Black cat

[2] Eumelanin, the pigment required to produce the black fur, is somewhat fragile, so the rusting effect can be more pronounced in cats that frequently spend time in the sun.

[3] In addition to the Bombay, the Cat Fanciers' Association allows solid black as a color option in 21 other breeds.

[5][6] In 2014, the animal welfare organisation RSPCA stated that "in UK folklore, black cats symbolise good luck".

[7] Scottish lore holds that a black cat's arrival at a new home signifies prosperity, while Welsh lore states that a black cat brings good health: Cath ddu, mi glywais dd'wedyd, A fedr swyno hefyd, A chadw'r teulu lle mae'n byw O afael pob rhyw glefyd.

In the present day many Westerners, including Christian clergy, have black cats as pets, and very few people attach superstitions to them anymore.

[11] Sometimes, fishermen's wives would keep black cats at home too, in the hope that they would be able to use their influence to protect their husbands at sea.

More specifically, the black cat—sometimes called the "sab cat" or "sabo-tabby"[16]—is associated with anarcho-syndicalism, a branch of anarchism that focuses on labor organizing, including the use of wildcat strikes and direct action tactics.

[17] In testimony before the court in a 1918 trial of Industrial Workers of the World leaders, Chaplin stated that the black cat "was commonly used by the boys as representing the idea of sabotage.

[20] The crew for what would have been STS-13 (which turned out to be STS-41C) made a humorous mission patch that included a black cat and a number 13.

[24] Oscar the "bionic" cat had his back legs sliced off by a combine harvester whilst sleeping in a field in Jersey.

[26] Some shelters suspend or limit adoptions of black cats around Halloween[27] for fear they will be tortured, or used as "living decorations" for the holiday and then abandoned.

[29] Limiting or suspending adoptions around Halloween also places more cats of all colors at risk of dying in shelters due to overcrowding.

Wayne H. Morris created the day in honor of his late sister, June, who had a black cat, Sinbad.

Regardless, as much as this was a welcome development for pets that are difficult to get adopted, to reduce the chance of such cats being abandoned when the fad fades, reputable animal shelter personnel took the usual precautions of having potential adopters fill out questionnaires to weed out potentially abusive guardians and have them read literature about the needs and responsibilities of such a pet to dissuade the less conscientious.