We at CatSynth are happy to be hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #282: Hallowe’en Black Edition. It has become a bit of a tradition for us to host every year and celebrate black cats.

There is no shortage of symbolism linking black cats and Hallowe’en, in cards and signs, trinkets and decorations.

There is also no shortage of discussion about the treatment of black cats around this time of year, and many animal shelters continue to suspend adoptions of black cats around Hallowe’en, or during the entire month of October. The concern that seems to have the most credibility is that of people adopting black cats as “living decorations” for holiday, and then bringing them back to the shelter afterwards. From a recent article on Catster:

“There’s really no documentation that shows any cruelty,” said Stephen Wright, a spokesman for the Naples Humane Society. “We pretty much think it’s an urban legend.”…However, “we screen people really well, especially around Halloween when it comes to black cats, to see if they really want a cat or just a decoration,” Wright said.

Personally, I would worry much about “ritualistic cruelty”, which seems as much myth and stereotype of some people’s beliefs as those surrounding black cats themselves. But I would be concerned about pranks or impulsive acts. The image of an adolescent boy harming a cat around Hallowe’en to impress his peers seems all too real to me.

So let us keep our cats safely indoors this holiday season, and focus on celebration and love. Black is beautiful!

And without further ado, let us get on with the WCB round-up. If you would like to join us, please leave a comment below, or tweet us @catsynth with the hash tag #weekendcatblogging. We would of course love to have lots of fellow black cats join us, but all felines are welcome!

Another tradition of Hallowe’en is pumpkin displays, and Nikita Cat presents street scenes featuring cats and pumpkins, in southern California.

He also explains that the penchant for scary stories cuts across species.

Over at House Panthers, Tillie would like to wish a Happy Hallowe’en to all the black cats (and everyone else). Those are some very impressive teeth!

Meanwhile, Tillie’s brother Mickey is also celebrating Hallowe’en, and his anniversary with Misses Peach. He is will be going out this year as “Count Mickula”. (Of course, we mean “going out” in a staying-safe-indoors sort of way.) He and the rest of his family have this nice card for the holiday, and we of course appreciate the musical theme.

More costume fun with Samantha, Clementine and Maverick. They all seem quite patient in posing for their official photos, we hope they got lots of treats.

Earnie of the Island Cats wishes everyone a Happy Hallowe’en via his special laser-eye messaging technique:

Jules, Vincent and Judi also wish everyone a Happy Hallowe’en, and have offered this beautiful and stylized portrait:

Meanwhile, EJ had a harrowing Hallowe’en at The Chair Speaks as one of the rescue cats had a scary complication from an old operation.

Noll offers up a Hallowe’en-themed Smilebox for everyone to enjoy.  Among the featured photos is one of Noll’s cousin Gizmo “getting his spooky on”.

We always enjoy hearing from other cats named Luna, and here we see Luna T. Katt modeling a pumpkin costume (and not looking particularly pleased about it):

And finally, the cats at PAWS want to wish everyone happy and safe Hallowe’en!

Thanks to everyone who submitted this weekend! We will continue to post updates throughout the day and into early Monday, so there is still time to join us.

And while this may nothing to do with cats or holiday per se, it is still the first time that the orange and black of the San Francisco Giants has been represented on Hallowe’en! Here’s to hoping that our neighbors (literally) win tonight and ultimately win the series in November!