Animal shelters say black dogs, cats languish

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Animal shelters say black dogs and cats take longer to adopt than those of other colors, and the phenomenon even has a name — Black Dog or Black Cat Syndrome.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports today that shelters say the reasons vary from superstition to the difficulty in photographing a black animal for adoption websites, but the end results are usually the same.

Some shelters even bar people from adopting black cats during the month of October, for fear the animals will be used as a novelty or mistreated.

The paper reports that shelters put colored bandanas on black dogs to help them stand out, or light their cages brightly so black animals don’t blend into the shadows. But black puppies and kittens usually don’t have trouble getting adopted.