New York City animal shelters are on high alert for anyone itching to adopt a black cat this month — because clueless dopes bring them to Halloween parties as props.

“If someone calls on Oct. 30 and says they need a black cat by 3 o’clock, that’s worrisome,” Anne-Marie Karash, associate director of the Humane Society of New York, told The Post.

Revelers will call up and say, “Oh, we’re going to a Halloween party and we need a black cat,” she said.

“But this is a cat — you can’t pick it up and carry it around like it’s a cocktail,” she added.

Dark-haired felines have a troubled history, with rumors of their connection to the occult and witchcraft dating back to the Middle Ages.

Hating on black cats continues to this day across the country.

A rash of cat mutilations in San Antonio in 2009 caused local shelter The Animal Defense League to strengthen vetting proceedings following the cat-based violence.

At least five cats were found dead and missing limbs, or sawed in half. Officials said the cuts were clean, showing the damage was done by humans, not animals.

One of the cats, Moe, was found disemboweled with his organs missing and entrails placed neatly around the corpse.

Queens rescue group Bobbi and the Strays doesn’t allow adoption of black cats at all during October.

“Halloween and black cats … it’s just not a good thing. You hear a lot of stories, and I don’t want any of them to come back at me,” Bobbi Giordano, owner of the Queens-based shelter, told The Post.

While there is no evidence to suggest a direct connection between black cat cruelty and All Hallows’ Eve, many animal lovers would rather play it safe than sorry.

“We want only good things to happen to our animals after adoption,” Giordano said.