Black cat superstitions formed around Satan, witches, and bad luck are continuing to cause real world harm to these animals and even some people around mistreatment and discrimination. Along with the belief that these cats and the color black are connected to Satan they are also believed to be related to witches and to bring people a long history of bad luck. Mount St Joseph's University wrote “A majority of these negative links to black cats date as far back as the 13th Century, starting with a document from the Catholic Church which linked black cats to Satan”

 Britannica wrote “Between the 14th and 18th centuries, when black cats were often implicated in witchcraft activities during witch hunts and trials.” Since these cats and the color black have been seen to be related to both witches and Satan it allows people to believe they can cause harm back to these animals or dislike the color black as a “payback” method for any bad luck they may have experienced. These beliefs end up causing so much harm in the world and such a divide that people so strongly believe in and they believe that if they cause this harm they are doing the world a favor by taking this bad luck away. This causes the cats to have the lowest adoption rates (around 10%) and highest euthanasia rates (up to 74.6%)

The Humane Society of the United States is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to promoting animal welfare and preventing cruelty to animals. They are constantly pushing for stronger laws for stricter punishment for being a part of animal cruelty. They also hold public awareness campaigns, support shelters and rescues, and continuously help with the care for harmed animals and rescue/put them in safe homes. They are big on educating the public and changing the laws to help advocate for the animals. Signing this petition helps put a stop to this and shows that animal protection should be a higher priority in the world. You are helping educate others by showing that it is a real problem in today’s world.