Have you ever thought about why some people are not keen to adopt a black dog or cat? This is a problem that we come across every day and that we find heartbreaking.
In the USA for example, they have chosen February asBlack Dog and Cat Syndrome Awareness Month in an effort to draw attention to the stigma as to why people always overlook black dogs and cats at shelters.
This is not only a serious problem in the USA but also in other countries. In Portugal in general and at Aanifeira, many people will look straight past a black animal to choose a lighter coloured one. But what are the reasons behind this one would wonder? People often associate black cats with witchcraft and superstition.
Since the 1800’s the colour black has been associated with anarchism and the black cat, in an alert, fighting stance was later adopted as an anarchist symbol. All of this would have fired even more the myths, superstitions and stigmas that surround a black cat today.
Large black dogs might look rather more menacing than others and perhaps too the reference to the proverbial ‘black sheep’ of the family when choosing a pet for adoption, also has some influence. In truth they don’t always photograph as well as lighter coloured animals as their features do not show up and very sadly, in the USA, they are the last to be adopted and the first to be euthanized!
The truth of the matter is that they are no different to other animals and have exactly the same temperaments. In some countries like Great Britain and Ireland the black cat is considered good luck and the Scottish say they bring prosperity to a home. In Japan black cats are also considered good luck. Black dogs are also thought to bring prosperity to a household in some countries.
Whatever it is, shelters everywhere need to work in promoting that Black is Beautifulto draw awareness to these animals needing adoption. We at Aanifeira have a large number of black dogs and cats of all sizes just waiting for adoption and which would make wonderful pets.
One cat rescue site in the USA, Precious Paw Rescue came up with a wonderful list of excellent reasons as to why someone should adopt a black cat that can be checked outhere.
Another 10 very good reasons for adopting a black dog are given on the The Black Pearls of the Dog World site and can be checked out here.
Remember BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL this month so let’s all do our best to break the stigma!
