Since we first learned about this idea two years ago, a really great Black Friday promotion has become even more popular nationwide. It’s a doorbuster that aims to bust thousands of doors: the doors of cages and kennels at animal shelters, that is. Shelters and rescue groups have pounced on the idea of the holiday, and offer discounts or free adoptions of animals with black fur, and often animals of other colors as well.

It’s common knowledge that black pets take longer to find families or are killed because of superstitions surrounding black cats, black dogs showing gray fur earlier, and all species of black-furred critters being difficult to photograph. What “everyone” seems to know may not be true, though: there’s some debate about whether having black fur actually makes a pet less adoptable. It could be because black fur is a dominant gene, resulting in a lot of domestic animals with black fur in the world. Then they end up in shelters in proportion to the number of black cats or dogs in the population.

100% of Consumerist staff dogs and 20% of Consumerist staff cats have black fur, so we are a little bit biased.

The important thing, though, is that a shelter or rescue near you might be having a Black Friday promotion, and if you’re ready to welcome a fuzzy pet into your life instead of a stack of fuzzy sweaters, you could take advantage of it to acquire a new friend.

The Black (Pet) Friday promotion idea is growing. This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, but we found them in:

• Toronto, Canada – Adoption fees waived, but this event happened last week because Canadian Thanksgiving is in October
• Broward County, Florida – shelters open an hour earlier than usual, no adoption fees on some pets, adopters can set their own fee on others
• Placer (California) SPCA – They opened at 4 A.M. on Friday, a respectable early Black Friday hour. The first ten adoptions in the morning were free, and fees will be discounted but gradually rise as the day goes on.
• Kent Animal Shelter, Long Island, NY – Discounted adoptions and free immunizations for the first year after adoption. on all black cats and dogs.
• Humane Society of Tampa Bay – 75% off all adoption fees.
• Young Williams Animal Center (Knoxville, Tennessee) – $10 adoption fees on adult dogs and cats of all colors.
• Ventura County (California) Animal Services – $20 adoption fees on all dogs and cats.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.