Do Dogs Face Colour Discrimination?
According to latest figures from the Dogs’ Home, black or brindle dogs, or those with some black or brindle, spend twice as long in the kennels before being re-homed.
Indeed, while dogs that are mainly white, tan, ginger or grey spend an average of 17 days at the Home before being adopted, brindle dogs spend an average of 30 days in the kennels, and black dogs 34 days. Dogs with a combination of black and white or brindle and white wait 43 days on average.
“These figures show that coat colour appears to be a determining factor regardless of age or breed,” says Lisa Graham, Home Manager.
While staff at the Home are perplexed as to the gap in waiting times on a colour basis, Lisa offers a possible explanation: “It’s a mystery to us but as black-and-tan dogs are adopted sooner than brindle or dark dogs, we’ve wondered whether it’s because lighter and black-and-tan dogs have ‘eyebrows’ that show their facial expressions more. If so this is quite sad, as all dogs have very expressive faces once you get to know them, even if the lighter ones seem friendlier at first glance.”
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
