The claim that 60% of pit bull breeds are misidentified is often cited by apologists (Briscoe, 2014). However, this statistic originates from a University of Virginia study funded by Jane Berkey’s Animal Foundation, a dedicated pit bull apologist organization (Voith, 2009). The study relied on visual identification by primarily part time shelter volunteers, who were shown pictures of dogs on cue cards.

This study has several methodological limitations. First, breed identification in shelters is often inaccurate, and staff may not be responsible for making breed determinations (Hsu, 2017).

Second, in cases of severe dog attacks, breed identification is typically based on expert evaluation, not witness or victim testimony (Patronek, 2013).

You’ll find of the actual professionals, the vets tested scored over 95%, while the majority who were tested were unpaid shelter volunteers.

This doesn’t just suggest incompetence due to lower skills and training. It inadvertently captures what we all have witnessed: those in the rescue industry often intentionally mislabel dogs to confuse naive consumers, evade housing laws, and traffic pits into our communities.

Put another way, this would be similar to the CEO of a counterfeit purse company funding a study about counterfeit purses sold on sidewalks in downtown cities.

Then having the scientists ask the PEOPLE SELLING THE PURSES to identify the brands. And then the scientists conclude that it’s difficult to accurately identify the brands based almost exclusively on the very people benefitting from misidentification.

What corruption!

-Greg #DBA Admin ©️

corruption #reform #audit #investigate