Ellington

Mr. Announcement: "On this edition of 'Animals 'n' the 'Hood,' Poochie, the shiny, black, talking and literate dog, addresses a very sobering phenomenon called 'Black Dog Syndrome.'"

Poochie: "Every day inside the dog kennel of this animal shelter, I sit, roll over, bark, lie down, eat my Kibbles 'n Bits, wag my tail and observe humans adopting dogs of every color except black ole me. Many negative thoughts and questions ramble through my doggie mind. Life is 'ruff' for a black dog like me. Can pet lovers become pet haters?

"Most humans boast about their colorblindness toward their own kind. In my humble opinion, most humans need to look at their discriminatory attitude toward color, because color discrimination has revealed itself toward pets.

"I'm too embarrassed to ask, 'Has color discrimination gone to the dogs?' If you want to know the answer, read an article I read about 'Black Dog Syndrome' on msnbc.com titled 'Black Pups Face Doggie Discrimination.' I discovered this article during my time out of the doggie cage. I sniffed around the office area, and then jumped up on an unoccupied chair near a desk with a computer, keyboard and monitor. While sniffing the keyboard, my wet nose accidentally pressed the enter key. BAM! The msnbc.com article appeared on the flat screen monitor.

"I close my commentary with a line from Langston Hughes' poem 'I, Too, Sing America:' Besides, they'll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed—I, too, am America.'

"Yours truly, Poochie."