Selfies with Black Pets?

One of the side effects of the rise of social media is that shelters are finding it harder to get cats and dogs that are primarily black adopted. It appears that the sharing of photos and the difficulties of photographing black animals have combined in an unseemly manner.

Pretty sad, when you get down to it.

I know very well the problems of photographing a primarily black animal, having been the papa of Tuxedo going on twelve years now, and having taken literally thousands of pictures of him.

Some turn out great, but many wash his beautiful features out. Tux is one of the most gorgeous cats I've had the pleasure of knowing, and even the great pictures never really capture his classic Greek Platonic Cat-form statuesque look.

Is it a shame or a sign of the times that a decision on whom to rescue may be heavily influenced by the quality of selfies?

I would never want to change anything about cohabiting with Tuxedo for these dozen years---from saving the charismatic kitten with the white goatee, to shaking our heads as we find him passed out covered in crumbs with the remnants of half a loaf of bread at his feet, to watching him defend his patch of territory in Brooklyn, to napping with me in between gigs in Austin, to his recent health issues out here in Long Beach.

Also, one of the great animated films waiting to happen: Tuxedo, Bullet, and Cous-cous...

Anyway, does it make me a cranky old man that I think it's both a shame and a sign of the times? Is that precisely what defines a "cranky old man"---thinking that signs of the times are a shame?

Anyway, here's a blast from the past, a picture from Post 50, from the sultry Brooklyn summer of 2009 (and a pretty good pic to boot):