Friday, October 24, 2008

"The Annual Black Cat Panic"


Patti Wigington angrily posted about this unfortunate - to say the least - remark by the Humane Society of West Texas, Adoption Coordinator, Linda Cox, on this adoption of black cats article: "I believe, from the way I understand it, every city of any size is getting more and more witchcraft type people, you know that live in the cities, and these are people that we are concerned about adopting to."


Patti sent sent a concerned email to the West Texas Humane Society, and copied it to the news channel.

A few days after she received the following from Mary Hatfield, President of the West Texas Humane Society, in response to her email:


"As president of the Humane Society of West Texas, I most humbly apologize for the remark that a Humane Society volunteer made associating Wiccan beliefs with animal sacrifice and torture. It is certainly not the official position of the Humane Society nor any other animal rescue organization that Wiccans or members of any other neo-pagan religion are cruel or inhumane. The remark was motivated more by nervousness on the part of the volunteer than any opinion or idea about Wiccans (and let's also not say that such cruelty is the work of mischievous kids. Behavior like that goes far beyond mischief into misdeameanor and felony.).Along with others in my organization, I have a great appreciation for earth-centered and life-centered beliefs and practices and feel Wicca has made valuable contributions to our culture and to our discourse about how we should live on this planet. I feel our organizations are natural allies.I so profoundly and deeply apologize for the remark."

I only hope that this apology was made public on the same paper, not simply sent as a private email to Patti. Arght, we still have to face this kind of misinformation... Pagans are still related as animal sacrifice lovers! I understand that at this time of the year pet adoption's centers do have to be more careful because some people, who have nothing to do with the Old Path, do take these poor little creatures to be tortured - gods know how cruel and twisted some minds can be - specially on Halloween night. But Hello??! Let's read more, please. Most of us (let's not talk about those above-mentioned cruel&twisted minds) loves and respects all kinds of animals, and would never harm a pet, it goes against everything we believe!

*sigh*

6 comentários:

Anonymous said...

Even if this indivual had some archaic view of witches, he should have realised that the black cat is the last creature in danger.

Dragonstar said...

These scares, of one kind or another, are always cropping up. I don't suppose we'll ever overcome this kind of ignorance.

~SkullBlossom~ said...

Hi, I live in West Texas! I wonder if it was one of our area rescue operations that made the remark. Truly, you may not realize it, but there are a lot of people out here who SAY they are witches or warlocks, and then hurt the animals, most especially the black cats. They are just SAYING they are of your faith, obviously they are not, and yet it makes people afraid of pagan persons. It is very unfortunate and I wish the rescue people would not further the confusion by their remarks, because cruelty is all over and there's no need to try to pin it on your religion. Where I work, at the school for what we call juvenile offenders, they all declare they are Christians but they also brag on hurting animals, so the rescue operations need to be careful and point out that many will say anything but it doesn't make it true.

Sorry for the long comment, while I have a different belief system than yours, I would never go around spreading falsehoods about your beliefs. I rescue cats all the time and I have yet to have to do a rescue from any pagans! I wish people would educate themselves about different religions!!! All I care about is, Is a person kind-hearted?

Hugs to you. Now I'm off to see the little kitty keyring you made!!!

Tori said...

It's horrible that these views of Pagans are still so alive today. Animal cruelty is one thing that really hurts me deeply. I have had personal experiences with people who harm animals, and I can't look at them the same.

Anonymous said...

I work with Black Cat Rescue (http://www.blackcatrescue.com) in Boston, MA (USA). I found your post while searching for information about black cat adoption rates.

Black Cat Rescue is a no-kill, all-volunteer network of foster homes dedicated to saving the lives of homeless black cats and kittens by providing them with quality foster care while actively seeking loving, permanent adoptive homes. We are currently seeking new foster homes in the Boston area and thought you might be able to help.

Black cats experience lower adoption rates, particularly within kill-shelter environments. For this reason, we're dedicated to assisting individuals and other organizations with the care and adoption of black cats. Fostering has a significant impact on saving the lives of animals.

The fostering process involves completion of the application to setup a foster profile and one home visit before placing a cat or kitten and we work at the foster home's pace. Please contact blackcatrescue@gmail.com if you are interested in learning more about becoming a foster home or if you have any questions.

Dj Connell said...

A no kill shelter in Oregon is having a Black Cat Adopt-A-Thon on Halloween Night. I've posted a notice about this at The Witches' Voice.

You can read more about what they are doing and find links to a post titled "Those Lucky Black Cats" here:
http://fullcirclenews.blogspot.com/

Blessed Samhain to you and yours,

Sia V.