Do black dogs experience prejudice?

[FSogol]

From Cecil Adam's "The Straight Dope"

Dear Cecil: I recently adopted a black lab puppy. A neighbor who’s studying to be a vet and volunteers at a shelter gave me kudos, as it's known in shelters that black dogs are by far the least popular color and are hard to find homes for. Could racism really extend itself in a cross-species manner?

Cecil Replies: Well, your vet-student pal’s certainly right about one thing: it’s an accepted truth among animal-shelter staff that people just don’t want to take black dogs home. Articles and message-board commentary from shelter workers attest to this sad injustice; pounds across the country (and in some cases dedicated black-dog rescue groups) host special adoption events to try to get the poor creatures out the door.

Guess what, though? All the concern notwithstanding, this phenomenon — known as black dog syndrome — doesn’t seem to actually exist, at least as far as research has been able to demonstrate. And there’s a fair amount of research, BDS having long been a hot topic in the shelter world. Among the more recent findings:

A 2013 analysis of 1,200 dogs and puppies at two no-kill shelters in New York State saw no significant variation in length of availability for adoption (LOA, in the lingo) related to coat color. The study did find that LOA increased about a day per year of age for adult dogs, and that medium-sized dogs could expect to wait longest; adopters gravitated toward the smallest dogs and the biggest, and (understandably) to the puppies.

Snip More at:

https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/8959/

[Ohiogal]

1. I can offer an anecdote

of sorts. My sister always adopts shelter dogs and specifically adopts the ones that have been there a long time. It seems like white and light color dogs are always the first to get adopted. The shelter workers told her that people have this impression that black dogs appear to be mean. She has had all black dogs all her life except for one or two. She says they are good burglar prevention! Even though her newest one is a real cuddly lap dog but she looks mean!

[FSogol]

5. The article goes into that. They say 30% of the dogs in the shelter are black, but they get adopted

higher rate than other dogs (32%).

I posted the article since I always hear people say that, but in my experience, I see dog owners with black dogs every day.

[Igel]

16. And yet after some time,

there are still more people saying their perceptions beat out measurement than saying, "Gee, on the basis of measurement perhaps my perceptions or the stories I've heard aren't correct."

That, in itself, has probably been the subject of many a research paper.

[jberryhill]

8. Key words - seems like

Absent actual measurement, peoples' ideas of what things "seem like" are often wrong.

[democratisphere]

2. White rats and mice good, acceptable or OK.

Darker colored rats and mice are unacceptable, bad and evil.

Prejudice.

[Tipperary]

3. Almost all of my dogs was a black dog. I did have a red one and a white one at the same time.

I have always had two dogs. All my dogs were rescues, except for the white one, who was an offspring of the first black dog I had. What an odd article. I have heard about the hatred toward black cats, which is horrible.

[Kirk Lover]

4. Also black dogs/cats don't photograph well so that doesn't help. I purposely adopted a black

cat because of this.

[jbond56]

6. n1

Anytime there is a black dog roaming the neighborhood, I have a trump supporting neighbor call or knock on my door claiming my dog is out. To be fair six years ago I left a gate open and my dogs did get out and visit her house and many cats. That was the last time my dog broke out. Its really funny to see her face when she runs over all worked up and I open the door and say no my dogs are right here.

[crazycatlady]

7. Black cats do

Because they're associated with bad luck.

Every black cat I've met is a sweetheart and a beautiful animal. There's a DUer who posts pics of his beautiful black cat Luna in the Lounge if you don't believe me.

[FSogol]

9. I used to have a black cat. She loved potato chips and vanilla ice cream. n/t

[FSogol]

10. Adams mentions cats:

For what it’s worth, black cat syndrome may be a thing. Several scholarly papers have reported longer adoption waits for black cats, though the ASPCA data showed them doing OK — tabbies of all colors tended to be adopted less readily.

[crazycatlady]

11. Sad about tabbies

I was owned by a gray tabby (Tabby) for almost 18 years. I miss that cat daily and would give anything to hear his loud yowly meow one more time.

[Bettie]

12. I suspect part of the reason for this

is that there are a lot of lab mixes which tend to be black.

I've had a lot of black dogs in my life and my mother fosters and adopts dog. She currently has 5 black ones.

[NightWatcher]

13. Do other dogs see German Shepherds and think "oh shit, it's the cops"?

[Codeine]

14. That made me laugh far more than was reasonable.

[IluvPitties]

15. My black pittie-lab mix (RIP)

had been in the shelter for months, overlooked by most people. Not because of the breed necessarily, as most dogs there had some pit in them, but because the color and expression made him look menacing. He was the opposite- beloved by the people at the shelter and super friendly with anyone who came to visit. He was dying to be adopted! I was lucky to have him and sadly lost him at age 2. Gone too soon...

[treestar]

17. Odd - I once read that

dogs are prejudiced against other races of people - people of races other than their owners. Black peoples' dogs growled at white people and vice versa. I remember it had some suggestions for training your dog to be less vocal about his/her politically incorrect views!

[FSogol]

18. I always attribute that to owner's conscious or unconscious biases. Dogs probably

pick up on clues quickly.