Olympic canoeist Jess Fox vows to beat dog stigmas ahead of National Black Dog Day

One of Australia’s most decorated Olympic athletes is pushing to defeat stigmas against dark-coloured dogs, sharing personal details into her own pet parenting journey.

Decorated Australian canoeist champion Jess Fox vowed to break a forlorn stigma surrounding black dogs ahead of National Black Dog Day this Saturday.

An alarming statistic revealed too many adorable dark-coated pups are being left in the kennel due to their association with bad omens, aggressive behaviour and the nature of their facial features being difficult to distinguish.

Fox, who is an eight-time World Champion and Olympic Gold Medallist, is pushing against these negative labels using her own success story of fostering a greyhound from Greyhound As Pets (GAP).

“I’m a proud foster mum to this loveable retired racing greyhound Miss Pink, who ironically is actually black in colour,” she said.

“I was so surprised to learn that black dogs can be harder to rehome as I find Miss Pink just as beautiful and loveable as the others.

Jess Fox with her greyhound, Miss Pink. Picture: Chris Pavlich Photography

“From experience I can tell you that colour makes no difference to these pups’ temperament and the way that they flourish in your home.”

Greyhound As Pets has teamed up with National Black Dog Day to highlight the issue of black dogs being overlooked when people adopt.

Fox said dogs with dark coats deserve a home just as much as their lighter-coloured, fawny, or spotted mates. Picture: Chris Pavlich Photography

As the most common coloured greyhound is black, GAP is working tirelessly to get these neglected pups into a loving home after their racing career.

“Our GAP team love to spend time getting to know the greyhounds and then match them to people looking to adopt to find their forever home,” GAP General Manager Dr Alicia Fuller said.

“We have two GAP adoption centres, at Richmond and Wyee, where you can meet our wonderful greyhounds in person and a Regional GAP program that covers all of rural NSW.”

It comes amid a fresh campaign to see thousands of surrendered pets rehomed as animal shelters are experiencing an 100 per cent increase in the number of dogs compared to last year.

Miss Pink the greyhound is loving retirement after her career racing. Picture: Chris Pavlich Photography

Of the pets that have landed in care, 86 per cent of them are fit and healthy with no behavioural issues or trauma, while adoption rates have suffered a 22 per cent decline.

Petbarn Foundation is urging prospective pet parents to ‘rethink rescues’ and adopt through SavourLife’s Adopt-A-Dog program to give a second chance to one of the 1700 canines waiting for a home.

“Through the pandemic we saw a dramatic increase in pet ownership and sadly as Covid restrictions have eased we are seeing a subsequent increase in surrenders and therefore animals available for adoption,” Janelle Bloxsom, Manager at Petbarn Foundation, said.

“There are hundreds of puppies, popular purebreds and family friend dogs that are health and temperament tested that are ready.”