A child screams with excitement! A cage clatters, and the hair on the back of your neck bristles. You instinctively close your mouth as the sharp scent of chlorine crawls up your nose as you enter the cat enclosure at the BCSPCA. Thankfully, the air conditioner welcomes you, and the smell of disinfectant dissipates from your nose.

Today, you’re adopting a feline friend.

Fur flutters. Meows are a chorus circling the air. A green-eyed Siamese rubs against your leg, a heavy-set grey tabby watches you, whiskers twitch, a pair of cream-coloured kittens is a blur in your peripheral vision, as a child follows them, grubby hands reaching. The weight of choice is heavy in your chest.

“No, no,” a woman says, her fingers tapping vigorously on the screen. “It won’t focus.”

A cat, with midnight living in its fur, watches the woman and her husband with olive eyes. It sits in an open cage, tail twirling.

“C’mon, oh wait, look at that one.” The couple walks away from the black cat; its olive eyes watch their retreat. The couple begins snapping photos of a Persian instead. The black cat reaches out with its paw, somehow sensing it’s not a favourite choice today.

“We can always return it after Halloween,” an older man in a suit says. He squints at the black cat, his head tilted into his phone as he wipes fur off his chest. “She’ll love it for Halloween and then forget it by Christmas. It’s not awful, that’s why we have pet rescues.”

A sea of orange, creams, greys, and everything in between moves in the cat room. Like magnets, people are drawn to the coloured felines, but the black cats are like ghosts as they weave between legs, look curiously, and meow softly. Unseen, unlucky, and forgotten.

The man bends down and looks at the black cat. “You and your superstitions. They do make you a bit unlucky.” The man walks away. “Fine, let’s just get her
a fish.”

~

Despite their affectionate nature and the fact that they are just as adoptable as any other colour of cat, black cats are consistently misunderstood, the least adopted, and most euthanized animals in shelters.

Black Cat Bias, also known as Black Cat Syndrome, refers to the tendency for our midnight coloured feline friends to be less likely to be adopted at SPCAs, shelters, and pet adoption centres.

On the surface, one of the problems people find with them lies in our cameras; black cats don’t photograph well. Their dark fur absorbs light, and the auto-focus and auto-exposure systems on our phone cameras struggle to find enough contrast and brightness to capture an image of our shadowy companions.

However, this bias runs deeper. It has been in place for decades and predates the camera. For centuries, our obsidian friends with their luminescent eyes have been unfairly associated with bad luck, superstition, witchcraft, and satanic rituals.

But there was a time when they weren’t demonized or side-stepped on a path to avoid an unfortunate fate. We used to respect them.

Let’s start from the beginning. The ancient Egyptians revered and doted on cats of all colours. In fact, you can find felines in many ancient artifacts, statues, and paintings within Egyptian museums, and they were even mummified to cross over into the afterlife with their owners.

The Egyptians honoured Bastet, the cat goddess. She is believed to be a guardian protecting humans from evil spirits and disease. The domestic cat was considered a manifestation of Bastet, the Goddess of home, fertility, protection, and music, as well as the sun, moon, and fire. Because the Egyptians also believed cats brought good luck, harming one was considered a crime.

The perception and reverence for black cats shifted dramatically across Europe. Revered in ancient Egypt, they were condemned as agents of evil in medieval Europe. This is a stereotype that Emily Brandstaetter, a fourth-year VIU student, is familiar with.

She adopted her black cat, Onyx, from Nanaimo’s Kitties & Cream. “It’s hard to convince people if they haven’t had an experience with them but counteracting that negativity with positive proof that

The 1200s showed a stark contrast to their previous status as cherished companions and symbols of good fortune.

In the year 1233, Pope Gregory IX issued the Vox in Rama, a papal bull, to King Henry of Germany.

This single letter had profound and lasting consequences, leading to centuries of persecution and mass killings of black cats, a stigma that still echoes today.

The Vox in Rama was issued in response to reports of a satanic cult in Germany. Pope Gregory IX had received a report claiming that the cult was engaged in bizarre and evil rituals intended to mock the Catholic Church. Among the most shocking accusations was that the cult members would kiss a cat’s behind, which was then followed by a wild sexual orgy.

After cult members participated in an orgy and the lights were turned back on, a man would appear from a dark corner. This was thought to be Lucifer: “his skin is coarse and covered with fur like a cat.”

As a result, the black cat became a symbol weaved into devil worship and witchcraft. This religious directive, from the highest authority, led to widespread violence and persecution against felines.

The reverberations of the Vox in Rama would prove long-lasting. As cats became hunted in Europe, rats began to thrive without their strongest predator absent. Many historians believe that this caused the Black Plague to spread so violently through Europe in the mid-1300s.

The plague was caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis, and the fleas on rats were the main carriers of this bacterium. With the cat population decimated, the rats ran rampant, which allowed the disease to spread at a horrific rate, eliminating 30-60 percent of Europe’s population.

This serves as a baneful lesson in history: the unfounded fear and superstitions of a living creature led to loss of life on a monumental scale. The animals that could have been the front-line soldiers against the plague were annihilated due to fear, suspicion, and ignorance.

Although the perception of black cats has softened from the ruthless mass killings of centuries past, they still face lower adoption rates today. This ongoing bias is rooted in both archaic superstitions and our modern-day camera challenges, making them less appealing for social media. It is crazy that this is such a huge influence on adoption. Regardless, as a result, these felines are often either reduced to a Halloween aesthetic or overlooked completely.

Brandstaetter noticed this firsthand during her time at Kitties & Cream cafe, the day Onyx entered her life. “The people interacting with the cats mostly gravitated to the female tabby ones and the orange ones first to try and pet or hold,” she says. “I also noticed that people would take pictures of all the coloured ones and mention how cute they were.”

Only one other person took a photo of a black cat.

Black cats need more adopters, like Emily Brandstaetter. Our little panthers are so much more than the myths that define them. Brandstaetter says they are “zany, affectionate, and compassionate” animals who want love, connection, and a home.

Brandstaetter adopted Onyx that day, her charcoal-coated, green-eyed feline. The day she met Onyx, she had no intention of adopting a cat, but she was drawn to him instead. You might say she was bewitched.

“He was napping, snuggled up to another cat in the corner of a cube in a cat tree, and I could barely see him, just a fluff of fur. He was so unbothered with the world around him, and that immediately drew me to him,” she says.

For Brandstaetter, it was the connection she felt towards Onyx. His dark-coated fur and electric eyes were a bonus, and despite the common photographic complaints surrounding black cats, she says, “I have many photos of him; I don’t think it’s ever been a problem unless he was sleeping on a black fleece blanket. Otherwise, I think the only challenge I’ve had with him is getting him to trust.”

Brandstaetter speaks fondly of Onyx’s compassion as he will “purr louder than I can snore” and will often come over to “push up against your hand several times for love.”

When people have told Brandstaetter that black cats are mean, she says, “I don’t know where that comes from, but I just show them a video of him purring and sticking his tongue out.”

Another trend and misconception regarding our dark-coated friends is the ‘Halloween Effect,’ where black cats are adopted for the season and then surrendered afterwards.

I remember when I was around eight years old, a family in my neighborhood had adopted a black cat for Halloween. He was named Salem and then surrendered to the shelter before Christmas. When asked about this trend, Brandstaetter stated, “I adopted him in March.”

She also says that she and Onyx choose to “embrace” the spooky activities around October, and how this Halloween they plan to dress him up in bat wings.

With Brandstaetter’s story of adopting Onyx, who was “found in a dump yard in Saskatchewan” and had an extremely rough beginning to his life, where he also lost his twin sister to cardiac arrest, their story shows the need to look beyond the history and stereotypes.

“I felt that I was doing something big. [Onyx] could still be in the Saskatchewan dump yard if it weren’t for the team of people to bring him home to me, and I couldn’t be happier,” Brandstaetter says. “I love that I get to share my story, and I hope it helps spread awareness and stop the stigma around black cats.”

Her advice to you when considering adopting a black cat is simple: “Feel a connection with the cat, no matter what. Give them a chance to warm up and show their personality. I sat with Onyx for over an hour before he even let me pet him. Then, he wouldn’t leave my side, and the rest is history.”

She and Onyx believe that the best way to change the stigma of black cats is to continue sharing their stories to show how lovable they are.

From the reverence cats once held in ancient Egypt to the unfounded paranoia that connected them to the Black Death and satanic rituals, black cats for too long have been defined by bad luck, fear, and ignorance.

While the mass slaughters in our history are over, the stereotypes live and breathe, but as Emily’s and Onyx’s story shows, these are just myths. Black cats are more than their night-kissed fur; they are zany, compassionate, and affectionate creatures who simply need a chance.

Superstition is old news; it’s time to let the cats at the adoption centre pick you.

If you’re interested in fostering or adopting a feline friend, please consider reaching out to one of Nanaimo’s local shelters and adoption centres!

Kitties & Cream
(250) 754-2278
#101-437 Fitzwilliam Street, Nanaimo, BC

BC SPCA Nanaimo
(250) 741-0778
154 Westwood Rd, Nanaimo, BC