Audio By Carbonatix
With Halloween fast approaching, the plight of black cats is pretty grim. Several Palm Beach shelters are putting the temporary kibosh on black-cat adoptions out of fear that the animals will be ritualistically tortured or used at a party like a rented monkey. New Times caught up with representatives from a few shelters to learn more about orphan black cats’ Halloween outlook.
“The animals can be adopted, but we don’t release them [until after Halloween],” says Karen
Buchan, who has been community project manager at PBC Animal Care
and Control for almost 30 years. Halting releases around Halloween has
been the shelter’s policy for as long as Buchan can remember.
The real kicker is that although this time of year is especially bad for
black cats, the dark-furred felines have a pretty terrible adoption rate year-round
compared to others decorated with stripes, markings, and charming
little fur mittens, according to Buchan. Apparently, there aren’t many
minimalist cat adopters out there.
What’s equally saddening is that “it’s not just black cats; it’s black
dogs,” Buchan says. “People are superstitious too that black dogs are
representative of evil.”
Superstition withstanding, two shelters we spoke with in
Broward County are opting to operate business as usual this Halloween season but with a careful eye
for anything suspicious.
“We used to [halt black cat adoption], and we
kind of stopped right now because there’s such a need to get these cats a
home. What we do now is take it case by case… If there is some reason
to be concerned, we’ll deny the adoption,” says Lisa Mendheim, public education coordinator at Broward County Animal Care and Adoption.
The Humane Society of Broward County has a similar policy.
Representatives from three shelters say that they do not
typically see a spike in the demand for black cats around Halloween. The
extra adoption protection is precautionary, according to Buchan.
Halloween or
not, isn’t it time South Florida (and America) overcomes its
longstanding cat bigotry? Setting the record straight, Buchan, who has owned many cats, including
black ones, says, “Are black cats bad luck? No, they’re not.” There you have
it.
