Halloween warning to black cat owners from charity
BBCAn animal charity is issuing advice to black cat owners ahead of Halloween and Bonfire Night.
Cats Protection recommends keeping your pet inside at night, to not dress them up and make sure your cat is microchipped.
The charity says black or black and white cats can be the target of abuse and cruelty at this time of year.
Dr Kerry McGeachy, operations manager of the Ferndown centre, said: "It is important to remember that cats are protected under the Animal Welfare Act, so if you see people acting suspiciously around cats, then we would advise you to call the police."
More advice on how to keep your black cat safe at Halloween includes not dressing them up in costumes.
McGeachy explained why; "Your cat might purr and seem like they're enjoying it, but it's really important to remember that cats purring can be self-soothing as well, so it actually could be exhibiting a sign of stress."
Keeping chocolate away from your cat is also important because "a lot of people know that that's poisonous to dogs but it's also poisonous to cats too."
McGeachy continued; "Some of the Halloween decorations like the cobweb decorations and fairy lights with twinkly wires are obviously great fun for a cat as well so try and keep those out of cat's reach or use something different."
Cats Protection find that it takes a bit longer to get black or black and white cats adopted than other colours.
"People generally tell us that they're bad luck and we find that actually if you look a little bit further around the world it's quite the opposite.
"In Scotland for example if a black cat sits on your doorstep it's considered a sign of prosperity and if you have a black cat crossing your path in Japan then it's considered a blessing for your journey."
Around a third of cats at the Ferndown Centre are black or black and white, compared with half at other Cats Protection centres.
To help more get adopted the charity started Black Cat day in 2011 and since then they have homed more 15,000.
