INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The superstition and mystery surrounding black cats is centuries old, but the fear and uncertainty remains – making the adoption of such pets all the more challenging. To that end, HALO and Petco joined forces to help promote the beauty of the midnight-furred creatures.
“We call them Florida mini-panthers,” HALO volunteer Rebecca Grohall said, watching three “Hemingway” black cats lounge in their crate at Petco on Saturday.
The three brothers and their sister in a crate next to them are polydactyl, meaning they have extras toes.
“They startled themselves a little bit ago,” Grohall said of the brothers, explaining they had been romping about inside the crate when one of the shelf beds collapsed – scaring them.
Black cats can apparently scare more than just people, but themselves as well.
The four polydactyl cats were turned into HALO a while ago by a Good Samaritan who found them abandoned, Grohall said.
“They all have their stories,” she said of the cats that find their way to the no kill animal shelter.
In all, seven black cats, a dark gray-black shorthair tiger, and a cream-white medium hair cat were brought to Petco for a special “Back in Black” adoption event. The event was carried over to Sunday as well, in order to provide more opportunity for the cats to find new homes.
Star, the youngest of the black cats at 2 months old, went home with Donna Wright, who had no intention of adopting when she stopped into Petco just to look.
“I wasn’t really going to adopt a cat today,” Wright insisted. “But I made the mistake of holding her.”
Star snuggled up to Wright and began purring – that’s all it took.
Star will join Tuxie – a black and white rescue from the Humane Society.
As for the superstitions surrounding black cats, Wright said she doesn’t believe in them.
“In my opinion, I think it’s kind of silly,” she said.
Aside from the superstition, Grohall said black cats can be more challenging to find homes for simply because of their color.
“Black cats shed black fur,” she said, noting that most people probably do not wear dark clothes all the time nor have black furniture – which means cleaning black fur could become a constant battle.
Grohall said that despite the added challenge of adopting out black cats, HALO has a policy to not adopt them out close to Halloween.
She explained that there are those who would “adopt” a black cat for less than innocent and well-intentioned purposes to mark Halloween.
Along with fighting the superstitions surrounding black cats, Grohall said another “old wives tale” has re-emerged – that of cats suffocating babies.
She said HALO has taken in cats from owners who have recently added a baby to their family.
“It’s hard to believe,” she said.
Not at the adoption event were Stevie and Emma, two black cats also seeking their forever homes.
Anyone interested in learning more about HALO Animal Rescue and how to adopt can visit www.HaloRescueFL.org or stop by 710 Jackson St., Sebastian, or call (772) 589-7297.