New York City animal shelters aren’t very likely to adopt out black cats during the month of October — because clueless jerks bring them to Halloween parties as props.
These fools who have such foggy costume ideas will call shelters and say things like, “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,” said Anne-Marie.
Black cats already have a bad reputation in folklore to bring bad luck and evil tidings. Hence nonsense superstitions like “If a black cat crosses your path it means bad luck.”
Violence and prejudice against black cats continues to this day.
In San Antonio in 2009, a series of cat mutilations caused a local shelter called The Animal Defense League to strengthen vetting proceedings following the violent acts against black cats.
At least five cats were found dead and some were even sawed in half. Officials said the cuts were clean, showing the damage was done by humans, not animals, intentionally and with malice.
One of the cats, Moe, was found disemboweled with his organs missing and entrails which were placed around the corpse.
Queens rescue group Bobbi and the Strays doesn’t allow adoption of black cats at all during October and it’s unfortunate more shelters don’t follow suit, at least during the month of October and into November.
“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 folks at The New York 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 and keep ALL cats indoors and that is the unprecedented best plan.
“We want only good things to happen to our animals after adoption,” Giordano said.
It does good to note that after the Halloween parties are over, the cats once used as accessories to costumes are oftentimes simply left behind in parking lots and worse having served their “purpose.”