Long stigmatized for bringing bad luck or having ties to the occult, black cats have found redemption in a Spanish city that has temporarily banned their adoption to ward off potentially sinister Halloween “rituals.”
Any adoption or foster request for the felines will be rejected from October 1 to November 10 to avoid “possible risks arising from superstition, rituals or irresponsible use,” the animal welfare service of Terrassa, a town north of Barcelona, announced on October 6.
The decision was made “due to the arrival of the Halloween period and according to the criteria of caution applied by various animal protection organizations,” authorities added in the city in the northeastern region of Catalonia.
Local newspaper Diari de Terrassa quoted animal welfare councilor Noel Duque as saying last week that adoption requests for black cats increase around Halloween “for ritual purposes” or “as decoration because ‘it’s cool’”.
City Hall “couldn’t look the other way” when confronted with “a grim subject,” said Duque, who sits next to a red cat in his Facebook profile photo.
Animal welfare groups warn that cats can be injured, killed or used as props during Halloween rituals.
Exceptions will be “duly justified and assessed by the centre’s technical team, with full safety assurance and a reliable history of the applicant,” the animal welfare agency said.
The normal adoption and fostering process will resume after Halloween, it added, not ruling out a similar ban in the future.
According to the municipality, more than 9,800 cats live on Terrassa.
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