Animal shelters halt adoption of black cats for Halloween



If you are expecting to see a lot of black cats this Halloween, you may end up disappointed.

Animal shelters across the country are prohibiting the adoption of black cats over the holiday period, fearing the possibility of animal cruelty towards the felines, who usually take centre stage at this time of year.

Black cats are the subject of many superstitions and rituals and rescue organisations usually try to push their adoptions, as they are generally neglected because of the stigma surrounding them.



Superstitious: Black cats are less commonly adopted because of their association with bad luck and witch craft

But many shelters across the U.S. are putting a ban on the adoptions until November 2, when Halloween is safely over.

The Cat's Cradle in Morganton is one such organization holding on to its black cats for the holiday, as executive director Lynda Garibaldi explains.

ASPCA vice president: Gail Buchwald does not agree with the ban

'They do horrible things to cats, especially black cats, this month - I mean ritual torture and killing.'

Some organizations in Maine are also restricting the adoption of black cats this month.



The Animal Orphanage in Old Town recognise that many people use black cats for sacrificial purposes at this time of year.

Waterville Humane Society has a similar set of restrictions in place and does not allow the adoption of black cats until the day after Halloween.

However not everyone thinks this is such good practice.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Bangor Humane Society disagrees.



Public relations manager Stacey Coventry said there is no additional danger associated with allowing the adoption of black cats during October.



She said the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has done extensive research on the topic and found no correlation between Halloween and the sacrificing of black cats.



She told the paper: 'We use our common sense and always screen all our adopters.



Ban: Some shelters prohibit the adoption of black cats around Halloween in case they are used for torture or satanic rituals

'We ask a lot of questions, and if someone comes in speaking, acting, or dressed in a way that would cause us to believe that the animal would not be safe, then we do not allow for adoption.'



Gail Buchwald, vice president of the ASPCA shelter in New York City, said: 'Why penalize them any more by limiting the times when they can be adopted?'

'Behaviourally, there’s no difference from the colour of the cat. It’s tied into this whole mythology about the animal — don’t let it cross your path or some foreboding or foreshadowing of evil — and that’s an outdated superstition.'



It’s not clear how many shelters still seasonally ban black cat adoptions, said Kim Intino, director of animal sheltering issues for the Humane Society of the United States, but the trend seems to be fading — along with the once-common bans on bunny adoptions around Easter or puppy adoptions as Christmas gifts.

