Black dogs, cats, the Kardashian’s and Halloween  

31st October 2015

 

Meet Summer.  She is black (with a touch of tan highlights) and she is also our black dog and cat activist.  Why? Well put it this way. How would you like to be judged based on the colour of your fur?  We need to stand up against furism! It’s just not right, not logical and actually just a little bit vain….

 

According to the UK daily telegraph, rescue groups believe that some of the prejudices come from the fact that black cats and dogs do not have a ‘unique’ enough identity.  Summer is appalled by this.  She believes that we live in a sad, sad world, in which we are far too absorbed with looks and ego.  Off course she blames the Kardashians for making our lives shallower.  She goes on to say “Have you ever seen Kim Kardashian with a black dog? (Be careful humans!) Then I rest my case…..” she sighs.

 

Now Summer does understand that she is not all black. She does indeed own up to having some very beautiful gold flecks through parts of her coat, as well as her famous white ‘bloomers’.  Yet throughout her life she has been exposed to other humans’ prejudices. She goes on to say “How would you like it if you saw humans deliberately crossing over to the other side of the road when they see you approach?  It’s very hurtful”.  You could be forgiven for thinking that it may be because Summer is not only black, but she is also 34 kilos of German Shephard.  But no, the evidence is clear, furism exists in our society today and it must be stamped out.

 

This Halloween, the Animal Welfare League Queensland (AWLQ) are promoting the plight of our fur kids’ poor black cousins.  They say that Black-Dog Syndrome (BDS) is a phenomenon familiar to animal shelter workers worldwide. It refers to the pattern of black dogs and cats often being the last to be adopted and the first to be euthanased.  The evidence can sadly be backed up by the Retired Greyhound Trust in the UK. They told the daily telegraph that nationwide, 80% of retired greyhounds left homeless, were indeed black. Further, Petfinder in the US, surveyed rescue groups and found that astoundingly, black dogs and cats spent almost four times longer than the average 12.5 weeks in shelters, than their lighter counterparts.

 

Superstition

Other factors influencing humans’ furism prejudices, are that Black cats have often been associated with witches and superstitious beliefs.  In the middle ages, humans believed that they were witches incarnate.  

SBS reported that in a study by Penn State psychologists in 2013, people found images of black dogs scarier than photos of yellow or brown dogs.  The SBS report went on to say that “respondents rated the dark-furred animals less adoptable, less friendly and more intimidating. And while the association between obsidian and evil is more explicit for cats, dogs have to contend with a culture, post-Samuel Johnson and Winston Churchill, which symbolizes depression as a coal-colored hound.”

What can be done?

This is why Summer has started her “Stop Furism, now” campaign.  We need to remove the stigma, once and for all.  You can help by educating those humans around you.  Summer says “Remember, Einstein once said ‘don’t judge a book by its cover as you might miss out on an amazing story’ and who I am to argue with someone almost as intelligent as a GSD, like myself?”

 

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