We went to the ASPCA last week, and my girlfriend almost convinced me to adopt a very sweet black kitten. I resisted because of the cost, but still kind of wanted him, and regret skipping it. Hope he found a good home.
Every shelter employee always dissuades adopters from declawing and making them outdoor cats, the latter too vehemently IMHO. To strengthen that point, one employee added that people may abduct and kill black cats. I held my tongue and resisted yelling “BULLSHIT! CITE?” I have heard that the supposed risk is higher around Halloween. However, it made me wonder whether there is any evidence to the contrary.
Do black cats disappear at increased rates than other colorations? Have stories surfaced that are not mere FOAF anecdotes? Is this the feline equivalent to the eighties “ritualistic satanic sexual abuse”?
Snopes suggests that it’s impossible to tell because of so much conflicting information (some say all cats, some say black cats, some say cats AND dogs, some say only around Halloween etc). I’d have to guess no, my gut feeling is that the people who actively torture cats probably don’t care what color they are.
The biggest issue with black cats/kittens in shelters is that they are typically harder to adopt out, because some people are still bizarrely superstitious about them. In my area some shelters will even give you extra cat-swag like free scratching pads if you adopt black cats/kittens.
I’m more inclined to believe that people eat them than perform satanic rituals. The satanists and wanna-bes I’ve run across tend to get awfully fond of mewing animals, being they get along with them better than people.
Never had a cat abducted, but after my black cat died a … well, to avoid a long story I’ll call them “gullible creepy neighbors”, they wanted to buy my dead cat because, specifically he was a black cat and went on into a discourse about an extra bone and invisibility and spells that left me a little freaked even if I am a Pagan and witch.
No, they did not get my cat, though at the time I couldn’t really afford the fee to have him “disposed of” via the city (and I try not to think about that) but at least I didn’t have to see parts of him in the neighbor’s window (ya, they really did have stuff made from animals in their windows, what they called charms against the evil eye).
For the curious, it basically consists of boiling a black cat until it’s nothing but bones and then tossing them into a stream. The one that floats against the current makes you invisible. There’s more to it, but I forget the details. Check out North Caroina Folklore on Google Books (pp. 155-156) if you’re curious and strong-stomached.
I always figured too that the shelters might also have the same problem with black cats that they do with bunnies: people adopt them for Halloween, then a week or so later, they’re right back at the shelter.
Well, thank you for helping to perpetuate that myth, even if only indirectly. :rolleyes: I’m sure owners of black cats will thank you for that. There was a reason I didn’t repeat it, because I want that crap to die and never be seen again.
Right, because our not educating people about it here will stop the stupid from sharing it with one another… :rolleyes: It’s in print, it’s not going to die.
IME, practitioners of Ifa and Santeria do a lot more animal sacrifice than practicing Satanists. There are many animals that they use, but the most common are doves and chickens, with the occasional (very expensive!) goat. Around here, you purchase them from the Halal meat store, which sell them live. The killing is done as swiftly and painlessly, cutting the carotid artery with a very sharp knife. Afterward, the meat is cooked and eaten (except in removing curses and healing or death rituals.) Since these animals were bred for food anyhow, I can’t get too worked up about it.
Satanists are much more likely to use their own blood or semen in their work.
I have yet to observe or hear a first hand account of a cat sacrifice in my 10 years in the community.
What *may *happen, however, is the ol’ self-fulfilling prophecy. Young people may read the humane society’s charges, and then misguidedly carry them out, in their attempt to rebel and “worship Satan” in the most shocking and socially inappropriate way they can think of. I’d far rather my son join the actual Church of Satan with an older mentor than go around killing cats 'cause he thinks that’s what Satanists do.
And, of course, there are always sick fucks who like to torture and kill animals. And I wouldn’t be entirely shocked if black cats were extra popular among psychopaths of this sort, simply because of the mythos around them.
So…what was the question again? Oh, right. Do Satanists sacrifice black cats? No. Do misguided children and psychopaths kill black cats? Perhaps.
Thanks, WhyNot. The black cat belief is not part of Satanism, it’s a part of traditional witchcraft. NOT Wicca, or Neo-Paganism, or any sort of religion whose practitioners identify as witches: I want to make that crystal clear. I’ve already upset Broomstick, who has probably had to deal with a lot of unfortunate prejudice from people who can’t draw the distinction. Most people who call themselves witches these days are light years away from the beliefs and behaviors in the book I linked to. Still, I don’t think anyone’s interests are served by choosing ignorance, or pretending that traditional magical practices are all sweetness and light.
As far as contemporary Satanism goes, the beliefs about satanists have more to do with traditional witchcraft than with actual Satanism. I’d recommend Jeffrey Victor’s Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend for more information about what basis modern rumor panics have in actual practice. I’m afraid I don’t own the book, and I can’t give more specific evidence from memory.
Isn’t there some website or newspaper column, somewhere, which has a slogan about “fighting ignorance” or something. Can’t remember if they’re pro or con.
I didn’t think there would be a whole lot of evidence. I didn’t ask about satanists at all. I don’t doubt that someone has done it at least once, but I still doubt that it is widespread at all. The only detriment to a black cats health I would think of is that they’re harder for cars to see at night.
Tamerlane, thanks for the pic. Looks like my dearly missed old cat.
The last time I was at the shelter they had at least as many black cats as all the others combined. And some of them were considered “unadoptable” . . . not only black, but getting too old or having been in the shelter too long. I found one that was 7 years old, with the most amazing blue-green eyes.
His name is Paris, seen here, with his sister Vienna.
There’s a difference between saying “yes, that superstition exists” and elaborating in detail and pointing to a printed source so some meathead can nab a black cat and try it for himself. I don’t see where we have to make some things easier.
Animal sacrifice in Santeria, Ife, Voudoun, etc. I can live with because at least there’s some purpose to it, it’s usually regular food animals, and folks usually eat them afterwards (with the noted exceptions). The black cat bone BS seems to live among angsty, gullible teens and young adults who get off on being evil or throwing curses or hexes or whatever. Maybe you don’t see a distinction, but I do. It’s because of superstitions like that, that black cats are adopted out around Halloween, which means a lot of them that might have otherwise gone to homes wind up gassed instead. Hardly harmless folklore.
Though at least no one has thrown out the worst version of that superstition (yet).
Cite that this happens on a regular basis? Snopes seems to point to point to urban legend. (And even then, your shelters seem to take precautions, just in case)
Both my daughter’s cat and my cat gave birth within days of each other, and the only kitten that didn’t find a home was the black one. No one wanted the black cat, even though she was loving and sweet. We ended up keeping her…and now we have a black pug and a black/tan mix. I don’t know about curses, but there’s plenty of cussing when you’re trying to navigate in a dark house and three black pets are winding around your feet.
