Black cats unfairly shunned, stigmatized, say regional animal rescue groups

Lucian picked his owners outside a grocery store.
Provided
Lucian picked his owners outside a grocery store.
Lucian is one lucky black cat. The emerald-eyed feline has been living in the lap of luxury since being rescued from the streets of Albany nine years ago by the Pecha family of Falls Village.
Today Lucian lives in Litchfield with his owner, David Pecha, where he spends his days cat-napping, bird-watching, attention-seeking and occasionally cajoling with a neighborhood fox.
Unlike Lucian, not all black cats end up in forever homes. According to regional animal rescue groups, black pets in general, and black cats in particular, are often shunned by prospective adopters.
Enter National Black Cat Day 2024, which falls on Oct. 27 this year. The annual awareness day is designed to support and promote the beauty and well-being of black cats and to dispel myths and superstitions that have haunted them for centuries, particularly around Halloween.
The day plays a vital role in advocating for welfare and adoption of black cats.
Shunned through no fault of their own
“I’ve had someone come up to me and say they would take anything but black,” said Beverly Ditto of Collaborative Cats, a feline foster home-based rescue organization serving Southern Columbia and Northern Dutchess counties of New York. “There are black cat lovers, but that is rare.”
Ditto, who has owned several black cats, said she has found them to be among the “sweetest and most lovable” of felines, second to orange cats, and not deserving of being feared.
She attributes their lack of popularity to long-held superstitions about them being harbingers of bad luck or that they are evil doers associated with Satanic rituals. Black cats also blend in with shadows, giving them a spooky appearance.
Because superstitions about black cats are reinforced around Halloween, it is common for shelters to put adoptions on hold. According to the Smithsonian, some adoption agencies and shelters won’t even consider placing black cats in homes until after Halloween for fear they will be tortured or sacrificed.
“All the shelters generally are very nervous about adopting out before Halloween,” said Ditto. “There are people out there to be known to harm black cats. I haven’t encountered that, but it has been a big worry amongst the rescues.”
Currently, Collaborative Cats, which takes in stray, abandoned, injured and homeless felines, has several black kittens available for adoption, including Roary, Jacques and Lucifer, all described as sweet and playful.
The organization, which is not a shelter, said Ditto, is constantly seeking new foster homes for its approximately 100 felines.
Raven and Bagheera
At The Little Guild in West Cornwall, two black cats, Raven and Bagheera, arrived at the shelter in August and are awaiting adoption. Both are about a year old and have the sweetest dispositions, said the shelter’s executive director Jenny Langendoerfer.
“It is interesting that people do like to see unique colorings and markings,” she noted. “But the one thing about black cats is that they make the most wonderful pets.”
Langendoerfer described Bagheera, a sturdy, green-eyed young male, as a “mini panther, very silly and very sweet,” and 1-year-old Raven as very playful.
Lauren Mucha, one of the caregivers at The Last Post cat sanctuary and cat retirement home in Falls Village where 124 cats reside, said about 20 of its feline residents are black.
She said she is perplexed as to why people would shy away from dark-coated cats, as they don’t deserve the negative image.
One cat in particular, Jinx, has been a resident at The Last Post for the last eight years and does not have a mean bone in its body, said Mucha, who described him as a Velcro cat, a “real cuddler.”
This cat picked his family
Not everyone is on board with the negative black cat spin. For some, a visit from a black cat means good luck or prosperity. In some cultures, black cats, considered sleek and seductive with their all-knowing yellow and green eyes, are even worshipped.
Take Lucian’s owner, David Pecha, for instance.
The mini household panther was rescued by Pecha’s son, Alex, about nine years ago while attending college in Albany. Alex and a friend had emerged from a grocery store “and the cat came flying out from under a car, meowing at them and trailing them.”
It was the end of the school year, and because the cat appeared to be pretty well cared for, said Pecha, they thought it might have escaped during the confusion of the move.
After failing to find a no-kill shelter nearby, they took Lucian back home with them to Falls Village and posted “cat found” posters around campus, but no one came forth to claim the black cat, said Pecha.
Before long, Lucian befriended a doppelganger named Bagheera, owned by the Atwood family just up the street, Pecha recalled.
“He was the spitting image of Lucian, and they hung out together. You would see the two of them running around the streets in the middle of town.”
When Pecha relocated to Litchfield a few years ago, so did Lucian, who has since settled into his new quarters, according to his owner. He considers his cat to be more like a loyal dog, with a unique personality.
Unlike other cats, Lucian doesn’t use a water bowl. Instead, he laps up his drink from a tall glass, filled with cool water straight from the fridge.
And as for snow, the pampered feline will have nothing of it. “He doesn’t do winter,” said Pecha. “He’ll put one paw in the snow, and it’s ‘Oh, hell no.”
Below are several black cats up for adoption at The Little Guild in West Cornwall, and Collaborative Cats in Ancramdale, NY. Additional details are available by contacting the rescue groups either by phone or via their website. Photos provided.
The LED sign in front of Amenia's Town Hall on Route 22 warns passing motorists of the current temporary burn ban, in effect from Oct. 2 to Oct. 15.
A statewide burn ban is in effect as of Thursday, Oct. 2, the New York State Governor's office announced in a press release.
The temporary ban is in effect until at least Oct. 15, and the statement released by the governor's office said the restrictions will be re-evaluated prior to the Oct. 15 deadline.
Lighting fires for brush or debris disposal and large, uncontained fires for cooking or other purposes are banned until at least Oct. 15 under the statewide order. Backyard fire pits, contained camp fires no larger than 3 feet in height and 4 feet in diameter, and small, contained cooking fires are still permitted under the burn ban.
New York State has faced dry conditions all autumn, triggering drought watches and warnings across most of the state.
Dutchess County, along with the other counties in the Catskills region, are under a drought watch according to the Department of Environmental Conservation's drought condition map.
Dutchess County is currently under a "high" fire danger rating, according to the DEC.
LAKEVILLE, Conn. — Barbara Meyers DelPrete, 84, passed away Tuesday, September 30, 2025.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, October 4, 2025, at 11:00a.m. at St. Mary’s Church, 76 Sharon Rd., Lakeville.
A complete obituary will appear in next week’s Lakeville Journal.
To offer an online condolence, please visit ryanfhct.com.
Volunteers were hard at work putting the finishing touches on the crucial creepy decorations for the Haunted Fortress of Stanford on Sunday, Sept. 28.
STANFORD — Greg Arent led a devoted team of volunteers on Sunday, Sept. 28, in a final push to prepare Stanford’s Haunted Fortress for opening day.
Final touches included cleaning the bottomless pit, scrubbing the pirate ship, raking the graveyard and dressing the dolls. By 2 p.m., about 20 volunteers had assembled to creepify the beloved local landmark.
Many of the volunteers have been coming back for years, Arent said, dedicating time and valuable skills to the town-owned haunted house that was constructed by the artist Peter Wing.
Arent has been building sets in his free time for forty years, but he started out volunteering with the Haunted Fortress in 2014 when his children wanted to get involved, he said. At that time he would help out one or two days a year. That grew into a leadership position over the course of a decade.
On Sunday, Arent was touring the decrepit grounds checking light bulbs, soundtracks and other set details to contribute to that perfect spooky ambience.
Nathan Miller
When it’s all said and done, the Fortress will be ready to welcome visitors starting on Friday, Oct. 3, with shows running from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Sundays. The Haunted Fortress is entirely staffed by volunteers, Arent said, including the actors that don costumes to scare visitors. Anybody aged 6 and up can volunteer to act in the horror show, and families often will volunteer to take over a scene.
“I love it because every scene is different every night,” Arent said. “Sure there are going to be vampires in this scene, but this family is going to do it different from these three kids from Bard, who are going to do it different from these three middle school kids.”
The sets themselves were all built from recycled material to be as creepy and decrepit as possible, Arent said. Concrete culverts adorn the sides of a bridge over a stream, stacked vertically with a cone on top to elicit a fortress’s spires. Reclaimed lumber bolted to a fence evokes a dark and scary forest blocking any escape. A rusting tractor with a steel box welded above the seat sits on a set of rails with two cars attached to it, mimicking a wrecked train with it’s inner mechanisms exposed and blowing steam on passersby.
This year the Haunted Fortress is following a haunted circus theme featuring clowns and other carnival staples alongside the classic settings of the Fortress.
The team of volunteers is dedicated and numerous, and the Stanford Highway Department lends a hand too, Arent said, but there’s always a need for skilled labor at the local attraction.
And the group appreciates all the help they can get. “Whatever you’re interested in and capable of doing,” Arent said.
The haunted pirate ship marks the spot where groups of visitors are paired with their ghastly guides for the remainder of the Haunted Fortress tour in Stanford.Nathan Miller
Corinne Kalser, MD, left, talks about the benefits of animals as therapy partners, as Renee Bouffard, LCSW, of Healing Hoofbeats of CT, on right, watches Harry Potter, a young horse at Time Out.In the background, Finnegan, lead horse at Time Out comes to see what’s going on.
“Horses and other livestock maintain their wild instincts. They sense what we are feeling and that makes them amazing therapy partners.”
— Renee Bouffard, LCSW
In 2008, Time Out Foundation became an official rescue and therapeutic riding facility, fulfilling a lifelong dream of founder, Corinne Kalser, M.D.With her husband, David McArthur, LCSW, and the rest of their staff, they offer a haven for children and adults through gentle, relaxed therapies centered around animals — rescued horses, dogs, cats, and goats — on their 35-acre farm in Lakeville.
To ensure the foundation continues, Kalser is partnering with Healing Hoofbeats of CT, an organization with a similar philosophy of care.
“This is a way to keep it going after retiring,” said Kalser. Renee Bouffard, LCSW, founder of Healing Hoofbeats, along with Nikki Hedden, LMSW, and Rebecca Caruso, LCSW, will begin offering therapy at Time Out beginning Oct. 13. Based in Bethlehem, Connecticut, the Healing Hoofbeats team will bring their animal-assisted therapy services to Lakeville — and, as Kalser noted, “takes most insurances.”
Bouffard explained the process: “At the initial meeting, we introduce clients to all the animals with the intention of choosing who their therapy partner will be. This will be their partner for the duration of the therapy.”
“Through that process of building a relationship, issues come out — depression, anxiety, trauma. The therapist can address and can help solve them,” she added.
“Horses and other livestock maintain their wild instincts. They sense what we are feeling and that makes them amazing therapy partners.”
Relationships are built through groundwork and learning about your therapy partner.
“My oldest client is 89.We treat all ages — children, adults, families, couples, veterans,” Bouffard said.
For more information or to schedule an appointment at Time Out with the Healing Hoofbeats team, visit healinghoofbeatsofct.org or call 203-244-8411.