Today, August 17 is officially Black Cat Appreciation Day. Of course, that could apply to any day here at CatSynth.

My black cat Luna, who was originally adopted from a shelter, certainly gets a lot of appreciation and love.

Black cats are sleek and gorgeous. And I have often found them to be among the most sweet and affectionate of cats. Luna is no exception on either front.

Sadly, black cats are still among the last to be adopted from shelters in the United States. Whether it’s lingering superstition or plain bias is hard to say. I see way too many heartbreaking stories of abandoned black cats in kill shelters reaching the end of their time. Black Cat Appreciation Day is an effort to highlight the plight of black shelter cats but also to celebrate them as wondrous companions. This video, from the Meadow Lake Humane Society of Saskatchewan, Canada, always gets to me:

There are numerous local groups on Facebook and elsewhere dedicated to helping black cats, and I encourage interested readers to check them out.