Get Ready for THE BLACKOUT!

The Athens Area Humane Society is hosting THE BLACKOUT at its Adoption Center in the back of Pet Supplies Plus (191 Alps Rd., Ste. 15, Athens, GA 30606) from October 19 through October 31, 2012 to promote its black pets, which tend to be the hardest animals to adopt. To promote adoptions of black animals during THE BLACKOUT, AAHS will reduce the adoption fee for our adult black cats and honorary black cats to just $13, and the reduced fee for black dogs and honorary black dogs will be $33.

This year's theme of THE BLACKOUT is"Superstitions"... Most of know that black cats aren't really bad luck, but it's hard for some to get over their superstitious habits. So we looked for reports of bad luck from some popular superstitions and compared them to the bad luck that black pets have because of their color, and the reality is that the ones who have the bad luck are actually the black animals!

•  Reports of bad luck from spilling salt: 0
•  Reports of bad luck from opening umbrellas inside: 0
• Reports of bad luck from walking under a ladder: 0
• Reports of bad luck from breaking a mirror: 0
•  Reports of broken mother's backs from stepping on cracks: 0
• Number of animals not adopted because they are black: OVER 1 MILLION

Most people know that older, abused and sick/injured pets are usually the last to be adopted. But did you know that BLACK pets are typically the hardest to adopt?

To those not in the animal welfare field, the idea seems crazy--pet discrimination?! But to those like us at the Athens Area Humane Society, we see it all too often. This phenomenon has even earned its own name: "Black Dog/Cat Syndrome." It is mostly an unconscious thing. People, whether they want to admit that they are superstitious or not, know the "risks" of owning a black cat. Black cats got a bad reputation during the Salem Witch Trials that, sadly, still plagues them today.

Black pets also have a disadvantage when it comes to "advertising" them to potential new families. They may not appear as attractive as some of their more colorful competition, and they tend to disappear in their dimly-lit kennels. Shelter staff and volunteers are mostly amateur photographers, and photographing them for our website can be a challenge. And since this is often the first place prospective families go to find their newest family member, a bad photograph can be the difference between life and death. Since they are the hardest to adopt, black cats and dogs tend to stay in shelters the longest, and they're much more likely to be euthanized in shelters across the nation because of this unfortunate truth.

(Note: AAHS is a no-kill shelter.)

This is why we have organized THE BLACKOUT.

The goal of THE BLACKOUT is to raise awareness about the unfortunate fate of many black shelter pets and to find these black pets new, loving homes. The last 13 days of October--and no, we're not superstitious--we will be highlighting our black pets looking for new families, and our Adoption Center will literally have a BLACKOUT. To feed off the excitement fueled by the arrival of Halloween, blacklights will feature our black pets wearing white colors and other festive decor. We'll even have glow necklaces and Halloween candy for kids.

The AAHS Adoption Center, located in the back of Pet Supplies Plus (191 Alps Rd. Suite 15, Athens, GA 30606), is open Monday through Friday from 1:00pm to 7:00pm and Saturday and Sunday from 12:00pm to 6:00pm. Adoption fees for THE BLACKOUT's featured pets are $13 for cats and $33 for dogs from October 19 through October 31, 2012. (Adoption fees for all other adoptable cats and dogs ranges from $45 to $150, and the rabbit adoption fee is $50.)

For more information about THE BLACKOUT, please call 706-705-2247.