who can legally assess if it's a pit bull?

I am wondering what professional body can determine if a pit bull is a pit bull and what documentation is needed as proof of this. I'm kinda confused on this. I followed the Lily story and that case was won with a lot of hard work, but it seems that they did not accept the 3 veterinarians' findings that Lily was indeed not a pitbull, as the owner had said and had written proof of.

These folks had to bend over backward to prove that the dog was not a pitbull, even with, what I would consider, was ample and definite proof.

Who does one turn to to prove what breed of dog they own? Is documentation from a vet not substantial enough? Is there a professional body out there that people can turn to if they are "accused" of owning a pbull? Does one person's opinion override another professionals' opinion??

Seeing as the onus is on the owner to prove what breed of dog they have, people are going to need to know who they can turn to to find this out and have it in writing legally.
Aaaauuuuggghhh! :pawprint:

Does one person's opinion override another professionals' opinion??

Yup, that the way it looks, If the crown's goverment paid vet say's it a pit it's a pit, if your regular vet says no, it not a pit, the crown will most likely win. If you have money you could win, if not you will most likely loose, MP's,police chiefs, ect, and there kin do not get found guilty of impared charges, they get the best lawyer and beat the charge, poor folk like most of us don't stand a chance in the court system.

So, it's the Crown's veterinarian that has the final say. Folks should seek the opinion their own vet to determine the breed of their dog, right? Is this where dog owners are expected to get the needed verification and documentation? Is there another body out there that will do this, such as CKC?

This might not be a popular opinion, but I'm not sure why people think a vet is more qualified to judge the breed of a dog then any other person involved in the dog world. I've never been to vet school so for all I know maybe they do teach breed identification but I can tell you that it takes years to be good at mix breed ID'ing and it's obviously still not foolproof. I just can't see where a vet could ID a dog any better then myself for instance. This is a pet peeve of mine because people will sometimes adopt dogs from us that we KNOW the breed mix of but the vet will tell them it's something else - they'll often come back to us and tell us we were wrong because their vet knows everything of course! Just 2 years ago we had a local vet tell an adopter that we adopted him a wolf mix - it was a purebred Siberian husky, nice quality at that!!!

That's exactly what I think the problem is. WHO is actually qualified and who is not? Who is right? Who knows best? I figure Can. Kennel Club certified folks would be and should be the ones doing this job, not just this vet or that vet and certainly NOT the Animal Control folks! Heck, they'd call my cat a pitbull! :p

With the new legislation about to come into play, people will want to know who to go to that is the best qualified to identify without any shadow of a doubt, the breeds and not be second guessed!