Rescue Shelters, Puppies, and Racism?
A few months ago, I remembered that Ms. B said something in class about how more black dogs are put down at rescue shelters a year than white dogs. I intrigued by this comment, and thought it would be good content for a black post. But, when I Googled "dog shelter racism," I was flooded by a heap articles talking about a whole different type of racism on the doggy adoption front - and it's towards humans.
Apparently, and I'm sad to say I'm not surprised by this, people who foster dogs and shelter dogs are more keen to give their dogs away to Caucasian individuals. Excuses like, "Chinese people will eat the dog" and "Immigrant families can't be trusted with a dog" showed up in articles.
There was also talk of what some shelter mommas (because they are mostly female) call the "savior complex." Most dogs are saves from poorer areas, areas were most people are minorities. So, when someone wants to adopt a dog from the same area that it was saved, shelters are most hesitant to hand over a gorgeous little puppy.
So, how to we keep approximately 1.5 million shelter animals from being put down every year - we stop being racist and give the nice family a darn dog. If anyone from this class is looking to volunteer at a dog shelter in their free time, keep racism in mind.
Also, convince a family to get a black dog - Ms. B says they get put down more often.
Apparently, and I'm sad to say I'm not surprised by this, people who foster dogs and shelter dogs are more keen to give their dogs away to Caucasian individuals. Excuses like, "Chinese people will eat the dog" and "Immigrant families can't be trusted with a dog" showed up in articles.
There was also talk of what some shelter mommas (because they are mostly female) call the "savior complex." Most dogs are saves from poorer areas, areas were most people are minorities. So, when someone wants to adopt a dog from the same area that it was saved, shelters are most hesitant to hand over a gorgeous little puppy.
So, how to we keep approximately 1.5 million shelter animals from being put down every year - we stop being racist and give the nice family a darn dog. If anyone from this class is looking to volunteer at a dog shelter in their free time, keep racism in mind.
Also, convince a family to get a black dog - Ms. B says they get put down more often.
Interesting post! I had no idea that people were racist against dogs? Is there any statistics that show how big of an issue this is? I feel like there is probably other explanations for why they are adopted, such as their aggressiveness, breed, or if they are trained. I researched this question, as I have a puppy at home and would hate to think that discrimination exists in the dog world! And I what I found was that black dogs are actually 32% of the adoptions from the ASPCA, which is the number one color of dogs adopted. However, 19% of animal euthanasia is black dogs (but that is tied with white dogs also euthanized at 19%). However, there are more black dogs and cats in shelters than any color, most likely because black is a very common color, and hopefully not due to racism.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/is-it-a-myth-that-black-shelter-pets-are-less-likely-to-be-adopted
Never knew that dogs are racially treated just like humans. Has there many news outlets that has brought this issue up? This is personally the first time that I am reading something like this. I don't understand it either, dogs are very different from humans and you can connect them with other pets. I do not really see more white dogs than darker colored ones but now when I do it will keep me thinking about it
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