“黑狗綜合癥”——因“黑”不受待見

人的長相會影響命運，狗狗也是如此。長久以來，由于人們的偏見，黑狗一直無法擺脫“黑狗綜合癥”，被誤認為是兇惡狂躁的動物，也因此總是遭到忽視，走向安樂死的命運。

Black dog syndrome refers to the tendency for black- or dark-coated dogs to be passed over for adoption in favor of lighter colored dogs in an animal shelter.
“黑狗綜合癥”指人們在動物收容所里領養狗狗時，往往傾向忽略那些擁有黑色或深色皮毛的狗兒，而選擇毛色較淺的汪星人。

Black dogs are often treated differently than other dogs -- and are often overlooked by people who come to shelters with the intention to adopt.
人們對待黑狗和其他的狗兒完全不同，黑狗經常遭到來收容所領養狗狗人們的忽視。

The phenomenon is commonly referred to as "Black Dog Syndrome" or "Black Dog Bias," a stereotype against dark-colored animals possibly ingrained in people through depictions in movies and books, according to experts.
學者表示，這種現象通常被稱為“黑狗綜合癥”或“黑狗偏見”。電影和書籍對于深色皮毛動物的描述根植于人們的心中，行程了他們對這些動物的刻板印象。

"Sometimes black dogs are seen as scarier by people," said an expert. "It's very, very unfair -- you can get a bite from a little yellow Chihuahua faster than one of the bigger black dogs."
一位專家表示，有時候人們會認為黑狗更加可怕。這實在是非常、非常不公平，體型嬌小的黃色吉娃娃會比體態較大的黑狗更快咬到你。

Still, there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence from shelter workers that black dogs are routinely ignored, and, as a result, more of them are euthanized due to a shortage of space at shelters.
就算如此，收容所工作人員提供的大量證據表明，黑狗總是受到忽視，由于收容所空間有限，更多黑狗也因此被實施安樂死。

（中國日報網英語點津 丁一）