Friday the 13th and the Black Cat Syndrome

Black cats are the unwitting mascots of Friday the 13th and Halloween, and are the felines-of-choice for scary Hollywood scenes, witch lore and cursing people with bad luck. Believe or not, these superstitions often haunt black cats who end up in animal shelters.

There's a phenomenon known as Black Dog Syndrome to describe the difficulty in placing dark-colored dogs — the blacker the fur, and the bigger the dog, the more likely they are to be the last ones to find homes. Some say it's a myth, that there are just more black dogs to start with. A study by PetHealth, Inc showed that darker dogs did stay in the shelter longer, but only by a day or two. Yet, shelters across the country run promotions to shine a light on their black dogs, and some rescue groups specialize in these harder-to-place pups.

Shelter workers and rescuers will tell you that black cats face the same problems in getting the attention of adopters. And all those centuries-old negative associations with black cats may play a role.

There are a lot of theories as to why black animals don't get adopted as quickly as their lighter-furred counterparts. They're harder to photograph for adoption sites like Petfinder.com, and in the poorly-lit kennel environment of your average shelter, their cute black faces just don't stand out. Big black dogs are often stigmatized in movies and TV shows as the bad guy's guard dog. And, of course, the black cat is burdened with a long list of mythological crimes.

It may seem hard to believe that those old superstitions still carry any influence in modern society, but concern for black cats has led many shelters to restrict black cat adoptions around Halloween. They worry about the animals being used as costume props or decorations and then being discarded, or worse, that seasonal Satanists may actually harm them.

Believing that the color of a cat's fur makes him mystical or evil is just as ridiculous as believing the kind of Friday you're going to have has anything to do with the number on the calendar. Except Friday the 13th doesn't care what you think of it, but thousands of black cats need homes.

The first cat I ever shared my home with was a big black cat who had been part of an all-black litter of kittens that I fostered for the local humane society. Jebby never met a dog, cat or human he couldn't get along with. He kept the peace in my multi-pet home — breaking in foster pets, intervening when there was tension, and comforting anyone, of any species, who wasn't feeling well. He died of cancer last year, but in the ten years that I had him, he converted many sworn "dog people" — including myself — into changing the way we felt about cats. And I'm pretty sure he didn't use any magic to do it.

Adopting a black cat was one of the luckiest things I've ever done.

Today, there are over 18,000 black cats listed on Petfinder.com. There are many more listed on other sites, or sitting in shelters that don't have the resources to post their cats online. If you're in the market to add a feline to your home, it's a great day to adopt a black cat.

Photo credit: aturkus