Whenever shelters and rescues are talked about, two breed mixes are always at the top when it comes to too many in and not enough out – pit bull mixes and Chihuahuas. Over the last years, some major efforts have gone on, from breed specific campaigns for the pitty, to shipping Chis from California to other states that have owners looking for small dogs. But has it helped? Where do these breeds stand up when it comes to actual adoptions? The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) has a system, CARDS (Comprehensive Animal Risk Database System), which is the data they collect from their partner shelters across the country. Below are the Top 5 dog breeds (including mixes) that were adopted from their partners (42) in 2014. It’s important to note that since it’s a “guess” when it comes to naming breeds in a mixed breed dog, these are rough figures. You can check out the complete data here.
#1 – Chihuahua and Chi Mixes – 18,485 adoptions
While this number is technically down from 2012’s number (18,595), they are still at the of the adoption list, which is good. There was also a 3800 drop in intakes, which is even better news.
#2 – Pit Bulls and Pitty Mixes – 13,936
This number seems small when you look at the number of claimed pitty and pit mixes that were taken in (52,415). However, it’s an upswing of almost 900 adoptions from 2013. It’s a step in the right direction at least.
#3 – Labrador Retriever and Lab Mixes – 13,426
America’s favorite breed is in the top five of the adoption lists – it’s actually surprising that they are not at the top of the list – there were 27,050 taken in last year, so roughly 50 percent did not find homes. Even more surprising, they are the second highest in terms of euthanasia, they are above the Chihuahua but below the Pit Bull. What the data doesn’t tell you is whether these numbers include Lab-Pit Bulls, or if they are put under pitty. That would definitely affect the numbers.
#4 – German Shepherd and GSD Mixes – 7,186
The German Shepherd comes in at number four, and again, it’s interesting to see that more than 50 percent of those brought in do not get adopted. In fact, of the 18,045 brought in, 5,058 of them were euthanized. Their adoption numbers were also down from 2013.
#5 – Terrier and Terrier Mixes – 6,743
This is a bit of a “catch all’ group, and the ASPCA notes that there may be some pitties in this group too. This number is almost identical to the 2013. The real good news here is that they euthanasia number for the breed grouping dropped almost 800 dogs in 2014.
