Halloween is well known for its witches and black cats, but how did black cats get such a bad reputation? When you look back at the history of the cat, they were not just used to kill mice and rats, the Romans highly revered them and the Ancient Egyptians even worshiped them. Cats were thought so highly of by the Egyptians, it is said that to kill a cat intentionally or by accident, was punishable by death.

It wasn’t until the 17th century that cats began to be persecuted. This was due to their association with witchcraft and Satan. The image of the black cat sat on a witch’s broomstick still stays with us today, and is a popular image/costume on Halloween.

Thankfully we know there is no such thing as a witch, and cats in general are now adored and loved by many, but why then are black cats still the least popular? Unfortunately many people are still superstitious of black cats, be it bad luck if you have a black cat turn its back on you, or meeting a black cat early in the morning. If you were to believe superstitions then you would think people would also believe the good luck that black cats bring, be it good luck to own a black cat, have a black cat enter your house or to touch a black cat, but unfortunately being superstitions, they are not logical reactions to black cats in the first place.

Superstitions aside and on a more serious note, if a cat happens to be born with a black coat, animal rescue centres are finding them a lot harder to home. These beautiful animals are for some reason not as popular or as fashionable, and many people who come to look at the cats at re homing centres are dazzled by the beauty of the tabby cat, or ginger and the many other striking cats waiting to be re homed. The poor black cat is often totally ignored.

It is sad to see any cat waiting for a home at an animal sanctuary, but to be over looked just because you have black fur is heart breaking.

Article by PetInsuranceIreland.com. Find the best deals on cat insurance in Ireland.

Comments are closed.