The American Journal of Sociological Research published:
Comparison of Visual and DNA Breed Identification of Dogs and Inter-Observer Reliability
http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.sociology.20130302.02.html (see full study here)
Essentially looking to find out if visual breed identification (guessing a dog’s breed) was an accurate way to determine a dog’s heritage.
Why is this important?
The argument for breed specific legislation relies largely on the premise that pit bulls disproportionately cause the majority of severe dog bites.
“Until the recent advent of DNA analysis of breed composition, identification of dogs of unknown parentage was done visually, and visual identification is still the most common method of breed identification.”
One must first consider the term pit bull is not actually a breed but an umbrella term to categorize a group of pure bred dogs along with dogs that share similar physical characteristics; which include the American Staffordshire Terrier, The American Pitbull Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, any mix, hybrid or cross breed of said dogs and any dog that predominantly resembles those breeds.
“Dogs have on the order of 20,000 to 25,000 genes and fewer than 1% of the dog’s genes control the external morphological features associated with specific breeds of dogs, such as ear shape and size, whether the ears are floppy, length of the legs, length of the coat, coat color and shape of the head and length of muzzle. A dog could genetically be 50% a German Shepherd Dog and lack the genomic regions responsible for the German Shepherd Dog size, coat color, muzzle length and ear properties.”
Conclusion of the study:
“They concluded that The disparities between visual and DNA identification of the breed composition of dogs and the low agreement among people who identify dogs raise questions concerning the accuracy of databases which supply demographic data on dog breeds, as well as the justification and ability to implement laws and private restrictions pertaining to dogs based on breed composition.”
In other words, there was a wide disparity amongst the participants to correctly guess the breed based on visual ID.
This is important because the disproportion lies in the grouping of dogs that share similar physical features together in one category(“pit bull”), versus dogs from closed and pure bred gene pools.
Dr. Kris Irizarry, PhD, professor of Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics at Western University of Health Sciences (Pomona, CA), states: “Attempts to protect society from dangerous dogs are flawed because the inherent assumption in these laws is that anatomical and morphological characteristics in dogs correlate with certain behaviors. The “science” of inferring cognitive and behavioral traits from physical properties of the head and skull (phrenology) had been discredited in the last century. Why we would allow laws based on phrenology to be enacted in the 21st century is a question worth investigating”
Just because some mixed breed dogs share similar appearances by no means makes them a member of the same breed or group of dog. “While breed identification by DNA analysis is more accurate than visual breed identification, it’s important to remember that neither identifies genetic markers influencing specific traits or predicts behavior of any particular dog. Each dog is an individual, and its physical and behavioral traits will be the result of multiple factors.”
https://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/ineffective-policies/visual-breed-identification
How to combat BSL through facts and science
The American Journal of Sociological Research published:
Comparison of Visual and DNA Breed Identification of Dogs and Inter-Observer Reliability
http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.sociology.20130302.02.html (see full study here)
Essentially looking to find out if visual breed identification (guessing a dog’s breed) was an accurate way to determine a dog’s heritage.
Why is this important?
The argument for breed specific legislation relies largely on the premise that pit bulls disproportionately cause the majority of severe dog bites.
“Until the recent advent of DNA analysis of breed composition, identification of dogs of unknown parentage was done visually, and visual identification is still the most common method of breed identification.”
One must first consider the term pit bull is not actually a breed but an umbrella term to categorize a group of pure bred dogs along with dogs that share similar physical characteristics; which include the American Staffordshire Terrier, The American Pitbull Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, any mix, hybrid or cross breed of said dogs and any dog that predominantly resembles those breeds.
“Dogs have on the order of 20,000 to 25,000 genes and fewer than 1% of the dog’s genes control the external morphological features associated with specific breeds of dogs, such as ear shape and size, whether the ears are floppy, length of the legs, length of the coat, coat color and shape of the head and length of muzzle. A dog could genetically be 50% a German Shepherd Dog and lack the genomic regions responsible for the German Shepherd Dog size, coat color, muzzle length and ear properties.”
Conclusion of the study:
“They concluded that The disparities between visual and DNA identification of the breed composition of dogs and the low agreement among people who identify dogs raise questions concerning the accuracy of databases which supply demographic data on dog breeds, as well as the justification and ability to implement laws and private restrictions pertaining to dogs based on breed composition.”
In other words, there was a wide disparity amongst the participants to correctly guess the breed based on visual ID.
This is important because the disproportion lies in the grouping of dogs that share similar physical features together in one category(“pit bull”), versus dogs from closed and pure bred gene pools.
Dr. Kris Irizarry, PhD, professor of Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics at Western University of Health Sciences (Pomona, CA), states: “Attempts to protect society from dangerous dogs are flawed because the inherent assumption in these laws is that anatomical and morphological characteristics in dogs correlate with certain behaviors. The “science” of inferring cognitive and behavioral traits from physical properties of the head and skull (phrenology) had been discredited in the last century. Why we would allow laws based on phrenology to be enacted in the 21st century is a question worth investigating”
Just because some mixed breed dogs share similar appearances by no means makes them a member of the same breed or group of dog. “While breed identification by DNA analysis is more accurate than visual breed identification, it’s important to remember that neither identifies genetic markers influencing specific traits or predicts behavior of any particular dog. Each dog is an individual, and its physical and behavioral traits will be the result of multiple factors.”
https://www.nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/ineffective-policies/visual-breed-identification
About The Author
rn4pitbulls
Registered Nurse in the field of pediatric hematology/oncology as well as the co-founder of SoCal Pitbull TEAM a 501c3 non-profit.