The Peruvian Pitbull: an extinct dog breed

Abstract

During the first half of the 20th century, a dog breed called Peruvian Pitbull was developed at the Peruvian department of La Libertad. This was reported in an article in 1944 but fell into oblivion, to the point that there are not known later publications available which mention this breed. To verify if there still exist dogs with the Peruvian Pitbull traits and to get data which allow to better describe them, a search was carried on in the area between the former haciendas «Chiclín» and «Salamanca». No specimens of the breed were found but eight out of 52 respondents, provided new data on the history and aspect of this dog. The Peruvian Pitbull would have been ceased to be raised in 1964, being the only reported Peruvian canine breed of modern origin and a culturally valuable element, particularly for the department of La Libertad. The data reported here allows a better knowledge of this dog and could eventually be used for the standard establishing and reconstruction of the breed.