--- title: Dogs Labeled ‘Pit Bull’ Wait 3 Times Longer for Adoption description: Dogs that are labeled pit bulls in shelters wait three times as long to be adopted than dogs that look like them but are labeled differently canonical: https://time.com/4269704/pit-bulls-longer-shelter-adoption/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-23T20:43:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:24:19.191Z article:section: Science og:title: Dogs Labeled ‘Pit Bull’ Wait 3 Times Longer for Adoption: Study og:description: Even if they aren't actually pit bulls og:url: https://time.com/4269704/pit-bulls-longer-shelter-adoption/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e7ae545a82ddb30/69888c3f0b72e360c06e8a71/pit-bull.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 600804547 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Dogs Labeled ‘Pit Bull’ Wait 3 Times Longer for Adoption: Study twitter:description: Even if they aren't actually pit bulls twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e7ae545a82ddb30/69888c3f0b72e360c06e8a71/pit-bull.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Dogs Labeled ‘Pit Bull’ Wait 3 Times Longer for Adoption: Study  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Mar 23, 2016 8:43 PM CUT  Pit bulls spend three times longer in shelters than other dog breeds, a study has found. Pit bulls spend three times longer in shelters than other dog breeds, a study has found.Ernest Scruggs / EyeEm—Getty Images/EyeEm  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Mar 23, 2016 8:43 PM CUT Dogs that are [labeled as pit bulls in shelters](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub%5Freleases/2016-03/p-pbl031716.php "undefined") wait three times as long to be adopted than dogs that look like the breed but are classified differently, according to a study published Wednesday. Researchers found that potential pet owners were less likely to take home a dog if shelters called it a pit bull because the breed is negatively perceived and considered less friendly and more aggressive than other breeds. “We were surprised how very similar looking dogs sometimes get labeled ‘pit bull’ and other times as something completely different,” said Lisa Gunter, the author of the study published in the journal [_PLOS ONE_](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0146857#sec026 "undefined"). “These dogs may look and act the same, but the pit bull label damns them to a much longer wait to adoption.” Gunter and the other researchers said assigned breed labels at shelters can be inaccurate and based on sometimes misleading appearances. The research suggests that dogs could be inadvertently penalized when labeled as a pit bull breed. “In the shelter, removing breed labels was associated with increased adoptions and reduced length of stay for all breed groups, particularly pit-bull-type dogs,” the study said. “Given the inherent challenges of breed assignment based on morphology, removing breed labels from kennel cards and online adoption profiles may be a simple, low-cost strategy to improve shelter dog outcomes.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4269704/pit-bulls-longer-shelter-adoption/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4269704/pit-bulls-longer-shelter-adoption/"},"headline":"Dogs Labeled ‘Pit Bull’ Wait 3 Times Longer for Adoption: Study","datePublished":"2016-03-23T20:43:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:24:19.191Z","description":"Even if they aren't actually pit bulls","url":"https://time.com/4269704/pit-bulls-longer-shelter-adoption/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e7ae545a82ddb30/69888c3f0b72e360c06e8a71/pit-bull.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e7ae545a82ddb30/69888c3f0b72e360c06e8a71/pit-bull.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"600804547","caption":"Pit bulls spend three times longer in shelters than other dog breeds, a study has found.","creditText":"Ernest Scruggs / EyeEm—Getty Images/EyeEm","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4269704/pit-bulls-longer-shelter-adoption/","name":"Dogs Labeled ‘Pit Bull’ Wait 3 Times Longer for Adoption: Study"}}]}] ```