I checked out a couple of blog messages just recently about an animal shelter that said it removed all breed labels from its dogs’ kennel cards as well as Facebook posts.
When adopters look at the dogs offered at the Fairfax region (Va.) animal Shelter, the dogs are not identified as “Lab mix” or “pitbull mix” or “dachshund.”
Instead, the dogs are determined by their actual personalities, behaviors, energy levels, size, age, friendliness, etc.
The reasoning is when you eliminate breed labels you’re taking a look at dogs as individuals very first as well as breed second.
According to the Fairfax region animal Shelter, eliminating breed labels has been a successful experiment, as well as the group has seen a considerable boost in adoptions.
What do the rest of you believe about eliminating breed labels at shelters?
Personally, I like the idea.
I’m not sure if it’s the best method to go, however it’s something shelters as well as rescues might at least consider.
Most dogs are mutts, as well as everybody will always have a different viewpoint on what a canine is mixed with. The labels we provide mixed-breed dogs are typically just someone’s guess.
Even within a breed or breed mix, every canine is an individual. I’ve written about this numerous times. You can’t anticipate a dog’s habits or character based on breed alone.
For example, people presume my lab mix Ace is friendly since they see a “black Lab.” however my canine is only 50 percent Lab, as well as they shouldn’t presume he’s friendly just since he appears like a Lab. (He is friendly, however they shouldn’t assume.)
Removing breed labels opens up much more chance for discussion
Most adopters DO want to understand what type of breed mix they’re getting. I definitely would.
But eliminating the dog’s breed opens up much more opportunities for discussions between shelter volunteers as well as prospective adopters since much more people will be asking questions.
This is an opportunity for shelter volunteers to talk about the dogs’ characters very first as well as breed second. Ideally, this will result in much more positive results for the dogs – getting them embraced vs. killing them.
Till exempel:
Adopter: “What type of canine is Jasper?”
Shelter volunteer: “Oh, isn’t he cute? would you like to pet him? He’s certainly a mix. He’s fantastic with other dogs as well as likes to play fetch. We believe he may be a mix of boxer or pitbull. Vad tror du?”
Adopter: “I believe he’s part vizsla. That’s a vizsla mix. Can I take him for a short walk?”
Shelter volunteer: “You may be right! Yes, I’ll put his leash on as well as we can take him for a walk. He seems to truly like you!”
Will adopters feel like they’re being tricked?
I can see why adopters might feel upset or like they’re being “tricked” into adopting a specific type of dog.
I checked out one more blog where a couple went to a different shelter wanting to adopt, as well as the personnel there had likewise eliminated breed labels. They identified all the dogs as mutts or “American shelter Dogs.”
There’s nothing wrong with that, however when the couple asked about the breeds of the dogs, the personnel members were chilly as well as unhelpful, at least according to the couple.
The personnel refused to offer any guesses on the dogs’ breeds, which was aggravating for the couple. They just wished to understand what type of canine they would be getting, which is a fair thing to ask.
Instead of taking this chance to talk about the dogs’ characters as well as prospective breeds, the personnel got irritated that they were asking such questions.
In this case, the couple walked out of the shelter without a canine as well as felt prompted to compose a blog publish about their unfavorable experience at the shelter.
They ended up going to a breeder as well as got a purebred puppy instead.
This is just one example, however it shows there certainly needs to be a balance. A shelter is never going to please every prospective adopter, however the workers do need to have awesome advertising skills as well as positive attitudes. It ought to not be so challenging to embrace a dog.
Leaving out the ‘pitbull’ label
The rescue I work with seldom utilizes “pitbull” on its breed labels. I’m not sure if this is intentional, however it seems that way.
Leaving out “pitbull” as well as calling a canine a “Lab mix” or a “boxer mix” does seem to assist get the dogs adopted.
Most adopters love pitbulls or are indifferent to them, but some house complexes as well as insurance coverage business still ban “pitbulls” which makes them a bit harder to get adopted.
Another element is to make sure adopters are conscious ofProspektiv diskriminering av hundarna de antar, även när rasen tas bort.
Om en renrasig eller blandad rashund verkar som en “pitbull” för någon, kan hunden såväl som ägaren tyvärr fortfarande förbjudas från vissa lägenheter, hundar i hundar, försäkringsskydd, etc. Detta förändras, men det är fortfarande en beklaglig utmaning för vissa.
Jag är inte säker på om att eliminera rasetiketter från Shelter Dogs Bios är en del av lösningen, men det är ett koncept jag är öppen för. Jag tror att det är värt att diskutera, liksom jag är nyfiken på vad resten av dig tycker.
Tror du att det är en bra idé att eliminera hundraser från kennelkort och bios?
Tror du att det skulle ha ett positivt eller ogynnsamt resultat i ditt område?
Underteckna så mycket som att få utbildningsförslag och mycket mer i mitt vanliga nyhetsbrev: