Are You Allowed to Adopt a Black Cat Around Halloween?

Depending where you look, you may have a hard time adopting a black cat in the weeks leading up to Halloween.

For decades, some animal rights activists have voiced concerns that allowing the adoption of black cats during October could subject the animals to cruel treatment.

In Lansing, it's not a problem.

According to Penny Myers, Director of Community Relations for the Capital Area Humane Society, these kinds of questions and concerns come up every year around this time. But she says such worries are unfounded.

Black cats being harmed around Halloween is an old myth. There is no evidence to support the theory of adopting black cats during this time poses any greater risk than adopting them at any other time of the year.

 

- Penny Myers, Director of Community Relations for the Capital Area Humane Society

Myers adds that experts on Halloween, and cults, have found no confirmed statistics, court cases, or studies to support the idea that serious satanic cult crime even exists, and that unfortunately, myths die hard.

She points out that black cats can be found for free on most community sites and in feral cat communities. For this reason, the Capital Area Humane Society strongly feels that people who intend to harm animals won't come to a shelter where they have to provide their driver's license or ID, home address and phone number, and pay an adoption fee to get a cat. The Capital Area Humane Society requires all of its adopters to have an approved profile in order to to adopt one of their pets.