Since the late 1600s, Americans have considered black cats bad luck. It started with the Salem Witch Trials where witches were accused of turning into black cats to sneak around. Because of this black cats have been deemed unlucky. A lot of superstitious people believe that if a black cat crosses your path from right to left that it serves as a bad omen. Because people associate black cats with Halloween and bad luck, black cats across America are being abused, mistreated, and even killed for the color of their fur. This is absurd and as such people need to realize that black cats do not bring bad luck.
America is one of the very few places in the world that even consider black cats “bad luck”. In ancient Egypt, many Egyptians considered black cats to be divine and close to god and as such would praise them. Japan believes that black cats can bring single women good men to pursue. In Scotland, it is thought to be a foretelling of prosperity if a black cat is found on your porch. In many parts of England, it is considered lucky and thoughtful to be given a black cat as a wedding present. There are many parts of the world that doesn’t consider black cats to be bad luck and for good reason.
When you sit and think about it, there is not just a breed of black cats. The black fur is just a trait that the breed of a cat gets from its parents or because its breed is known for having black coats. Many different breeds of cats have black fur and shouldn’t be grouped together by their fur. Different breeds have different personalities and traits, the color of their fur doesn’t define what kind of cat they are.
When people think of a basic black cat, an image of a Bombay cat might come to mind. They can be slick and lean with a coat of dark black fur with yellow eyes. Sounds like a basic black cat right? The Bombay cat is actually quite affectionate and social, which is a far cry from the scary, mean, spooky personality that black cats are supposed to have. There are other cats that may come to mind when you picture a basic black cat. Such as the Havana Brown cat. Their fur can be a dark brown or black with eyes of all different shades of green. Havana Brown cats are very affectionate and intelligent, they can however show parts of mischievous personality. This may sound more like the personality of a witch’s black cat, but in actuality, Havana Brown cats are just as gentle as Bombay cats. Why would gentle and affectionate cats bring bad luck to people?
Black cats are just misunderstood and judged too quickly because of their fur; mainly in America. Why should we consider black cats bad luck when in places all around the world they are deemed the opposite? If a person who was accused of being a witch had a golden retriever, would we consider that dog breed bad luck? Or is it the color itself that we associate with the night and darkness? Whatever the reason for the bad luck theory, it is not correct. Owning two black cats myself I have never had any such bad luck because of them. It’s not the things around you that cause bad luck, but your mindset because of those things. Black cats are just like other colored cats, they are just a cat, each with their own different personalities and traits.