Spanish city suspends adoption of black cats for Halloween

The City Council of Terrassa (Spain) has limited adoption of black cats during the month of October and until November 10 on the occasion of Halloween, to prevent felines from being used for esoteric or ritual practices.

The measure is adopted “following the criteria of prudence applied by various animal protection entities” with the aim of “preventing possible risk situations for these animals derived from superstitions, rituals or irresponsible uses that may occur during these dates,” said the municipal entity.

In this way, the council is preventing both the reception and adoption processes of these animals at the Terrassa Domestic Animal Center, “except in cases duly justified and assessed by the center’s technical team, in which there is a full guarantee of safety and a reliable history of the applicant.”

Likewise, requests made during this period will be re-evaluated and, once the indicated period has ended, the procedure will resume normally.

The city council points out in its statement that this instruction “does not imply any discrimination in relation to the color or characteristics of the animals, but rather an additional protection action aimed at guaranteeing their well-being.”

What the Catholic Church teaches about superstition

The Catechism of the Catholic Church outlaws superstition since “the first commandment prohibits honoring gods other than the One Lord who has revealed himself to his people” (2110).

Furthermore, superstition is defined as “the deviation of religious sentiment and the practices it imposes” and can also occur when the true God is worshiped “when a, in some way, magical importance is attributed to certain practices, on the other hand, legitimate or necessary.”

Likewise, “attributing its effectiveness to the sole materiality of the prayers or sacramental signs, regardless of the interior dispositions they require, is to fall into superstition,” the Catechism points out in its number 2111.