Help Wirral's black cats improve their luck this Hallowe’en

Cats Protection’s South Wirral Branch is holding its annual National Black Cat Day today, Thursday, to encourage people to find a place in their hearts and homes for an unwanted black or black-and-white moggy.

Following the success of last year’s black cat campaign, the charity is asking people to "paws" for thought when adopting and think about the plight of black cats that tend to lose out on homes to more colourful felines.

Nationally, Cats Protection’s 250 volunteer-run branches and 31 adoption centres are currently looking after between 5,000 and 6,000 cats.

Around half of these are black or black and white and, on average, each of these cats waits around a week longer than other moggies to be rehomed.

“Once favoured by storytellers in tales of magic and witchcraft, black cats have developed an undeserved bad reputation that is still bubbling away,” said Sophie Corless, volunteer publicity officer for South Wirral Branch.

“However, at Cats Protection we are standing up for the ‘under-cat’ and asking people to remember that fur colour is only skin deep and to consider taking a black cat into their home.”

Among the black and black and white cats South Wirral Branch are trying to home are Sally and Vinny.

Sally is a neutered female with a lovely temperament and Vinny is a three-year-old neutered male who is very friendly and loves dogs. They are looking for a home together.

Also looking for a home are two-and-a-half year-old neutered male Magic, who has a very friendly, loving nature, and Jet, a six-month-old male kitten who is also very friendly and currently recovering from a broken leg.

Sally and Vinny are both looking for their furr-ever home.

South Wirral Branch is currently searching for new homes for 12 black or black and white cats in total.

If you would like to adopt them, and to find out more about the cats, call the branch on 0151 355 9813 or visit their website here. 

To get involved with the activities and celebrations of black and black-andwhite cats, Cats Protection is asking cat lovers to visit Cats Protection social media sites on Facebook and Twitter to donate a tweet or Facebook status for National Black Cat Day.

Magic and Jet are also looking for a loving home to call their own.

More myths and legends surround black cats than any other colour. Here are a few superstitions and facts:

• Sailors’ wives kept black cats as they believed their presence would protect their husbands from the dangers of the seas.
   
• If a black cat enters your home uninvited and settles on your hearth, then any business in the family will prosper.
   
• Black cats are associated with being witches’ partners or ‘familiars’, favoured for their ability to blend in with the night. In fact, the theory that cats have ‘nine lives’ comes from the belief that witches could shape-shift nine times into a black cat.
   
• King Charles I of England is probably the most famous person in history to have owned a black cat. He believed his black feline brought him good luck so he made sure it was guarded every day. In a strange twist of fate, the day after the cat died the King was arrested by Cromwell’s troops. 
   
• If a black cat crosses your path, you should look up to the sky and before you return home you may find some money.