Questions About Black Cats, Genetics and Feral Cats

zob wrote:

On Sat, 26 Jan 2008 05:56:29 GMT, Noon Cat Nick
wrote:



History: Witch-hunting became active in Europe in the 13th century.
Prior to that, it was virtually unknown in medieval Europe. The Roman
Catholic Church had rescinded all laws against witchcraft, claiming
there was no such thing, and therefore no one could be arrested, tried,
convicted or punished for an uncommittable crime.

When persecution of witches became revived in the 1400s and later
centuries, cats were part of the pogrom against witchery. Witches would
have animals hanging around their homes, known as familiars. Often cats
would be such animals, since they're attracted to the rodents that would
infest a domicile. Witch-hunters came to believe that witches could turn
themselves into other animals. Thus cats became associated with
witchcraft, thought to be witches themselves in animal form. They were
also considered to be "grimalkins," minor demons who acted as
intermediaries for witches, carrying out their orders so the witch
wouldn't be in the vicinity when the nefarious deeds were done.

In 1484 Pope Innocent VIII decreed that anyone who owned a cat was a
witch, and that when a witch was burned at the stake her cat must be
burned with her. In the 1500s Inquisitor Nicholas Remy declared that all
cats were demons. The Church became rife with cat persecution, blaming
them for the Black Death of the mid-14th century, which decimated a
third of Europe's population. Catholic priests during this time presided
over festivals where cats were burned to death by the hundreds.

Black cats got the worst of it, since black is a color commonly
associated with evil, Satan, and dark spirits. Besides being immolated,
they were beheaded, drawn and quartered, buried alive, and numerous
other manner of cruel execution. Because of this, cats that are pure
solid black disappeared from the landscape. And thus today true,
completely black cats are unheard of.



Wow, you actually believe that chain e-mail stuff?! ROFL! It's pure
fiction started by somebody who was really bored one day. Do you
really believe that black cats were only "owned" by people who were
pesecuted in one tiny area of the world during the Inquisition? And
that they were able to find and destroy every single one? Honestly,
think about it! Even if they, through some unimaginable powers did
that, Rome didn't control Persia, nor Egypt, where cats were revered.
What about the cats in Asia and Africa?

As I said in a another post, I have a purely black cat. He looks jus
tlike a miniature panther. The evidence is empirical and irrefutable
that the story you quoted is nonsense.
---
Zob

You're welcome.