Thinking about buying a purebred dog? This story will serve as a warning for you.
Using the same techniques as you would to find out about your own ancestors, you can test your dog’s DNA, but you might not like the results.
Some people prefer to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to have a purebred dog. However, there is a general mistrust of breeders and pet stores, and that’s for a good reason.
Phyllis Von Saspe of New York wanted to know if her $1,700 designer dog Emma really is a Shorkie, a mix of Shih Tzu and Yorkie. So she had the dog’s DNA tested. Emma, who was purchased from a breeder in Washington State, is not a Shorkie at all. She’s part Shih Tzu and part Pomeranian, according to her DNA analysis.
“I felt deceived,” said the woman.
Although the mix of Shih Tzu and Pomeranian makes for a cute animal, this was not the breed that Phyllis had paid thousands of dollars to obtain. She was outraged that she had been tricked by the breeder.
Unfortunately, dog breeders and pet shops are lying to customers about the breed of dog they are selling. This is becoming more commonplace as these breeders and pet shops try to separate people from as much money as possible.
Unfortunately, Phyllis is not the only person who got unexpected results from the dog’s DNA testing.
Even Cliff Mintz, a guy who bought his purebred Havanese from a New Jersey breeder, wanted to check if the breed he was told about is right.
Apparently, the DNA analysis showed that his dog is only part of Havanese.
It is also part of Shih Tzu.
Inside Edition decided to approach Kathleen Summers of the Humane Society of the United States to test this on their own.
The team and Kathleen went shopping for doggos and they ended up buying a cute pup at the Chelsea Kennel Club.
According to the manager, the dog is a purebred Coton de Tulear, a breed wherein dogs have coats that look like white cotton. They named the dog Jak and proceeded to have his DNA tested.
Once purchased, the dog was immediately brought to Adam Boyko. He is the chief science officer and co-founder of Embark, a company that specializes in analyzing dog DNA. The results were far from the store’s claim of the pup being a purebred Coton de Tulear.
“He’s a mutt, just like my dog at home,” Adam shared.
Jak is not purebred but is actually a combination of Maltese, Havanese, and other mixed-breed groups. And to think that he was bought for $950!
Meanwhile, the store manager insists that their records show Jak as purebred. “We have documentation and registry papers that say that it’s a Coton from the breeder itself.”
True enough, the store even sent the registration papers of Jak to the Inside Edition team to prove that the breed they stated is legit and properly documented.
Additionally, they also stated that the papers and not the DNA testing are the acceptable roof in the industry when it comes to identifying dog breeds.
Watch the video below for more details:
Source: AWM
Leave a Comment