People are being encouraged to consider adopting black cats and dogs this Halloween.

The Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) is warning that black animals are often overlooked by people looking to rescue.

The charity said many people still hold superstitions about black cats and dogs – and they are left longest waiting the longest in rescue centres.

Superstitious

On Breakfast Briefing this morning, DSPCA Head of Cat Operations Colm O’Donoghue said the adoption pattern is “a bit of a mystery” to the organisation.

“There's a lot of superstition, and people have ideas about what's lucky and what's not lucky,” he said.

“Some people see a black cat as being lucky – some people see it as being unlucky.

“For some people, what they're saying is, with a black cat or a black dog that they don't see the same facial expressions, so, that's why they don't like them.”

Black homeless cat and dog are resting in the shadow on a wooden footbridge. 05/02/15 Image: Eugene Sergeev / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr O’Donoghue advised people thinking of adopting to come in to the rescue centre with an open mind.

“When you're coming up, go for the personality of the pet that you're looking for,” he said.

“Don't have an image in your head of what colour or what gender it is – just come up and meet the animal.”

Trick or treat

Mr O'Donoghue also gave listeners some advice about minding their pets this Halloween – warning that loud noises and disturbances can unsettle many animals.

"For both dogs and cats, we would say, keep them in [the house] and keep them in from early on," he said.

"They'll be aware that there's a lot going on but you don't want to kind of increase the anxiety with them as well by making them feel like something is going on - so keep them in but don't make it obvious that there's something up."

Mr O'Donoghue advised people to feed their pets a bit earlier today, as animals will generally sleep after they eat.

He also advised people to have the radio or TV on so there is a "continuous noise" to prevent dogs or cats from getting startled when bangers or fireworks go off.

Black cat and black dog. Image: Alexey Efanov / Alamy Stock Photo