PALM CITY, Fla. — Furry Friends Adoption Clinic and Ranch will be putting the pause on black cat adoptions. They say they are concerned about Halloween and the potential for malicious behavior.
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"They're just magical," said Kelly Solms, who calls herself a black cat advocate.
She's concerned about Halloween and horror stories involving black cats.
"There are too many pictures of black cats with the arch back and fangs, and it just seeps into the consciousness of people, but it couldn't be more false," she said.
Solms is a big proponent for a step that Furry Friends president Pat Deshong is taking.
"These animals depend on us to be their voice," said Deshong. "There are some people that are not advocates of animals. They use black cats as props for their Halloween party or costumes and then discard them the next day. We've seen that happen. They wind up in the dumpster."
They'll continue to take applications for black cats, but no adoptions until after Halloween.
"One of our kittens was adopted, a black kitten, and was used in a Halloween party. We found that after the fact, and then they released it into the wild," said Deshong.
Solms wants those with malicious intent to see that black cats have a history as a symbol of good luck.
"They were worshipped in Egypt as gods, and sailors used them aboard their ships to control rats and also as good luck. In Japan they are still seen as symbols of fertility and love," said Solms. "We need to fight those myths that are still lingering about them being unlucky or evil, because they only thing scary about them is they are just scary cute."