Shelters should be legally required to DNA test their dogs and accurately list breed, amirite?

They can barely afford food

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Dog DNA tests are expensive and their accuracy is dubious at best.

by rgreen 2 days ago

Can u rejoin reality? Shelters don't have the money to do this when they are overflowing with ditched pets and transportation costs. Be a part of a damn solution, this is so dumb

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Ignoring the cost, is there even a set of genes that defined "pitbulls"? Seems like if we're trying to eliminate pitbulls the visual test would get us close enough for a tiny fraction of the cost.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

The "visual test" is extremely unreliable. People tend to call any dog with a fat head and short fur a pitbull. They actually get blamed for bites by other breeds all the time, simply because of how famous the breed is.

by Ok-Adeptness 2 days ago

With what money?

by Fit-Channel-1833 2 days ago

I don't think breeds are that clean cut and categorized. And the biggest problem with pitbulls is apartments that won't let you own one. If you can't tell the difference, other people likely can't either.

by oconnersheila 2 days ago

You going to set up a trust to pay for it? It's not like animal rescue groups have an extra $100+ per dog just lying around.

by Keeblerloma 2 days ago

I don't think it matters. You can have a dog of any temperament in any given breed. It's up to the individual to evaluate the dog to the best of their ability before adopting them. While many pets act different at the shelter than at home, it's pretty easy to tell whether the dog is large or small, whether it's hyper and spastic or chill. When I got my Jack Russell, I actually wanted a male, never having had a male dog before. When I bought mine, there were two. A male was bouncing on the side of the cage, wanting me to pick him up. When I tried, he nipped me. The other was a female. Just as excited, body wiggling, but all four feet on the ground. I picked her up and it was all licks. Best dog I ever had.

by andreane50 2 days ago

You never hear about Jack Russells mauling kids and elderly people.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

except these tests are wildly inaccurate

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Setting aside the wildly unrealistic financial burden and dubious effectiveness of such tests, if a person doesn't know enough about what kind of dog they're getting from looking and interacting with it then their generic, uninformed assumptions about breeds aren't going to help

by Amazing_Fix_2568 2 days ago

Do you know how much this test costs?

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Less unpopular than impractical, I am afraid.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I think this would be pointless. Breed and genes does affect dog beheaviors and how hard it is to have that particular dog, but at the end of the day it goes down to the individual dog. The Shelter staff should know how hard each of their dogs is and offer them to a matching person. But my guess is most Shelter won't daré to loose an adopter because they don't want to give them the dog they want.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Pitbull isn't a breed. Shelters don't have money and DNA tests are an inaccurate gimmick, even for humans.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Isn't the American Pittbull terrier recognised by your Kennel club? there for making it a breed.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

And who do you expect to pay for this? Shelters are already struggling just to feed and house the animals, where would the money come from for this unnecessary cost?

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I don't think that's gonna go how you think. Like 50% of dogs who attack are mislabeled based on appearance. Most "pitbulls" have very little of any pit breed in them

by Anonymous 2 days ago

People buy from a breeder, realize they can't handle the dog, dump the dog at the shelter. The shelter listing the breed of a dog based on DNA testing will not prevent this cycle from continuing…

by Anonymous 2 days ago

$150 a dog? Sure. Are you buying? It can take a month to get the results.

by Kbednar 2 days ago

That'll require too much money to do when shelters are struggling to feed & keep the animals they already have.

by Future-Subject 2 days ago

Shelters already run on incredibly tight budgets, this would hinder their efforts. A dogs history and behaviour are far more valuable when assessing them.

by Anonymous 2 days ago