Do you have a black dog?

Tomorrow is 'Adopt-a-less-adoptable-dog' day. I know this is news to most of the dog lovers. Even I didn't know about it until a few hours ago. Suddenly while surfing the net I came across an amazing article that spoke about the 'big black dog syndrome'. I thought of writing a blog on this, as I believe most of us unknowingly nurse an apathy for our big black canine friends. It is a 'Petfinder' initiative, a website dedicated to the cause of black dogs.

I have seen that whenever we go for adoption, we normally tend to take in the light colored ones. We think the bigger ones are difficult to manage and we also try to avoid the color black. But a spokesperson for Petfinder said that a little bit of education can actually induce people into buying black pets. However, the current trend reflects that black dogs belonging to rescue groups and shelters go through the toughest of times finding homes.

'Petfinder' has in fact launched a campaign informing people that black dogs are easy to accessorize, since black goes well with everything. There are two other very popular websites called 'Black Pearl Dogs' and 'Start Seeing Black Dogs' that help rescue groups and shelters find homes for their black dogs. However, the spokesperson for 'Start Seeing Black Dogs' believes that most people are unaware of the persisting problem.

He attributes bad lighting in rescue centers as one of the causes behind this trend. People are not able to figure out the dogs well, he thinks. He also points out that dogs on websites are not well photographed. Due to this people are unable to get a proper feel of the pets they wish to take home. This is referred to as the 'black blob syndrome'.

But some shelters have converted this into a marketing strategy. One of them had launched a campaign some time back called 'Black Dog Blue Light Special'. It was a unique campaign that attracted many customers.

The story went like this. During Christmas they decorated the whole place with blue lights made of cards. Each card had personalities of dogs imprinted on them. The bluish hue gave the impression that the dogs had been painted blue. They also ran ads of the blue dogs. This outraged some people who contacted their office. The organizers were basically looking for this opportunity to enlighten people.

The purpose is not to force somebody into adopting a black dog. But the message is don't turn a blind eye to a black dog which is craving for your love and attention.

(Picture Source: Google)