El Paso Animal Services invites the community to help bust the myth around black cats! Many superstitions follow black cats around–that they are unlucky, that they are scary or more aggressive, but one myth that is the most harmful to black cats (and all cats in shelters and rescues) is that black cats shouldn’t be adopted around Halloween. 

This superstition stems from a concern from animal lovers that black cats can be adopted to nefarious people with bad intentions, such as being used in sacrifices or purposely abused around the holiday. However, numerous national animal welfare organizations such as ASPCA, Humane Society of the United States and Best Friends Animal Society have all confirmed this is not the case: there are no confirmed studies, statistics, or court cases that support this concern. In fact, National Geographic published an article titled “Ritual Cat Sacrifices a Halloween Myth, Experts Say” stating otherwise–Halloween and cult experts say there’s “no evidence that supports serious satanic cult crime even exists.”

A fact that is concerning for animal lovers is 1) Black cats (and dogs) are the last to be adopted, and are often overlooked and 2) Black cats are some of the most common cats in shelters and rescues. Misinformation, superstition and myths such as these put more barriers to pets finding loving homes.

So we ask you, the community, to help us bust these myths and consider adopting a cat or kitten of any color today! Visit us at one of our two cat adoption locations to adopt today:

El Paso Animal Services Center
5001 Fred Wilson Ave. 
Open Daily 11 am to 6 pm

CATZ – Cats at the Zoo
4001 E. Paisano (inside the El Paso Zoo)
Open Friday through Sunday 9 am to 5 pm (last Zoo ticket sold at 4 pm)