Ritual Cat Sacrifices a Halloween Myth, Experts Say

[snopes]

On the day after Halloween in 2004, employees of the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center found a gruesome sight: a black cat duct-taped to an 8-foot-tall (2.5-meter-tall) crucifix.

"That was shocking," said shelter director Misha Goodman.

Such occurrences, though rare, feed a myth that satanic cults sacrifice black cats on Halloween.

The perceived threat has frightened some U.S. animal shelters into halting black-cat adoptions during October.

But animal-shelter employees and cult experts say it's time to put this urban legend to rest.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...oween-cat.html