Marvel's Black Panther has taken the world by storm, conquering the box office and likely updating Marvel Studios' strategy going forward. But the film's popularity and importance has also had some unintended and uplifting consequences, with people being inspired and motivated by the film, and even helping others to see it. Now we have news that, if accurate, may be the most heartwarming of all. The popularity of Black Panther has supposedly led to an increase in black cat adoptions from animal shelters.
According to The Daily Dot, a user on Tumblr has said that her local pet shelters went from having 50-60 black cats to having none at all. The cause of this massive uptick in the popularity of black cats might have been a mystery except that the black cats are being named T'Challa, Shuri and even Killmonger, after the characters in the movie. I guess panthers are a little hard to come by, so black cats are a good alternative. Now this is anecdotal, of course, and just the experience of one Tumblr user. A larger sample of data would be needed to confirm if this is truly a trend and an effect of Black Panther. But, if we assume that this is true, it is truly touching and encouraging news.
There are countless animals in shelters all over the country that are in need of good homes, and unfortunately a large percentage of them wind up being euthanized when they are not adopted. The prospects of adoption for black cats are possibly worse due to superstition and spooky imagery that often associates black cats with the occult and bad luck. There is some debate about whether this stigma causes black cats to be adopted as a smaller percentage of the total, or whether this is simply a myth perpetuated because the black gene is dominant and there are simply more black cats than other colors. Either way, more cats being adopted, regardless of color, is a good thing. It would be incredible if Black Panther is inspiring people to take home their very own mini black panthers. I had a black cat for many years and can testify to their objective merit; he was quite awesome and like Killmonger (which is great name for a cat, by the way) racked up his fair share of kills.
This would not be the first time that a popular movie or TV show has inspired families to get a new pet. Everyone wanted a Dalmatian thanks to Disney's 101 Dalmatians, and not that long ago, people were adopting huskies because of their resemblance to direwolves from Game of Thrones. The problem is that oftentimes the animals that look like so much fun onscreen are the least suitable as pets in real life, especially for young children, so excited families adopt pets that are too hard to take care of only to wind up taking them to the shelter not long after. Fortunately, most people don't have access to panthers, but black cats are an awesome choice and they are no more difficult to take care of than any other cat.
Go check out your local shelter. You might find a stealthy, badass feline there who'd be happy to come home with you. For all the latest in Black Panther making the world a better place and cool pet news, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.
