An animal rights organization in Seoul has teamed up with a boy band to increase awareness of prejudice against dark-furred dogs.

Last Wednesday, Stray Kids were named honorary ambassadors for the “Black Dog Campaign” organized by a city-run animal rights nonprofit organization, Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth, also known as CARE.

The campaign kicked off last year to address the tendency to pass over darker-furred dogs in adoption. This phenomenon is known as black dog syndrome, or big black dog syndrome, which refers to the general preference for smaller, lighter-furred dogs over those that are bigger with darker fur.

Black dogs are less favored adoption candidates at shelters for abandoned dogs, according to CARE, and many shelters are forced to euthanize dogs that do not find a new home after a certain period of time.

“We hope to tear down the discriminatory perception of black dogs together with Stray Kids,” said CARE’s representative Park So-yeon.

Stray Kids in turn said they wished “all dogs could find happiness no matter their size or color,” promising to support the cause as newly appointed ambassadors.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)