'That's pure myth': Experts debunk the tale that black cats face more danger at Halloween

Just like pumpkins, witches and ghouls, black cats have become synonymous with Halloween and one of the most popular animals associated with the holiday.

As iconic they are for their appearances as Binx in "Hocus Pocus" or Salem in "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," black cats have been said to reportedly suffer from their Halloween popularity. From stories of them being abused, used for satanic rituals and even abandoned or killed, people have said animal shelters should not let people adopt black cats during the month of October.

But the reality is, black cats don't actually face increased danger because of Halloween. It's just an urban legend. 

"That's pure myth," Becky Robinson, president and founder of Alley Cat Allies, told USA TODAY. "It's just an old fear that black cats are going to be adopted by people with bad intentions."

Since founding Alley Cat Allies in 1990, Robinson has made it her mission to advocate for the protection of cats across the world. She said there is no data to prove black cats are being harmed during this season. 

The history of black cats being associated with Halloween and bad luck goes as far back as ancient Egypt and Greece when they were seen as mythical creatures, according to History. In medieval Europe, the rise of witchcraft was associated with black cats, which then came across to the United States, although there is no clear answer for how the two became connected. Black cats were also heavily blamed for spreading the Black Plague.

Black cats also have been  characterized as bad luck charms for the people who may cross their paths, but in reality, it's common to run into one. Black fur is a dominant trait in cats, meaning it just takes that one gene for a cat to appear black. That misguided superstition of black cats being unlucky means it takes more effort to get black cats adopted, Robinson says.

Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society, said the issue of getting cats out of a shelter goes beyond the black cat. It affects the whole species.

Nationally, cats die at shelters more than any other animal. Each year, approximately 920,000 shelter animals are euthanized, with more than half, roughly 530,000, being cats, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"Cats in general, there's just more of them entering the shelter system. So, therefore, we have to do double the work to get cats adopted into families," Castle said. "We've got our work cut out for us when it comes to cats."

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Since there is no evidence of harm happening to black cats, Robinson says instead of being cautious with adopting out felines around Halloween, shelters actually may use the animal's popularity to double down on promoting they go to a good home around the spooky holiday.

"Halloween is a marketing season for black cats," she said. "A lot of animal shelters actually use this time of year to promote black cats for adoption."

Castle said it takes shelters getting in front of the media as much as they can during the holiday stretch from Halloween through Christmas to get black cats, and other animals, adopted. In recent years, the decision to use all late-year holidays as a marketing tool has paid off well. 

Still, if people are still unsure about taking in a black cat, Robinson can vouch from her experience of being a black cat owner, saying they "brought me nothing but good luck.

"They're uplifting, and I know that there's hundreds of thousands of people who agree with me who have shared their homes with black cats."

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.