Good or Bad: A Black Dog's Curiosity of Black Cats

Halloween.  

That crazy holiday when front lawns are decorated as cemeteries, humans get dressed up in all kinds of silly or ghoulish costumes and superstitions creep back out of the woodwork to scare the pants off everyone.  People are strange.  Black cats are evil.

Black Cats, Bad Luck

What?  Why do black cats get such a bad rap?  Why do people believe:

• a black cat was an omen of death if it jumped on the bed of an ill person,
• that black cats could foretell poverty and sickness
• that to liberate a reincarnated soul, a black cat should be thrown into a furnace
• that a black cat  crossing one's path meant death in an epidemic.

I went off to ask my Halloween cats "Why? Why are black cats perceived as bad luck?"...then I realized, none of them are black.  Great dawg...just as luck would have it, I suppose.  Obviously, I am not one who looks at the color of another's fur before determining whether they can be my friend or not.

Considering it is almost Halloween, I then went yard to yard to find a black cat to interview.  It was a daunting and fruitless task.

And they say "Curiosity killed the cat"!  Back to square one.

Black Cats, Good Luck

Then I read this article on Pet360 and you know what it said?  "Not all superstitions surrounding black cats are bad, though."  Really?  The article said:

• the ancient Egyptians treated black cats as royalty and killing them was a capital offense
• fisherman’s wives kept black cats for luck when their husbands went to sea to keep danger away
• in Scotland, it's believed that a black cat arriving on a porch brings prosperity and
• in Britain, it’s thought that if a black cat resides in a house, a young woman living there will have many suitors.

Now that's what I like to hear!  You can read the entire Pet360 article HERE. 

Yet, despite all those "Good Luck" superstitions black cats (and black dogs) are still the last to be adopted from a shelter.  I don't understand why, because the color Black can signify:

• prestige and power
• independence and determination
• mystery and intrigue
• sophistication and glamour.

Sophistication and Glamour...I believe I have found an angle.  Humans get dressed in "black tie" for formal occasions.  There's the black business suit and the "little black dress" every woman should have.  Black is chic and goes with anything. 

Thus, black cats (and black dogs) are good because they match anything (or anyone) and should be adopted just like every other color cat and dog.  That's not evil...that's style!

Happy Halloween and stay safe!

Reference:  Pet360article "Are Black Cats Really Bad Luck" by Jessica Remitz

Disclaimer:  I am a member of the Blogpaws Pet Bloggers Network.  I have been chosen as a Pet360 Ambassador Blogger and in exchange for this post I have a chance to win a Pet360 gift card.