Black Dog Syndrome ~ A little known issue by the public

[Carole]

I wanted to put this information on our website, it's a syndrome I've heard plenty about while helping our local shelter. Harley, one of our dogs available for adoption is a perfect example of this. He was brought in as a stray AND given a date to be put to sleep as soon as his stray hold was up. WHY? All because he is mainly black, the shelter was over capacity...this 1 year old guy with a fabulous tempermant and a love for life was given no chance at adoption simply because he was black and would be there too long

Black Dog Syndrome is a phenomenon that is well known to shelter workers and rescue organizations across the nation. Black dogs are much more difficult to find homes for. They are the last dogs to find homes and often among the first to be euthanized.

Many people that are not involved in dog rescue have a hard time believing that black dogs are so much harder to place than dogs of other colors. Some people think that Black Dog Syndrome doesn't exist at all. Others think that the only reason there are more black dogs in shelters than dogs of other colors is because black is the genetically dominant color for many breeds and Labrador Retrievers are the most popular dog in the U.S. at the moment.

Here are some links explaining how huge the problem actually is:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23472518/

http://www.blackdogrescueproject.com/bl ... drome.html

http://www.pawfirst.com/info/display?PageID=7695