Culture
Why Animal Shelters Shouldn't Label Dogs as 'Pit Bulls'
Labels are often inaccurate and could be driving off potential adopters, researchers say.
The dogs America loves to hate, pit bulls, encounter enough stigma when they’re owned. The New York City Housing Authority straight-up bans tenants from keeping them, for instance, and other property owners require pooches to undergo DNA testing lest an “aggressive” pit bull slip under the radar and into the building.
When they’re ownerless, their troubles mount. Dogs labeled as pit bulls languish in animal shelters more than three times longer than differently labeled breeds, according to a study today in PLOS ONE, even if they might not actually be pit bulls.