Why Don't People Adopt Black Dogs?

Once, when I took my daughter to our local animal shelter, I noticed a disturbing pattern among the dogs there. In cage after cage after cage, I saw large black dogs-- mostly Labrador mixes, with a few houndish mongrels and black feists here and there. Only two dogs at the shelter-- a husky and a white terrier mix-- didn't don black markings. These two, of course, had the word "ADOPTED" taped to their cages.
Black dogs are disturbingly over-represented in pet shelters and, unfortunately, most of them end up being euthanized rather than adopted. While dogs with white, gray, golden and patterned markings tend to be adopted quickly, most black dogs simply never find their forever-homes-- and end up perishing in the hands of shelter staff.

There are several reasons that people don't adopt black dogs from shelters. Here are a few of the most common contributing factors.

Negative Associations

In Western culture, we almost invariably associate the color black with death, darkness, and despair. We hear talk of "black magic" as evil magic, of "black hats" as bad guys, of "black death" as a horrible pandemic, of the "black market" as a lawless underground economy, of "blackmail" as a form of manipulation. Even if we don't intentionally internalize these associations, we absorb them on a subconscious level. In our mind's eyes, black dogs are bad, and white dogs are good.

Superstition

Few of us believe directly or mystically in superstition, but we do absorb ideas about black dogs gathered from folklore. I remember reading a story about a black dog when I was a child. The dog was actually a ghost and consumed the souls of children. Like black cats, black dogs were once associated with evil, the devil, and bad luck. Black dogs are also said to bring depression into a home. Hence the phrase "living with a black dog" means dealing with depression. These superstitions influence our thoughts whether we consciously accept them or not.

Poorer Photographs

In today's era, pet adopters tend to preview dogs online before seeing them in person. Black dogs do not usually photograph well; they tend to look like amorphous blobs due to the low contrast between fur color and shadow. Their eyes-- which are such a pivotal expression of the dogs' personality-- don't generally show in online photos due to the low contrast. This alone tends to prevent many potential adopters from giving black dogs a second look.

Too Unremarkable

Black dogs are very, very common. Because many of the most common breeds-- Labradors, German shepherds, and dobermans-- carry black as a predominant color, it tends to occur frequently in unplanned mixed-breed pups. Genes for dark pigmentation are also genetically dominant to lighter colors, so black is one of the most common "default" colors for mutts. Unfortunately, many people looking for a dog simply look past black dogs and instead aim for pets with more striking colors or patterns.

All pets deserve an equal opportunity to survive and flourish in happy, loving homes. We can't, as animal lovers, allow our internalized biases to cost animals their lives. If you are interested in adopting a pet, be sure to give black dogs a second look. No animal should die, or be homeless, because it happens to have the wrong color fur.