Animal lovers across Italy will be celebrating the much-maligned figure of the black cat this Saturday.
The country's first Black Cat Day, organized by the Italian Association in Defence of Animals and the Environment (AIDAA), has planned a number of events in Italy's major cities.
The focus will be on Milan, with a conference explaining the work by AIDAA and other animal associations and a new exhibition of paintings featuring black cats.
Owners of black cats will be encouraged to bring their pets to gatherings in Rome and Milan, to attend outdoor picnics.
There will also be an awards ceremony for people or groups that have particularly helped keep black cats safe.
In addition, Italian songwriter and actor Don Backy has devoted one of his classic pieces to raise awareness of the day.
''Our primary objective is to markedly reduce the number of animals that are kidnapped or abandoned,'' explained AIDAA President Lorenzo Croce.
''However, our aim is also to create a day to fight superstitions and help relaunch the image of the beautiful black cat''.
Black cats get a bad rap in many of the world's myths but the situation is particularly problematic in Italy, according to AIDAA.
It claims that thousands of black felines vanish each year as a result of superstition.
''Black cats are those most targeted by the superstitious, as well as delinquents, who delight in killing them,'' said Croce.
''Our statistics suggest that at least 60,000 black cats vanish each year, kidnapped, abandoned or killed in esoteric or satanic rituals''.
AIDAA, which keeps tabs on animal ownership registers, believes that around 7,000 black cats disappear in the region of Lombardy each year alone, while between 1,200 and 1,500 vanish annually in the provinces of Milan, Rome and Turin.
While many are targeted by thugs and street gangs, AIDAA claims that a considerable percentage probably die as a result of superstitions linking black cats to evil.
Black cats have long received a poor press in the West, mainly because of their association with witchcraft.
Witch hunters in past centuries believed black cats were demonic familiars, and many unlucky pets burned at the stake along with their owners.
While in Britain a black cat crossing one's path is considered good luck, the opposite is true in Italy.
In fact, there are still occasional reports of traffic grinding to a halt as Italian motorists leap from their cars and wait for black felines to finish crossing the road before continuing their journey.
More disturbing, however, are rumours of black cats sacrificed in satanic rituals - stories that AIDAA says peak around Halloween.
While there is little hard evidence for these reports, the problem is not confined to Italy.
In the US, for example, many animal shelters refuse to allow black cats to be adopted during the month of October, and owners of dark kitties are advised to keep their pets safely indoors in the run-up to Halloween.
