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# The bar scene Don’t cross
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-bar-scene-dont-cross/
- Published: 2007-04-13T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:34:09.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Cross paths with a black cat at your own risk on Friday the 13th*

THE UNDERWORLD Here kitty, kitty.

Whether its Halloween or Friday the 13th, as it is today, black cats tend to get a bad rap, so much so that some animal shelters have rules against adopting the allegedly foul felines in the weeks leading up to these days of darkness.

Urban legend has it that cults will sacrifice the cats as part of a pagan ritual, while others steer clear, refusing to adopt them because of the belief that they bring bad luck.

That’s one of the reasons why Donn Umber, director of the Santa Monica Animal Shelter, has four black cats at home.

“I heard that black cats are harder to adopt, so that’s why I have a house full of them,” Umber said. “As far as a policy here, we don’t have one about adopting black cats … Adopting black cats for ritualistic purposes is really an urban legend.

“Here we have the ability to spend a lot of time with an owner, so if someone just walks in that day and says they want that cat without even spending any time with them, we know something is up,” Umber said “We’ll refuse to let them take the cat home.”

Historically, black cats were symbolically associated with witchcraft and evil. In Hebrew and Babylonian folklore, cats are compared to serpents, coiled on a hearth.

Originally in Britain and Europe, a black cat crossing one’s path was considered good luck, however, they were also seen by the church as having an association with witches.

It was the church that deemed them unholy and pagan, altering their reputation forever. In the United States and parts of Europe, which were affected by the witch hunts, the cats’ tie-ins with witches caused them to be considered as bad luck.

A black cat, either brought into or entering Shea Stadium on its own, walked on-field during a game in 1969 between the red-hot Mets and the reeling Chicago Cubs. The cat circled Cubs third baseman Ron Santo while he was in the on-deck circle.

This distraction seemed to spell doom for the Cubs, who ultimately blew a 9 1/2-game lead to the Mets that season.

Many blamed the cat. While many remember the warning about black cats crossing your path, there are other superstitions that carry the same weight, including the fear of the number 13, or triskaidekaphobia.

Among some of the more well-known superstitions: spilling salt, breaking a mirror and walking beneath a ladder.

Spilling the salt can cause a serious argument or fight to break out. To undo this, one must toss some salt over their left shoulder.

Breaking a mirror can lead to seven years bad luck. To make sure that does not happen, people are advised to bury the shards under the moonlight.

And whatever you do, never pick up a penny with the “tails” side facing up. If you do, you will be penniless very soon.

There is no scientific evidence supporting those claims,but there are those abide by them.

For those looking to prove the superstitions wrong, there is a list of the top-10 reasons to adopt a black cat on tails-of-hope.org. Not only can they save you money on a Halloween costume, the Web site says, they can easily be found in snow and holding one can be very slimming.

Remember, love knows no color.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 13, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/041307.pdf?ref=smdp.com)