For those of us who work with rescue organizations every day, there is a sad, sad phrase that is often uttered about the single most difficult type of dogs to find homes for: big black dogs. No matter how lovely the dog is, no matter how perfect the temperament, many potential adoptive families overlook big black dogs at shelters all across the country in favor of dogs that have more unique coloring (blue! red! orange with stripes! white with brown spots!). As this
great article in
The Bark reminds us:
“Please don’t overlook our black dogs,” rescue groups pleaded on their home pages above pictures of Rottweilers, Chows and Labs sporting bright bandannas. One shelter’s website just came right out with the grim truth: “The general public is not aware of how doomed black dogs are when they are brought to a pound.”
We experienced this same harsh reality when we took in two lovely black dogs, Roz & Nellie. They were both older, both shaggy, both big, both black. We've luckily found wonderful homes for both of them, but we were so disheartened to see people dismiss them immediately because of their color that we're glad to see some attention being focused on this issue.
Tamara Delaney's Black Pearl Dogs is a wonderful tribute to black dogs the world over and is an excellent resource for understanding the problem and finding a perfect black dog to add to your family. This issue is so close to our hearts (we have a little black pit bull after all!) that we've decided to feature a weekly roundup of local BBDs that need homes.
Here are this week's BBDs...do what you can to give them the homes they deserve:
- Roxie at Thumping Tails Animal Rescue
- Boomer at Ruff Riders Rescue
- Nike at Downtown Dog Rescue
- Ally at Pacific Coast Dog Rescue
