Yes, I’ve heard of seasonal bans on certain pets. Not for fear of satanic rituals but simple irresponsibility. “Ooh, it’s easter. Let’s get little Sally a bunny!” A couple weeks later Sally is bored and Bunny doesn’t live a long, healthy full-filling life.
I don’t know how it is now, but Germany used to ban the adoption of pets by US service members because they’d so often abandon them when they got transferred out of Germany.
Too bad he doesn’t live in New Jersey, 'cause then it would be American Black Cat Diversity and Empathy Foundation Group Home In Jersey. (ABCDEFGHIJ)
Yes, I had to go there. 
Heh. I love youse guys.
First of all, E-Sabbath- dude yourself.
( my bolding, your missed fact. )
Second of all, if I did suffer the profound misfortune of living in New Joisey, why every day would be Halloween !!!
sneezy? brendan? outside with the two of you. 
Revtim, clearly that person did not own cats. Can you imagine? You get ahold of a cat that does not know you at all, and then proceed to try to hold it in your arms for hours in the dark, OUTSIDE!!. :rolleyes:
From what I can recall on the matter, some shelters are leery of placing out black cats during 'Ween/October, but I have seen black cats up for placement during the year.
Odd. I don’t recall white bunnies as having any special significance, specifically. Bunnies in general, as a symbol for fertility, and white as a symbol of purity, I suppose, could be defiled by a sacrifice, but I honestly can’t remember anyone going after them. Maybe it’s a regional thing. Or maybe it’s the way rabbits scream in pain. (Maybe it’s the Skittles advert.)
Is there a santaria event I’m not thinking of, perhaps?
Addition: Of course, during Easter, I could understand restricting bunnies.
This is a legitimate concern, although it still seems pretty unlikely: I hang out a lot with goth-types, and I’ve never heard directly or indirectly of someone adopting a black animal around Hallowe’en as a decoration. I’ve known some folks who have adopted black animals as fashion symbols, but I don’t think it was around Hallowe’en; and I’ve known folks from other walks of life who have adopted poodles, pugs, or golden retrievers as fashion symbols, too.
A good adoption interview process ought to weed out the flakes.
Daniel
Amoung the more surreal parts of the “found a gravestone in my yard” experience (I mean, who do you call when you find a random gravestone in your yard? I had to go back in and get some more coffee to work that one out) was a fairly well-informed monologue, delivered by a police officer, who I swear looked for all the world like whoosis, the sheriff in *Smokey and the Bandit *, on blood rituals and methods of ritual slaughter for various sects and traditions which concluded that mostly it turned out to be nut jobs making the whole thing up as they go along.
I distinctly recall having to control the urge to observe that kids these days just weren’t being taught to respect tradition when they torture small animals and grave-rob.
Of course if they had an outreach programme to teach younguns how to care for pets properly it would be the American Black Cat Diversity and Empathy Foundation Group Home In Jersey (Kindergarten League)…
With a special emphasis on encouraging the kids to inform others about the dangers of satanic rituals and sacrifice, and prevent if from happening. They would eventually form the American Black Cat Diversity and Empathy Foundation Group Home In Jersey (Kindergarten League) Mystical Necromancy Oppression Patrols.
I just adopted a black kitten ( well, mostly - he has a tiny dot of white on his chest and another tiny dot on his belly ) a couple of months ago myself and it’s positively weird how low the adoption rate is for black cats. Kitten season usually goes in surges and when I went “shopping” at three different shelters ( for various reasons ), “inventory” was temporarily on the lower side side. Literally half the kittens left at each were black or mostly black tuxedos. It was striking.
I live in the SF Bay Area, which you wouldn’t think would be a hotbed of superstition and yet even here it is a persistent problem. The SFSPCA will actually give you extra swag if you adopt a black cat ( in case anyone is looking for one ) : http://www.sfspca.org/home.shtml
I’ve always found black cats rather neat, myself. It boggles the mind that folks are still creeped out by them in this day and age.
I’m not creeped out by them – I just prefer tabbies.
And if you want to limit it geographically, you could have…
American Black Cat Diversity and Empathy Foundation Group Home In Jersey (Kindergarten League) Mystical Necromancy Oppression Patrols, Queens Road Section.
Robin
Well, I’m partial to tabbies myself, particularly the ancestral brown, mackerel tabbies ( I’ve never owned one, which may be why I like them, common though they are ). Also “blues”. But I do prefer black to solid white or orange ( which are always tabbies ). Though my other kitten is actually a piebald white and orange tabby in a classic tuxedo pattern and he’s pretty darned cute. And I never have been all that fond of most “points”, like Siamese, though there are exceptions.
But color preference is one thing and no big deal. Supersitition is another. It seems unlikely that the glut of black cats would be due entirely to aesthetic issues.
American Black Cat Diversity and Empathy Foundation Group Home In Jersey (Kindergarten League) Mystical Necromancy Oppression Patrols, Queens Road Section That Understands Victimization of White (rabbits)…
XYZ is the hard part…
Brendon
[QUOTE=brendon_small]
American Black Cat Diversity and Empathy Foundation Group Home In Jersey (Kindergarten League) Mystical Necromancy Oppression Patrols, Queens Road Section That Understands Victimization of White /QUOTE]
Xenofaunic Yarkands Zigzagging.
Daniel
Well, now that we’ve beaten that to death…
Don’t you dare beat that rabbit to death–we’ve got our eye on you, you Zoroastrian brute!
Daniel
That is so bizarre. I had a black indoor cat, and he was a sweetie. My Mom just had to put down her beloved “Black Jack” owing to cancer, and one of the strays I’m currently feeding is a very affectionate female. A few of my customers have black cats, now that I’m thinking about it. I’d be more superstitious about a stupid human crossing my path and causing bad luck than schwarze katzen. 
