Why Black Cats And Dogs Are Less Likely To Get Adopted In Texas

Growing up I had a lot of different pets. Dogs, cats, hamsters, gerbils, birds you name it. I never once thought about the color of the pet that I was adopting.

My aunt had a beloved black and tan Yorkie, and we had a black Shih Tzu when I was young. I didn't think anything about it, and I always thought black dogs and cats looked cool.

That's why I was so surprised to find out that there is actually a black dog and cat syndrome. Rescue shelters have known about it for years.

February is Black Dog and Cat Syndrome Awareness Month In Texas 

Many animal lovers that do shelter work will tell you that black animals are the very last to get adopted. There are a lot of reasons why, and some of them can be prevented.

The one that is the easiest thing to change is the photographs taken of the animals. Make sure they don't just look like a pair of floating eyes in your photos. You just have to make proper use of light

Take pictures of them in even lighting indoors and skip the flash. These are easy fixes that shelters can use to make their pictures pop.

Superstitions Lead To A Lower Adoption Rate Of Black Pets In Texas 

Something that is harder to combat is superstition. If you think having a black cat cross your path is bad luck, owning one is not going to happen.

Black dogs are sometimes viewed as evil, or demonic. Think about how many bad guys had a black Dobermann pinscher in movies.

Hopefully with awareness, we can switch up the narrative on these animals and zoom in to see those well-lit sad shelter faces, so they will be adopted at a normal rate.