The suggestions that black dogs are frequently overlooked for adoption, or that animals given as gifts are more likely to be given up, are just a couple of many theories becoming increasingly entrenched in our language, and these are having a serious effect on the operation of many animal shelters. This article from the Journal for the American Veterinary Medical Association, notes that scientists are working hard to verify whether these ideas have any substance in fact or if they are simply myths. The central theme of the piece is that there are no "shelter dogs" or "shelter cats," but instead each animal in a shelter is an individual being that needs to be considered as a separate case.