“黑狗综合症”——因“黑”不受待见

人的长相会影响命运，狗狗也是如此。长久以来，由于人们的偏见，黑狗一直无法摆脱“黑狗综合症”，被误认为是凶恶狂躁的动物，也因此总是遭到忽视，走向安乐死的命运。

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.
“黑狗综合症”指人们在动物收容所里领养狗狗时，往往倾向忽略那些拥有黑色或深色皮毛的狗儿，而选择毛色较浅的汪星人。

Black dogs are often treated differently than other dogs -- and are often overlooked by people who come to shelters with the intention to adopt.
人们对待黑狗和其他的狗儿完全不同，黑狗经常遭到来收容所领养狗狗人们的忽视。

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.
学者表示，这种现象通常被称为“黑狗综合症”或“黑狗偏见”。电影和书籍对于深色皮毛动物的描述根植于人们的心中，行程了他们对这些动物的刻板印象。

"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."
一位专家表示，有时候人们会认为黑狗更加可怕。这实在是非常、非常不公平，体型娇小的黄色吉娃娃会比体态较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，收容所工作人员提供的大量证据表明，黑狗总是受到忽视，由于收容所空间有限，更多黑狗也因此被实施安乐死。

（中国日报网英语点津 丁一）