2012/07/25 Council Agenda Packet

challenging the designation, (3) ownership restrictions imposed, and (4) penalties for violation of the laws.12 Breed-Discriminatory Law and the Science of Genetics Scientific advances in canine DNA could be the beginning of the end for breed- discriminatory laws. DNA testing can be done by either a veterinarian who takes a blood sample of the dog or by a pet owner who buys a kit at PetSmart and sends the canine's cheek swab to a lab. The results of these tests are often surprising. A report by Dr. Victoria Voith and colleagues at Western University published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science indicates low agreement between the identification of breeds of dogs by adoption agencies and DNA identification. The dogs in this study were of unknown parentage and had been acquired from animal shelters. In only a quarter of these dogs was at least one of the breeds proposed by the animal shelters also detected as a predominant breed by DNA analysis. In 87.5% of the adopted dogs, breeds were identified by DNA that were not proposed by the animal shelters. A breed must have been detected at a minimum of 12.5% of a dog's makeup to be reported in the DNA analysis. Given the discrepancies between opinions of animal-shelter workers and identification by DNA analysis, the paper suggests re-evaluating the reliability of non-DNA breed identification and calls into question current public and private policies based on dog breeds, all of which are based on historical data dependent on visual breed identification.13 Given Voith's findings, and the ease of obtaining DNA testing, objective canine DNA testing should be the preferred method of breed identification if a local government has enacted breed-discriminatory policies. Understandably, many government attorneys haven't kept up with the science of DNA, but courts are increasingly allowing DNA evidence in breed-identification cases. 12 Cynthia McNeely&Sarah Lindquist,Dangerous Dog Laws:Failing to Give Man's Best Friend a fair Shake at Justice,3 J.Animal Law 99,112(2007). 13 Victoria L.Voith et al.,Comparison of Adoption Agency Breed Identification and DNA Breed identification of Dogs,121.Applied Animal Welfare Science 253,260 (2009).