They knew you thought it was a pit bull when they rented to you so I don't see how you violated anything. and yes a staffie is the same as a pit.
EDIT: "THe most my dog will do is lick you to death." I had a huge German shepherd when i was a kid he was part lick hound too. LOL. Sure scared people on the beach though.
Question is.... what did the dog do that got you dragged in front of a judge?
If it looks like Pit Bull, acts like a Pit Bull and they don't allow Pit Bulls.... then your DNA test is not going to change that.
For a laymen there is no difference between a Pit Bull and what some breeders consider a Staffordshire Terrier. If your mix breed has the 'look" then that is all that matters.
You understand that American Pit Bull Terriers and American Staffordshire Terriers are the same breed, right? APBT is UKC and AST is AKC. http://www.mountbrieramstaffs.com - the dog "Brandi" is a UKC *and* AKC champion.
http://www.carolinastylekennels.com/inde... the dog there has a whole pedigree of AKC/UKC CH dogs.
"Staffordshire Terrier" is *not* a breed under any US breed club. American Staffordshire Terrier and Staffordshire Bull Terriers are the only two AKC breeds with the word "Staffordshire" in the name.
If the dogs were from a shelter, then you tell the landlord "APBT and AST are the same breed, so there is no issue with disclosure there. As far as the other part, the shelter gave me their best guess and I gave you what they told me. Here is a copy of my adoption paperwork showing what they told me. Here is a copy of a statement from my vet stating that the dog could be APBT and Collie, based on appearance."
DNA tests for dogs are very unreliable and have lots of issues. The expensive ones administered by vets are a bit more reliable, but because few dogs are actually 'purebred' for the last 2000 years, various breeds can come up.
http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?article...
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/features/dog-...
http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/blogs/dog...
As far as the legality, there are two schools of thought on this. One is that ignorance is no excuse. The other is that you acted in good faith. It's not clear what the problem is here - you have a mutt. If the landlord doesn't allow pit bull type dogs, then you show that you disclosed that your dog was indeed part pit bull and he approved it. UKC/AKC name is irrelevant, as long as the judge understands they are the same breed. If the landlord is trying to get you on the Lab/Collie part, your attorney is the one to deal with for questions on this. If the landlord is going after this, it sounds like the landlord is looking for an excuse to get you out. Lab Collie vs. Terrier/Sighthound/Boxer mix doesn't matter that much. It's the pit bull portion that is usually the concerning part.
Now, if the DNA came back Presa Canario and Siberian Husky, then we'd be having a different conversation.
Good Luck
American Staffordshire Terrier is a pit bull. That's the breed name.
You lose.
It wouldn't stand in court. An American Staffordshire Terrier is the actual breed name of a "pit bull" for one. And the rest won't hold in court anyway, they only care that you are upfront about the size of the dog.
What is the lawsuit about?
Did your dogs injure anyone?
If they did, the breed of dog doesn't matter. The fact that you failed to restrain your dogs does, however.
If the tests contradict what you told them, then you violated the contract - even if you thought what you said was true at the time and the violation was unintended.
I am surprised they let you move a pit into his property at all, it voided his insurance policy. Your blood test confirming it is a pit really doesn't help your case. Pit bulls kill an average of 22 people every year in the USA. All other breeds combined kill one every 5 years or so. That does not count how many people are maimed yearly, people hospitalized with serious injury (loss of limb, etc) is one every 4.2 days. You can't convince me these dogs are harmless. If it was really the owner, and not the dog, that were the problem you would see similar stats for other medium and large breed dogs.
So I have a curious question. When I applied for a rental I disclosed that my dogs were American Pit Bull and Lab/collie mix. This is what I was told, I did not buy from a breeder nor was I given papers. So I told the property managers. Anyhow going through a nasty legal battle now that is going to small claims court, but just to be clear I had a DNA testing done and it turns they are Staffordshire Terrier Mixed with Boxer, Chinese Crested, Lakeland Terrier and Pharaoh Hound. I disclosed this to the landlord the same day I got the results. So my question is can they say I violated my contract because I didn't tell them the correct breed; however, at the time of the application I gave them the honest assumption of the breed and when I found out the truth I disclosed it immediately to them. Did I actually violate the contract? And how strong will that stand in court?
