In the fall season, Halloween is a holiday that young and old alike are excited to celebrate. Whether you’re picking out a costume, carving a pumpkin, stocking up on candy to hand out on your doorstep, or decorating your lawn with skeletons, we have traditions to commemorate the spooky season. An animal we closely associate with this holiday is the black cat. Shrouded in mystery, these animals are now thought to be “creepy” and an omen of bad luck…but why? The truth is that black cats are just like any other cat. I actually own one myself (she’s the cat in the cover image, she’s so beautiful). However, since black cats are poorly portrayed throughout superstition and the media, they are at a disadvantage when it comes to adoption.
At public animal shelters, a large majority of the cats looking for homes have dark-colored fur. However, dark-colored cats, specifically black cats, have lower adoption rates and are more likely to be put down.
The National Library of Medicine conducted a study at a Kentucky animal shelter and found that “black cats had the highest rate of euthanasia (74.6%) and the lowest rate of adoption (10.0%) of any color”. Black cats at shelters get adopted the least, and are euthanized at disproportionate rates compared to cats with lighter fur.
Why do Black Cats have so much negative stigma surrounding them?
The negative reputation of these cats is a result of historical superstition, bad publicity, and misinformation. In this article, I will be discussing why black cats are perceived negatively in our society and why their bad reputations don’t define them as pets.
attitudes towards black cats
1. Historic Superstition
Black cats: pre-middle ages
In the present day, black cats are seen as a token of “bad luck”, but they were actually praised in many early civilizations. For example, in ancient Egypt, domestic cats were treated as royalty. Felines kept houses free of rats, protected crops from pests and kept their owners company whilst requiring very little maintenance. Even the act of accidentally killing a cat was punishable by death!
The ancient Egyptians worshipped a black-coated feline deity named Bastet, the goddess of the home, domesticity, women’s secrets, cats, fertility, and childbirth. Every year, the Egyptians worshipped her with a celebration: “One of the most important aspects of Bastet’s festival was the delivery of mummified cats to her temple. When the temple was excavated in 1887 and 1889 C.E., over 300,000 mummified cats were found” (World History).
Similarly, black cats were praised in early Britain and Ireland. Sailors and fishermen often brought cats on their voyages, as they helped eliminate pests. They believed black cats, in particular, were a good omen and brought luck to the vessel. However, by the Middle Ages, these attitudes took a turn for the worse with the spread of religious hysteria across Europe.
“A black cat, I’ve heard it said,
–Welsh Folk-Lore: A Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales, 1896
Can also charm,
And keep the family where it lives
From the grip of every kind of sickness”.
The downfall of the black cat: Vox in Rama (1233)
In 1233, Pope Gregory IX issued a bull, a papal document, called the Vox in Rama. Concerned about the growing rise of Paganism, the Catholic Church needed to find a way to demonize its traditions. According to History Collection, “The Vox described the depraved rituals of the cult in detail, portraying the devil worshipped by the witches as a shadowy half-cat and half-man figure. Its long-term effect, however, was to reshape the view of the cat in European society in general, morphing it from a pagan sacred animal into an agent of hell”. By vilifying black cats, the Catholic Church was able to undermine pre-existing religions that worshipped the animal and exert religious dominance over other faiths.
This satanic propaganda led to the widespread, violent killing of black cats. The massacre was so violent that many researchers hypothesize that by the 1300s, Europe’s cat population had been severely depleted. As a result, cats weren’t hunting enough mice, most likely leading to the spread of the bubonic plague. Yikes!
media portrayals
Very few believe black cats are satanic creatures anymore, but even centuries later, they still haven’t managed to escape their bad reputation. With the development of film, black cats continued to be associated with superstition. For example, Universal Pictures produced the movie The Black Cat in 1934, a horror classic starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi. In the film, a black cat serves as a sinister presence throughout the story, acting as a harbinger of poor fortune and death. Another film with the same title aired in 1941, incorporating much more graphic violence and terror, further solidifying the black cat’s murderous image in popular culture. Throughout the years, the animal has been depicted in hundreds of cartoons, films, and TV shows, generally as a token of death or bad luck.
Even in our modern day, black cats are still considered sinister creatures. A study by Evoluted analyzed 50 popular movies with cats. The research found that 44% of the ‘villainous’ cats had dark-colored fur: nearly a third of them were black cats.
“Black cats, in particular, have long been linked with superstitions and folklore, often cast as omens of bad luck or witches’ familiars. This association has persisted through the ages and is mirrored in their frequent portrayal as antagonists on TV and film” (Evoluted). The negative portrayal of black cats in pop media makes it harder for them to get adopted, as the public is led to believe these cats are sinister and untrustworthy.
2. “Black cat bias”
Many shelters have noticed black cats are adopted disproportionately less than lighter-colored ones; hence, the term Black Cat Bias (BCB) was introduced. Other researchers widened the term to Dark Cat Syndrome (DCS) to expand the concept to include coat shades.
“DCS involves cultural and visual preferences favoring cats of lighter coat shades over darker ones, resulting in the disproportionate adoption of lighter-coated cats and euthanization of darker-coated counterparts in shelters” (National Library of Medicine).
Researchers at Psychology Today experimented to determine why people have a bias towards black cats. The study showed participants more than 100 pictures of black and non-black cats. After viewing the pictures, participants rated how friendly, aggressive, and adoptable each of the cats seemed. The researchers also measured the participants’ religiosity, racial bias, and levels of superstition.
“First, we found that people viewed black cats as significantly less friendly and more aggressive than cats of other colors…The more superstitious people were, the more they found the black cats to be aggressive, unfriendly, and unadoptable.”
Why you should adopt a black cat
1. Black Cats Aren’t Bad Luck
The superstition surrounding black cats is rooted in myth and doesn’t reflect the true nature of these animals at all. Throughout history, black cats have been associated with various negative superstitions, but there is no scientific evidence to support these claims. A cat’s character, personality, and amount of love it can bring to the home have nothing to do with their fur color.
2. They are loving companions
Black cats possess the same capacity for loyalty, affection, playfulness, and friendliness as any other cat. Many black cat owners (like me) love their feline companions to pieces. My black cat, Abby, is incredibly social, affectionate, and cuddly, and I consider myself lucky to be her owner. With proper care and attention, a black cat can thrive in any household, providing comfort, affection, and happy memories.
3. Combatting stigma
By adopting a black cat, you are challenging the outdated belief that black cats are sinister or bad luck. By choosing to bring a black cat home, you help erase these negative stereotypes and show that cats of any color deserve love and compassion. Adopting a black cat is essential in combating the stigma that prevents these animals from finding forever homes.
4. You Could Save A Life
Black cats are just as deserving of a home as any other cat. In shelters, they face very low adoption rates. Black cats without a home stay at the shelter for much longer than other cats and are at a high risk of euthanasia. Taking one of these cats home could save their life!
Black cats have struggled to overcome an undeserved reputation. Due to centuries of superstition, poor media portrayals, and misinformation, they face disproportionately low adoption rates and are often overlooked by potential owners. I hope that after reading this article, you’ll understand how these negative attitudes toward black cats came about, why these rumors aren’t true, and consider welcoming a black furry friend into your home.