Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T04:31:53.381Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Investigating the role of coat colour, age, sex, and breed on outcomes for dogs at two animal shelters in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

HJ Svoboda  and
CL Hoffman
HJ Svoboda
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, Canisius College, 2001 Main St, Buffalo, NY 14208, USA
CL Hoffman*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, Canisius College, 2001 Main St, Buffalo, NY 14208, USA
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The popular press frequently reports that coat colour bias negatively impacts shelter adoption rates for black domestic dogs. This phenomenon, commonly called ‘black dog syndrome’ (BDS), reportedly increases the likelihood of euthanasia for black dogs and negatively affects the length of black dogs’ time to adoption. While organisations may focus on BDS and ways to promote black dogs, it is possible that the influences of other important factors, such as sex, age and breed, may be overlooked. To evaluate the veracity of BDS and examine the impact of various phenotypic traits on shelter outcomes, we analysed four years of intake and outcome data from two animal shelters in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Results indicated that the average length of availability for adoption (LOA) for black dogs was not significantly longer than that for other coloured dogs, nor was the rate of euthanasia of black dogs significantly higher than average. On the other hand, age and breed group were consistent predictors of shelter outcomes across the two shelters. Older dogs tended to have longer LOA and to be euthanised at rates higher than expected. Bully breeds had significantly longer LOA in both shelters and, compared to other breeds, were euthanised at higher than expected rates. The methods implemented in this study could be utilised by other shelters to inform intake and marketing strategies.

Keywords

animal shelteranimal welfareblack dog syndromedomestic dogeuthanasialength of availability
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , November 2015 , pp. 497 - 506
Copyright
© 2015 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Allman, K 2012 “Black Dog Syndrome” and “Black Cat Syndrome.” BestofNewOrleans.com: New Orleans, LA, USA. http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/black-dog-syndrome-and-black-cat-syndrome/Content?oid=1975991Google Scholar
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 2014 Pet statistics. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: New York, NY, USA. http://www.aspca.org/about-us/faq/pet-statisticsGoogle Scholar
Armstrong, M, Avanzino, R, Burns, P, Fina, P, Goldstein, M, Lewis, B, Loftus, D, McCall, J, McHugh-Smith, J, McHugh, S, McKenney, N, Morrison, D, Nagy, J, Naumann, C, Rohde, R, Sayres, E, Snyder, J, Terpstra, K, Tiscornia, G and Belew Wheatley, M 2004 The Asilomar Accords. http://www.asilomarac-cords.org/2004-accords5.pdfGoogle Scholar
Blecker, D, Hiebert, N and Kuhne, F 2013 Preliminary study of the impact of different dog features on humans in public. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research 83: 170–174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2012.06.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bollen, K and Horowitz, J 2008 Behavioral evaluation and demographic information in the assessment of aggressiveness in shelter dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 112: 120–135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.07.007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, WP, Davidson, JP and Zuefle, ME 2013 Effects of phe-notypic characteristics on the length of stay of dogs at two no kill animal shelters. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 16: 2–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2013.740967CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeLeeuw, JL 2010 Animal shelter dogs: factors predicting adoption versus euthanasia. Wichita State University: Wichita, KS, USA. http://hdl.handle.net/10057/3647Google Scholar
Diesel, G, Smith, H and Pfeiffer, DU 2007 Factors affecting time to adoption of dogs re-homed by a charity in the UK. Animal Welfare 16: 353–360Google Scholar
Duffy, D, Hsu, Y and Serpell, J 2008 Breed differences in canine aggression. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 114: 441–460. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2008.04.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, D 2013 Superstitions about black animals can be deadly. San Francisco Chronicle: San Fransisco, CA, USA. http://www.sfgate.com/pets/article/Superstitions-about-black-animals-can-be-deadly-4720891.phpGoogle Scholar
Fratkin, JL and Baker, SC 2013 The role of coat color and ear shape on the perception of personality in dogs. Anthrozoös 26:125–133. http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/175303713X13534238631632CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, E 2009 Pet owners overlook black dogs and cats in animal shel-ters. ABC News: New York, NY, USA. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AmazingAnimals/pet-owners-overlook-black-dogs-cats-ani-mal-shelters/story?id=8785177#.UJwukIVxil0Google Scholar
Goleman, M, Drozd, L, Karpiński, M and Czyżowski, P 2014 Black dog syndrome in animal shelters. Medycyna Weterynaryjna 70: 122–127Google Scholar
Grossman, RP and Wisenblit, JZ 1999 What we know about consumers’ color choices. Journal of Marketing Practice 5: 78–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000004565CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, L 1995 Dogs as human companions: A review of the relationship. In: Serpell, J (ed) The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behaviour and Interactions with People pp 161–178. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, L, Keown, C, Worthley, R and Ghymn, K 1991 Cross-cultural colour comparisons: Global marketers beware! International Marketing Review 8: 21–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02651339110137279CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keith, C 2009 Can black dogs break the color barrier? San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco, CA, USA. http://www.sfgate.com/pets/yourwholepet/article/Can-black-dogs-break-the-color-barrier-2479235.phpGoogle Scholar
LaRue, L 2014 Tacoma-area animal rescuers try to outwit Black Dog Syndrome. The News Tribune: Tacoma, WA, USA. http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/07/05/3275562/tacoma-area-animal-rescuers-try.htmlGoogle Scholar
Leonard, A 2011 The plight of “big black dogs” in American ani-mal shelters: Color-based canine discrimination. The Kroeber Anthropological Society Papers 99: 168–183Google Scholar
Lepper, M, Kass, PH and Hart, LA 2002 Prediction of adoption versus euthanasia among dogs and cats in a California animal shel-ter. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 5: 29–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327604JAWS0501_3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madden, TJ, Hewett, K and Roth, MS 2000 Managing images in different cultures: a cross-national study of color meanings and preferences. Journal of International Marketing 8: 90–107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jimk.8.4.90.19795CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehrkam, LR and Wynne, CDL 2014 Behavioral differences among breeds of domestic dogs (Canislupus familiaris): Current status of the science. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 155: 12–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2014.03.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Protopopova, A, Gilmour, AJ, Weiss, RH, Shen, JY and Wynne, CDL 2012 The effects of social training and other fac-tors on adoption success of shelter dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 142: 61–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applan-im.2012.09.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sørensen, K 2012 “Black Dog Syndrome” affecting adoption rates at shelters. CBS Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh, PA, USA. http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/08/15/black-dog-syndrome-affecting-adoption-rates-at-shelters/Google Scholar
Vás, J, Topál, J, Gácsi, M, Miklósi, Á and Csányi, V 2005 A friend or an enemy? Dogs’ reaction to an unfamiliar person showing behavioural cues of threat and friendliness at different times. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 94: 99–115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2005.02.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldman, K 2014 Black Dog Syndrome: Why do people discrimi-nate against dark pets? Slate Magazine: New York, NY, USA. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/sci-ence/2014/06/black_dog_syndrome_are_people_racist_against_bl ack_pets.htmlGoogle Scholar
Weiss, E, Slater, M, Garrison, L, Drain, N, Dolan, E, Scarlett, JM and Zawistowski, SL 2014 Large Dog relinquishment to two municipal facilities in New York City and Washington, DC: Identifying targets for intervention. Animals 4: 409–433. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani4030409CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Woodward, L, Milliken, J and Humy, S 2012 Give a dog a bad name and hang him: Evaluating big, Black Dog Syndrome. Society and Animals 20: 236–253. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685306-12341236CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Svoboda et al. supplementary material
Download undefined(File)
File 125.1 KB