bull?
The results of a  recent four-shelter study suggest chances 
are good that he's not.

Four Florida shelters - Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective
Services, the Jacksonville Humane Society, Marion County Animal
Services, and Tallahassee

Animal Services - participated in the study. Four staff members at
each of the four shelters indicated what breed(s) they thought 30 
dogs were, for a total of  16 observers and 120 dogs.

Of those 120 dogs, 55 were identified as "pit bulls" by shelter staff,
but only 25  were identified as pit bulls by DNA analysis.

Additionally, the staff missed identifying 20% of the dogs who were
pit bulls by DNA analysis, while only 8% of the "true" pit bulls were 
identified by all staff members.

These poor track records for correctly identifying breed is
particularly important, say study authors, because in many 
municipalities, dogs identified as "pit bulls" are not offered 
for adoption or are subject to local breed bans preventing 
their adoption or ownership.

Even in areas without restrictive ordinances or shelter policies,
pit bulls are usually stigmatized as undesirable. Labeling a dog 
a "pit bull" can result in difficulty finding him a home or even his
death.

The study report was authored by Kimberly R. Olson, BS and
Julie K. Levy, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, of the Maddie's® Shelter 
Medicine Program, University of Florida and Bo Norby, CMV, 
MPVM, PhD, of the Department of Large Animal
Clinical Sciences, Michigan State University.

Among the authors' conclusions were:

• Because the observers' identifications were so 
• inconsistent, visual  identification of breed is unreliable.
• The safety of individual dogs is best evaluated by 
• looking at the individual dog's attributes, including 
• personality, behavior, and history, not breed.

The study poster can be viewed here

maddies fund.org....incorrect-breed-identification