No black cat will cross your path this Halloween, not if a northern Idaho animal shelter can help it. Like many shelters around the country, the Kootenai Humane Society in Coeur d'Alene is prohibiting(1) black cat adoptions from now to Nov. 2, fearing the animals could be mistreated in Halloween pranks - or worse, sacrificed in some satanic(2) ritual.

　　今年万圣节你将不会看到黑猫从你家附近的小路走过，除非北爱达荷州的动物保护机构帮助它。和其他保护组织一样，为防止黑猫在万圣节恶作剧中受到虐待或更甚者成为某些邪恶仪式的祭品，库特内科达伦慈善协会从11月2日起拒绝受理黑猫领养业务。

　　The risk may be remote(3), said the shelter's executive director, Phil Morgan.

　　收容所执行总监菲尔·摩根说发生这种事情的几率可能微乎其微。

　　"It's kind of an urban legend. But in the humane(4) industry it's pretty typical that shelters don't do adoptions of black cats or white bunnies because of the whole satanic sacrificial thing," Morgan said. "If we prevent one animal from getting hurt, then it serves its purpose."

　　摩根说："对于城市来说这听起来有些奇特。但是，在慈善界，为预防邪恶祭祀行为拒绝领养黑猫和白兔很正常。哪怕我们因此只救了一只小动物，一切就值得。"

　　Out of 97 cats at the shelter, 28 are black, Morgan said.

　　摩根说收容所共有97只猫，其中28只为黑色。

　　However, some animal experts say the practice does more to hurt animals than protect them.

　　但是，有些动物专家说这样的行为不但不能保护动物，还可能造成更大伤害。

　　"Black cats already suffer a stigma(5) because of their color," said Gail Buchwald, vice president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter in New York City. "Why penalize(6) them any more by limiting the times when they can be adopted?"

　　纽约美国防止虐待动物协会副主席盖尔·布什瓦尔德说："黑猫因为皮毛颜色已经很倒霉了，为什么还要减少他们被领养的机会？"

　　Black cats tend to be adopted less often than other felines, Buchwald said.

　　布什瓦尔德说黑猫本来就不容易被领养。

　　"Behaviorally, there's no difference from the color of the cat. It's tied into this whole mythology(7) about the animal - don't let it cross your path or some foreboding(8) or foreshadowing(9) of evil - and that's an outdated superstition(10)," she said.

　　她说："从行为上说，各种颜色的猫没有分别。这只是与有关黑猫的神话有关，例如不要让黑猫从你门前走过，或者它们是魔鬼凶兆的象征，这已经是过时的迷信了。

　　It's not clear how many shelters still seasonally ban black cat adoptions, said Kim Intino, director of animal sheltering issues for the Humane Society of the United States, but the trend seems to be fading - along with the once-common bans on bunny adoptions around Easter or puppy adoptions as Christmas gifts.

　　美国慈善协会动物保护部门主管吉姆·因提诺说，不清楚目前有多少家收容所依然季节性拒绝领养黑猫，但数量的确在下降。曾经在复活节拒绝兔子领养和圣诞节拒绝领养小动物作为礼物的现象也与日俱减。

　　"If there were people out there performing rituals with animals, then I would think that Halloween would be a time for that, but a good adoption process would tend to weed(11) that out," Intino said. "There's going to be incidents of weird abuse that happen no matter what. The remedy(12) is not banning black cat adoptions."

　　因提诺说："如果有人用小动物作为仪式祭品，我认为万圣节的确给了他们理由，但是严格的领养程序应该能够避免此类事情发生。无论怎样各种怪异事件都会发生，限制领养黑猫不能解决问题。"

　　1. prohibit：阻止，禁止

　　2. satanic：恶魔的

　　3. remote：几率小的

　　4. humane：仁慈的

　　5. stigma：污名，耻辱

　　6. penalize：处罚

　　7. mythology：神话

　　8. foreboding：预兆

　　9. foreshadow：预示

　　10. superstition：迷信

　　11. weed out：清除

　　12. remedy：补救

　　（CRI ENGLISH)

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