# What Exactly Happens To Black Cats On Halloween? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 30, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360 "2012-10-30T20:57:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darwinian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Darwinian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwinian)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/21 "2012-10-31T04:46:01Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I saw a cat today that wasn’t black, but had bright orange eyes. And s/he was in the shadows, and moving around, and the eyes were orange no matter how the head turned or what it looked at. Orange. ORANGE. > > Tell me I was seeing things? that would probably be a British shorthair, the blue ones in particular have orange eyes, quite an unusual and extremely gorgeous colour combination ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/22 "2012-10-31T04:57:16Z")
As usual, I’m keeping mine inside. My shelter is one that won’t adopt them out around now. Too many crazy kids. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/23 "2012-10-31T06:48:57Z")
I’ve owned two black cats in my life. One (my dear [Denver](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=649657)), used to love to get up in the upstairs window and curl and twist against the windowpane. We’d put a light behind him on Hallowe’en, as a living decoration. The other, Hope (sorry, no photo of Hope by herself), is a blimp who could frighten nobody, and who is often known as “Football With Legs.” Seriously, when we adopted Denver and Hope, we heard about the Hallowe’en-time stories. As neither were outdoor cats, we didn’t worry too much. But the concern was always there, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/24 "2012-10-31T17:38:06Z")
Good Christ, **jsgoddess**. People are sick. Glad your kitty’s OK. > [@Taomist](#): > > I saw a cat today that wasn’t black, but had bright orange eyes. And s/he was in the shadows, and moving around, and the eyes were orange no matter how the head turned or what it looked at. Orange. ORANGE. > > Tell me I was seeing things? I’ve got a tuxedo cat (so she’s not all black, but mostly). We adopted her from the shelter as a kitten not only because she was cute as all get out, but also because she had the most striking pumpkin-colored eyes. I’ve always heard of cats with orange eyes, but have never seen one. Alas, her orange eyes faded as she got older, and are now yellowish-green, or greenish-yellow, depending on lighting. So yeah, it’s possible. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/25 "2012-10-31T18:00:00Z")
From[Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/blackcat.asp): > [@](#): > > Are the dangers “satanic rites” pose to cats at Halloween time a real, widespread phenomenon, or largely a self-perpetuating Halloween myth? What evidence we could gather was inconclusive. Certainly, though, shelters’ being extra-careful with feline adoptions just before Halloween to prevent the ”renting” of cats for decorative purposes is a prudent precaution. If Halloween policies alos help dissuade those who might inflict harm on adopted pets, so much the better. In Houston, we’ve had some [cat killings](http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2012/09/creepy_kitty_cadaver_suggests.php)recently. Probably less “Satanic rites” than the usual embryonic serial killers sharpening their skills on neighborhood pets. Really–cats are generally safer inside… Scottish lore mentions the\* taighairm\* or _taghairm_–which could involve the sacrifice of cats to achieve power or knowledge of the future. Not specifically Halloweenish or Satanic… ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/26 "2012-10-31T21:06:53Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Good Christ, **jsgoddess**. People are sick. Glad your kitty’s OK. Good gravy, this. The fuck is wrong with people? Also, as an extra note that has precisely nothing to do with anything, every time I see a tuxedo cat I think of Bill Clinton’s cat, Socks. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/27 "2012-10-31T21:28:48Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > My cat Ichabod was a tuxedo and she came to me covered in blood on Halloween. Someone had cut the tips of her ears off. > > This is the only picture that shows anything, it’s from years later. [http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/jsgoddess/ichabod.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/jsgoddess/ichabod.jpg) > > She actually ran into my apartment while I was handing out candy to trick or treaters. She’s a cutie. 🙂 Ironically, ear-tipping is how trap/neuter/release volunteers mark the cats that have already been fixed, which is done **by people who love cats.** ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/28 "2012-10-31T21:37:39Z")
> [@Corcaigh](#): > > I’ve heard that in place in Ireland people throw live cats into bonfires. I have no idea why the fuck they do such a thing, but a woman who was running an animal shelter would charge people €200 to adopt a cat at this time of year to dissuade them. I think she actually witnessed one of these bonfire incidents, I do know at Hallowe’en she’d be prowling around her locale looking for bonfires, then ringing the Gardaí so that there would be someone keeping an eye on the revellers. There was also the shoving bangers up their hole story but I don’t believe that one. The bonfire one is plausible knowing what I know about some fuckers out there. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/29 "2012-11-01T00:43:53Z")
> [@purplewhoreshoe](#): > > She’s a cutie. 🙂 Ironically, ear-tipping is how trap/neuter/release volunteers mark the cats that have already been fixed, which is done **by people who love cats.** So far as I’m aware, ear-tipping is done while the cat is already anesthetized for spay/neuter, by a competent professional. ---
**Author:** ![zhoen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c4cdca/32.png) [@zhoen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zhoen)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/30 "2012-11-01T02:19:58Z")
When we went to adopt our black domestic shorthair from the Boston Animal Rescue League we had to say why we wanted a black cat. They told us about the risk to black cats around October - but did not have any specific stories. I just think black cats are smarter, more beautiful, and ours has certainly turned out to be one of the Great Cats of our life. And we knew they were harder to get adopted, so we wanted to counteract that trend a little. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/31 "2012-11-01T03:40:42Z")
> [@purplewhoreshoe](#): > > She’s a cutie. 🙂 Ironically, ear-tipping is how trap/neuter/release volunteers mark the cats that have already been fixed, which is done **by people who love cats.** Well, they didn’t do a very good job of it, since I had to have her spayed! 🙂 That’s good to know for the future. My vet at the time and all the vets later (she lived to be about 20) were baffled by it, but it sounds like something that I might encounter for a better reason at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/32 "2012-11-01T04:54:41Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > My cat Ichabod was a tuxedo and she came to me covered in blood on Halloween. Someone had cut the tips of her ears off. > > This is the only picture that shows anything, it’s from years later. [http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/jsgoddess/ichabod.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/jsgoddess/ichabod.jpg) > > She actually ran into my apartment while I was handing out candy to trick or treaters. Oh that’s so fucked up – poor kitty! What kind of sick fuck does this kind of thing? ---
**Author:** ![Eyeballqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@Eyeballqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyeballqueen)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/33 "2014-11-01T02:45:35Z")
One of mine was found dead the day after Halloween. A friend’s grandmothers’ had gasoline dumped on it & a lit match. I have seen people intentionally run over them. A coworker found hers chopped to pieces in her yard. I have heard people actually sacrifice them in Satanic rituals. I have seen photos of them nailed to trees. There are a lot of sickos out there folks !☹ ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/34 "2014-11-01T02:57:38Z")
Ours is sleeping a few feet from me. She never goes outside, but if anybody hassled her they’d have an angry dog to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/35 "2014-11-01T14:19:45Z")
If I had pets these days, they’d never go outside without me on a leash. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/36 "2014-11-01T22:19:06Z")
I’ve heard of shelters not adopting out black cats near Halloween, but not because of Satanic cults - because of their use as decorations. Apparently there’s a lot of people out there who feel a black kitten would be the perfect finishing touch on their witch costume, etc. After the 31st, they’re brought back to the shelter (if they’re lucky and not just dumped on the side of the road), and that kind of cutting of emotional bonds can mess up an animal. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/37 "2014-11-01T23:02:52Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > I’ve long heard rumors that bad things can happen to black cats on Halloween, and that shelters won’t allow them to be adopted around this time of year. [This post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15641781&postcount=3) from another thread backs that up. > > What I have never heard is any specifics on this. What exactly happens to them? Are black dogs in danger, as well? I have a black cat, being a member of the black cat appreciation society- is it dangerous for me to let him go outside right now? Are people going around looking for black cats outside? > > What is up with this? The same reason they don’t want to let people adopt a dalmatian during the Christmas season while the movie “101 Dalmations” plays in theaters. Impulse adoptions not well thought out. And who can blame them when people use [cat tails to clean their floors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of2HU3LGdbo). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/38 "2014-11-01T23:17:22Z")
None of mine are outdoors anyways, so it’s not something we’d worry about. (And if you’re wondering, Piper Grace is still around. We’ve also managed to keep her from eating plastic flowers and things like that) ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/39 "2014-11-02T01:21:24Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > If I had pets these days, they’d never go outside without me on a leash. Glad you’d be on a leash… I _think_. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360/40 "2014-11-02T02:36:45Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > If I had pets these days, they’d never go outside without me on a leash. does your pet use leash corrections on you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-happens-to-black-cats-on-halloween/639360.md?page=3)