Black dogs need homes

Ken Land says there's no difference in the love offered by his miniature longhair dachshunds Ellie Mae, who is black, and Daisy Mae, who multicolored. Photo by Ken Land

It’s sad but true — black dogs are the least likely to be adopted from animal shelters.

“[It’s] a phenomenon known as ‘black dog syndrome,’ ” said Jeannine Cloyd, with the local Humane Educational Society. “Black dogs often stay at shelters longer than lighter colored dogs. People may consider them too plain, think they are menacing, or simply don’t notice them because their dark color makes them disappear in their kennels.”

Chattanoogans Ken and Charlsie Land think just the opposite. They love their black dog.

“Our black dog doesn’t qualify as big, except personality wise, but who couldn’t love that face,” Mrs. Land said. “We have never thought that black dogs have less charisma, but apparently a lot of people do.”

Ken Land, owner of Armando’s at 4767 Highway 58, is sponsoring a week-long event that he hopes will encourage people to adopt black dogs. The event will be held today through May 14.

“We’re calling it ‘Hot Dogs for Black Dogs,’ ” he said. “We’ll donate $1 for every hot dog sold that week with the money going to help pay the fees for the adoption of black dogs.”

The Humane Educational Society will reduce the adoption fee on black dogs by 50 percent to anyone with a receipt from Land’s Highway 58 Armando’s during the month of May.

Land said he was shocked to learn that black dogs had a bad reputation. Land said he visited shelters to see if black dogs did, in fact, outnumber other canines in shelters. And they did, he said.

“When we heard about black dog syndrome, we wanted to do something to help,” he said. “These dogs are not any different from other dogs. If you look in their eyes, you can tell they want to be loved, too.”