Cat café, dog café and so on and so forth. In China, a country with the most extravagant trends, cafes with dogs and cats are very popular and are confirmed as a rapidly growing business.
You book a table, where requested, you sit down sip your chosen drink surrounded by animals and take photos in the company of poodle puppies, shiba inu, and soft-furred kittens.
This is how they work pet caféwhere customers pay a variable amount to enjoy a different experience than usual that is not limited to a cup of coffee, cappuccino or hot or cold tea. In addition, time is spent cuddling dogs and cats of all breeds, ages and colors.
Some have a family who takes care of them, but they are entrusted (we could also say “loaned”) to pet cafés when their owners are away from home for hours or days. Others are saved from situations of mistreatment or abandonment and find shelter in these places while waiting for an adoption.
Still others are owned by the managers of these points. They come purchased or adopted sometimes only to attract customers. They interact with them, obtaining cuddles and biscuits in exchange, constituting an excellent investment for their owners’ pockets.
In Beijing, just to give an example, there is Haha Husky Cafe of Beijing, where customers can relax and pet dozens and dozens of Husky dogs
In Pictures: Beijing’s husky cafeA Beijing cafe that lets customers pet husky dogs while they enjoy a soft drink has…
Posted by South China Morning Post on Saturday, May 11, 2019
Some owners have also sensed the earning opportunity and have decided to send their four-legged friends to pet cafés. It is not a kindergarten, but a sort of collaboration. On Chinese social networks you can also find “job adverts”, where employees are not people but cats and dogs.
Like any circumstance, we should look at these trends with a critical eye and make the necessary reflections on a case-by-case basis. Cafés that take in stray dogs and cats around the world have great potential in giving anyone’s pets good exposure.
They offer shelter to animals that would otherwise live on the streets, exposed to the elements and other dangers, allowing customers to discover their character, their history and, ultimately, adopt them. This is what happens in a special bar in Argentina where stray dogs are always welcome.
These cafés, which can also count on the support of volunteers or local associations, have the future of animals at heart and are often frequented even by those who for various reasons cannot have dogs or cats at home.
But what about cafés that promote pedigree puppies? Can we have the same conversation? Not exactly. In trendy refreshments, you come across puppies with an irresistible appearance, placed in contexts that do not always take the animal’s needs into account. Colored lights, loud music and a lot of crowds are known to cause stress in animals.
Then there is a question that often goes unanswered: what happens to these animals when they grow up, get old and are no longer so cute? The same goes for bars with miniature pigs, like Mipig in Japan, a novelty that was not needed.
In short, when you want to try an experience like this it is important to know the intent of bars like these because not everything is always as beautiful as it seems.
