Orange County’s animal shelter has decided to no longer categorize and formally identify dogs by breed, and a local group sees value in adopting the same approach in Gainesville.
However, Alachua County Animal Services plans to continue sharing information about the breeds.
Orange County, which includes Orlando, made the move to combat stigmatization and low adoption rates among pit bull mixes.
Vernon Sawyer, the Alachua County Animal Services director, said the local shelter adopts out a lot of pit bulls and pit bull mixes.
“Pit bulls get a bad rep,” Sawyer said. “They’re absolutely a very good dog. I own pits myself.”
Sawyer said Orange County’s idea may be worth looking into.
Dogs are frequently identified on a best-guess basis, he said.
“It’d be interesting to see their stats down the road to see if it increases their adoptions and how it works,” Sawyer said.
Anna Peterson, a volunteer with local organization Plenty of Pit Bulls, said Orange County made a great decision.
“Appearance in mixed breeds is a really poor guide to breed,” Peterson said. “It’s also a really poor guide to determining temperament.”
Peterson said she hasn’t noticed much fear or distrust toward the breeds in the area, despite stigmatization.
“It’s kind of like with black people or gay people or any other category that’s stigmatized,” Peterson said. “Once you get to know some, you realize they’re not that different.”
Amie Kreppel, a UF political science associate professor, has fostered seven dogs for Plenty of Pit Bulls.
She said the stigma surrounding pit-bull breeds is the result of ignorance.
When people meet the dog she’s currently fostering, Jade, a 72-pound pit lab mix, they can’t believe she’s a pit bull, Kreppel said.
“Because there is a stereotype of the big massive dog that is going to chew your face off or whatever, people just make assumptions,” she said.
Kreppel said dogs in shelters should be categorized by things more important than breed, such as size or activity level.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 3/12/2014 under the headline "Local shelters will keep identifying adoptable dogs by breed "]
