Tears as Shelter Black Lab Mix Puppy Ignored While Siblings All Find Homes

A video of a 4-month-old puppy pleading for a home after watching his siblings get adopted finally received its happy ending.

The doodle black Labrador mixed puppy, Lightning, first arrived at Mercy Full Project, an animal rescue in Florida, with his two siblings, Sun and Buc. A representative from Mercy Full Project told Newsweek via email that the organization received a plea from another rescue, asking for someone to take in the puppies.

There were six pups in total, but three had already been given away, leaving Lightning, Sun and Buc in the care of Mercy Full Project. The animal rescue held several adoption events for these pups, along with the other pets, but for nearly three weeks, Lightning had no success in finding his forever home.

An August 23 TikTok video posted to the rescue’s account @mercyfullproject showed Lightning looking up at the camera with confusion. Not one person stopped to meet him at the adoption event because “he’s a black dog,” the text on the clip read, a phenomenon known as black dog syndrome.

Black dog syndrome is the notion that black dogs are overlooked at animal shelters more frequently than canines with lighter fur. Recent research, however, debunked black dog syndrome.

A 2023 study published by Cambridge University Press analyzed four years of intake and outcome data from two shelters in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The results found that the average length of availability for adoption of black dogs was not significantly longer than that of dogs with other fur colors. The rate of euthanasia was also not significantly higher.

However, the stigma around black dog syndrome still lingers. People tend to be superstitious about black dogs and cats.

In Lightning’s case, the representative believes his lack of interest was linked to his personality.

“We think he took longer to get adopted than the rest because he was such a spunky puppy and he had more energy than the rest,” the representative said.

Buc was adopted first as he was calmer. Sun followed, as many potential families expressed interest in wanting a female pup. Plus, the representative said Sun “looked more conventionally like a Doodle.”

Lightning waited another week after seeing his siblings get adopted before any interest in adopting him started coming in. Thankfully, Lightning received his happy ending and has been adopted.

Viewer Reactions

The TikTok video reached over 427,400 views, 47,700 likes and nearly 5,000 comments as of Tuesday. Viewers flooded the comment section, gushing over Lightning’s adorable look, fur color and all.

“Black dogs are the best. Hope this baby finds a loving home,” wrote one person.

Another added: “I never understood this, I think black dogs are sooo pretty and shiny…”

A third user said: “Every dog I’ve adopted has been black for this very reason. Not a regret at all, I ended up with the smartest and sweetest dogs you’ll ever meet.”

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