Black Dog Bias

    The phenomenon may be due to a fear against certain breed types, also the fact that large, black dogs are often portrayed as aggressive in film and on television. Some people believe that during the pet adoption process some potential owners associate the color black with evil, and this bias transfers over to their choice of dog. Additionally, many shelters feature photo profiles of their dogs on the shelter website. Because black dogs do not photograph well, lighter colored dogs have an advantage with potential adopters looking at the sight. However, a study done by the Los Angeles Animal Services challenged some of these claims, saying that a full 28% of adopted dogs are black. The bias theory simply asserts that predominantly dark animals take longer to be adopted than their lighter animals, and that large dogs take longer to adopt than small ones.