By Maria Consbruck, Reporter
Omaha, Neb. – With Halloween just around the corner, pumpkins, ghosts, skeletons and black cats can be seen all around, encapsulating the image of this very holiday.
This time of year casts a special spotlight on particular furry felines: black cats.
Black cats are often associated with Halloween and witchcraft and have many different superstitions – good and bad.
Black cat mythology differs throughout different cultures.
In the United Kingdom and Japan, black cats crossing your path meant that good luck was on the way. In China, the older a black cat was, the luckier it was for people who owned it. In Scotland, if a black cat showed up at their door, it was a sign of wealth and prosperity. And in Latvia, if farmers found black kittens near their grain bins, it was a sign of an abundant harvest.
In medieval Europe, black cats were associated with witches and were sometimes believed to be shape-shifting witches. In 16th-century Italy, if a black cat laid on someone’s sickbed, death was forthcoming. In Germany, if a black cat crossed your path from right to left, it was considered bad luck. In a majority of Western cultures, black cats are seen as a symbol of evil omens.
Dr. James A. Wilson, professor of biology at the University of Nebraska Omaha, explained why humans believe in these particular superstitions.
“It comes down to human belief,” Wilson said. “And so there seems to be a range of how brains are built in humans and some brains are built to believe more readily than other brains.”
With superstitions surrounding these particular feline friends, it makes it more difficult for them to get adopted.
Wilson said depending on what people believe, black cats can have a hard time getting adopted.
“It just depends on which culture you’re in and which group of people have their belief, but in general, if a black cat is around it’s supposed to be bad luck for you, and of course that transitions into adoptability, is what they say about the cats, in shelters,” Wilson said.
Black cats take the longest time to get adopted in shelters because of the fear surrounding them and the fact that their coat color is black. Black cats take at least two to six days longer to adopt than cats with other coat colors
Research shows that black cats are two-thirds less likely to get adopted than white cats and half as likely to be adopted as tabby cats.
Steven Elonich, digital marketing manager at the Nebraska Humane Society, said there isn’t much of a difference when it comes to adopting out black cats at the Nebraska Humane Society.
“We don’t see a huge difference in adoption rates in black cats during those times of the year – October and Friday the 13th occasionally – we do sometimes promote them and market them out there to dispel some of those myths so people will be more encouraged to adopt those cats,” Elonich said.
With the existing prejudice against black cats, they can have a harder time finding their forever home.
To increase black cat adoptions, Elonich said they will showcase these cats on social media to dispel some of these myths and superstitions and show that black cats are like any other cats.
In light of this, consider adopting a black cat, especially as it is already hard for them to find a home because of the superstitions surrounding them.
