This writer has covered the problem of San Antonio Animal Control misidentifying the breed of dogs who have only 72 hours to be reclaimed, rescued or adopted before being killed. (For example, a Min Pin mix was labeled a German Shepherd mix.) There is hardly even time to fix a mistake before the animal's time is up. (Also, the photographs are often skewed so you can hardly tell a dog from a cat.)
Maddie’s Fund (a well-known animal welfare organization) did a study on the reliability of breed identification by shelter staff. They verified the study with DNA testing –which admittedly is somewhat in the estimate stage when it comes to accuracy, but which is still more accurate than shelter staff.
They did this study because Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) looks at breeds, not dogs, making it illegal to own certain breeds, such as pit bulls, in some municipalities. This condemns sweet-natured animals who are the “wrong” breed, while giving a pass to vicious dogs who are the "right" breed.
Of course the expense and time do not make DNA testing to identify the breed a practical solution, but the study is an important heads up as to the type of mistakes being made. Staff identified twice as many pit bulls than there actually were, while missing some pits altogether. When you consider some shelters will not adopt out pit bulls, but immediately kill them - you see the consequences are deadly. And of course many people are afraid to adopt pit bulls, and those dogs are killed after 72 hours in places like San Antonio Animal Care Services.
Four shelters participated in this study of 120 dogs and each shelter had three staff members and a vet guess the breed. One dog was labeled a mixed Lab plus Pit Bull (or American Staffordshire Terrier) by each participant at his shelter. The black dog is actually Irish Water Spaniel 25%; Siberian Husky, 25%; Boston Terrier, 25%. (The remaining unidenitfied 25% would be a mixture of other breeds, not 25% one breed.)
You can read more about the study here and take a look at a poster with the results. This is a poster that should hang in every shelter and rescue.
Bottom line, look at a dog’s personality when it comes to adopting –not his so-called breed; and if you are searching online for your lost dog, look at every dog’s photo in a shelter database. Even if staff does know your dog is a poodle, a clerical error could make her a shepherd!
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