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Animal shelters label dogs by background, not breed

Research shows animal shelters are wrong more than 75% of the time when they identify a dog by breed based on physical appearance.

BANGOR, Maine — Maine animal shelters want to change the conversation about dog breeds. Some animal shelters, like the Bangor Humane Society, have stopped labeling dogs by breed and are shifting focus on other identifying factors like lifestyle and background.

One reason they have stopped labeling dogs by breed is that when they assign a dog a breed they are usually just guessing based on physical appearance, and they are usually wrong.

According to research from the animal farm foundation, when shelters assign dogs a breed based off of physical appearance, they are wrong at least 75% of the time.

The Bangor Humane Society has stopped the guessing game. 

Director of development and public relations Stacey Coventry says "Now, if we don't know, we're done guessing [the breed]. So we'll actually say 'mixed breed'."

An animal behavioral specialist says knowing your dog's breed is important to a degree. 

"Anyone who says any dog breed is perfect for any family doesn't know what they're talking about," Don Hanson says. This is because certain breeds have been trained for centuries to perform specific tasks. 

However, with most shelter dogs being multi-mixed breed, the logic changes. "Breed matters, but when you're getting a rescue, you really don't know what you're getting," Hanson says.

With this in mind, shelters are shifting focus on the dog's background, not breed.

"We're going to start marketing our animals on their personality characteristic, their activities, what we know about the home life of where they came from," says Coventry.

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