Black pets available for half the cost.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Black is beautiful at the Greenhill Humane Society, which is why the shelter is offering a half-price adoption rate through the month of January for black cats and dogs.

For whatever reasons, black pets often are overlooked at the shelter, spokeswoman Kimberly Johnson said. Prospective pet owners may consider pets with black coats to be more common or less colorful, or may even be wary of them for reasons of superstition.

"We don't exactly know why," Johnson said.

But what's certain is that 15 of 38 dogs available for adoption are black, as are at least half of about 50 available cats.

The shelter, at 88530 Green Hill Road west of Eugene, offers half-price bargains on black pets several times a year, as does the Oregon Humane Society in Portland and other shelters, Johnson said.

Standard adoption rates at Greenhill range from $40 to $95 for cats and kittens, and from $55 to $134 for most dogs and puppies.

The rates include an initial veterinarian's exam, spaying or neutering, implantation of an identification microchip, and a collar and ID tag.

The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Tuesday. Call 689-1503 for more information.