Pet companies have twice sent back breed results from human swab samples, raising questions about the accuracy of breed tests.
On Wednesday, WBZ News reported that the research team received the breed results from DNA My Dog after one of its reporters sent in a swab sample taken from his own cheek.
According to the Toronto-based company's findings, WBZ News reporter Christina Hager says 40% are Alaskan Malamutes, 35% are Shar Peis, and 25% are Labradors.
Hager also sent samples to two other pet genetic testing companies. Orivet, a company based in Melbourne, Australia, and Florida, reported that the samples “failed to provide the necessary data to perform variety ID analysis.” Meanwhile, the Washington-based company Wisdom Panel said the sample “did not provide enough DNA to produce reliable results.”
WBZ News' latest report comes after its research team sent a sample taken from New Hampshire pet owner Michelle Leininger's own cheek to DNA My Dog last year. As a result, Leininger found that Border Collie was 40% of her, Cane Corso was 32% of her, and Bulldog was 28% of her.
“Sometimes people might agree with that, but no,” Leininger joked to WBZ News.
At the time, DNA My Dog told WBZ News that dog DNA was only found on one of Leininger's two cheek swabs.
“The second sample did indeed yield dog DNA…the results obtained would not be possible with a human sample,” the company said.
According to Zion Market Research, the global dog DNA testing market is valued at $235 million in 2022 and is projected to grow to $723 million by 2030. Key players in the industry include DNA My Dog, Orivet, and Wisdom Panel.
But erroneous results have raised questions about the accuracy of DNA tests.
In response to Leininger's results, Lisa Moses, a veterinarian and bioethicist at Harvard Medical School, told WBZ News last year: That's not a dog. ”
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Moses continued: “There's not necessarily a perfect answer to what your dog is…breed is basically what we decide based on how the dog looks…but it doesn't necessarily mean we make it so.” That doesn't mean you'll know what their genes are like.”
People took to social media to express their doubts about WBZ News' latest reporting.
“It will be interesting to see what results we get if we send the dog's DNA to one of the human DNA genealogy testing facilities,” one source said.
Another said: “Would you spend money on something like this? Never!! I would never trust it.”
“Lol, some people might want to check their family tree,” another wrote.
