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Halloween is a festival many of our pets could do without. Our dogs and cats don't appreciate the symbolism and revelry of All Hallow's Eve; to most of them the evening is a frightening collage of trick-or-treaters and party-goers who noisily shuffle from house to house, pound on doors, and engage in a variety of mischief. Even worse, pets who remain outside on Halloween are subject to becoming the targets of pranks ranging from the comic to the cruel. Example: Unfortunately, Halloween has also been a time when some people acquire pets — particularly cats — to use as living decorations or for displays of fun and sport, only to discard or abandon them afterwards (as often happens with chicks and rabbits at Easter time). Accordingly, many animal shelters have taken steps in recent years to limit or eliminate the adoption of cats in the days leading up to Halloween by either deferring feline adoptions until after Halloween or by more carefully scrutinizing the prospective adopters. One of the more widely-cited justifications for the implementation of more stringent adoption policies by animal shelters around Halloween is the claim that cats in general — and black cats in particular — are avidly sought by members of satanic cults who engage in the mutilation, torture, and killing of cats in celebrations associated or coincident with Halloween. That animal shelter policy has been influenced by a widespread belief in satanic cat-sacrificing rituals at Halloween is beyond dispute; the issue here is whether such activity is really as prevalent as the belief in it is. First of all, depending upon which source you believe, the alleged practice of sacrificing black cats began with Druid priests, pagans, or the (Christian) Church: (Note that we do not offer the above quotations as valid historical accounts, but merely as examples of popular contemporary explanations as to why people supposedly sacrifice black cats at Halloween.) When questioned about their October policies, most animal shelter and humane society representatives affirm their belief that steps are necessary to prevent cats from becoming sacrificial Halloween victims but offer no tangible evidence that the phenomenon is real beyond their belief in it: The problem — or the perception of it — follows folkloric patterns, with anecdotal reports becoming ever wider in scope. For example, ritualistic Halloween sacrifices are said to make use of white cats as well as black cats: The problem is also said to have expanded to endanger cats of any color: The activity is said to be no longer restricted to Halloween and to occur on other satanic holidays as well: The catnappings are said to be starting ever earlier in the year: Halloween-related animal abductions are said to not only begin as early as August, but to include several breeds of dogs as well: What to make of all these claims? Contemporary news accounts are a bundle of contradictory and conflicting information. Some veterinarians, law enforcement officials, and shelter operators assert that claims of feline sacrifices at Halloween are overblown: Some offer accounts that border on the ridiculous to validate their belief in satanic catnappings: Some offer scattered anecdotal accounts of black cat mutilations: Although no law enforcement agency or animal protection group we contacted could provide statistics about Halloween-related animal killings or abuse, the consensus is that although incidents of animal abuse may rise slightly around Halloween, it's a year-around problem, and it has far more to do with poorly-behaved kids than with organized satanic cults: The problem is magnified at Halloween time, when any unusual or unexplained animal death is automatically attributed to Halloween-related satanic activity: Note that the article cited above refers to 12 to 14 cat torture and mutilation cases but avers that only five of the cats were confirmed to have been killed by humans. If the other seven to nine cases had not been linked to human activity, then why were they reported as incidents of torture and mutilation? The fact is that cats are frequently killed by larger animals such as coyotes and through a variety of accidental means, but both types of deaths (and unexplained disappearances) are often mistakenly chalked up to the work of satanic cults and described as cases of torture and mutilation when the deaths occur around Halloween. Some argue that, real phenomenon or not, Halloween cat sacrifices don't merit a radical change in shelters' adoption policies, because that's not where the perpetrators obtain their animals: Are the dangers satanic rites pose to cats at Halloween time a real, widespread phenomenon, or largely a self-perpetuating Halloween myth? What evidence we could gather was inconclusive. Certainly, though, shelters' being extra-careful with feline adoptions just before Halloween to prevent the renting of cats for decorative purposes is a prudent precaution. If Halloween policies also help dissuade those who might inflict harm on adopted pets, so much the better.
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