Black Cats and Halloween: The Clear and Present Danger

Halloween is a lot of fun for people of all ages. For children, it means dressing up as ghosts, goblins, witches, and skeletons, enthusiastic trick-or-treating, scary stories and old-fashioned but perennially popular games like bobbing for apples. For grown-ups as well as kids, it can mean enjoying mock haunted houses and decorating yards and homes with jack-o’-lanterns and images of bats and black cats. This holiday is cherished for much the same reasons horror movies are so thrilling: the danger is pretend.

Unfortunately, for some of the small, furry, four-footed creatures that share our world, this season is one that threatens in a way that is all-too-real. The long association of witches and the occult with black cats means that not only are their paper likenesses harmlessly hung on walls but that some emotionally disturbed people “sacrifice” them around this time. David DeWitt, Public Relations Director for Fulton County Animal Services in Georgia, explains, “I know that around the country, there are more cases of animal abuse involving black cats around Halloween.”

Another problem for black cats around Halloween is the tendency of people to think of them as gifts appropriate to the holiday. “A lot of shelters around the country will not adopt out black cats around the time leading up to Halloween,” DeWitt elaborates, “just like many shelters won’t adopt out rabbits in the time leading up to Easter because people give them out as a party favor and the animal is either neglected, abused or returned.” Fulton County Animal Services attempts to minimize the chances of that happening to its felines. “Like most shelters around the country we carefully screen potential adopters,” DeWitt says. “We want people to adopt them who have the resources and the motivation to give animals food and love and veterinary care.” No system is foolproof, however, since “obviously people [applying to adopt an animal] aren’t going to say they’re planning to sacrifice it at Halloween.” People with at-risk felines in their households should be properly protective of them. “We would encourage people to keep black cats indoors and be extra responsible for them,” DeWitt says, “because there is more danger to them at this time of the year. There are some wackos out there so it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Those with canine companions should also be on the alert. “People who want to sacrifice or torture animals will do dogs as well as cats,” DeWitt comments. “You might hear more about cats because people let them roam.”

Kerry Moyers-Horton is project manager for No More Homeless Pets Atlanta. Her group does not have a policy specifically forbidding the adopting out of black cats in October. “We don’t usually adopt out animals for third party adoptions because a lot of people don’t want an animal,” she says, “although we may in some cases depending on the situation.” The possibility of any kind of animal mistreatment “is always a concern so we never adopt out an animal without doing a home visit first. We inspect the premises and talk to the people and have an extensive application for them to fill out. W never jump into anything without knowing who the person is and what his or her situation is.”

The creative and high-spirited festivity that makes up Halloween is a true delight. However, the sometimes sad realities of the human condition are such that we also need to be aware of its genuine hazards. The domesticated animals that share our world depend on those of us humans who possess good will and common sense. Let’s not let them down!