In North American society, pets are not welcome at most public establishments, especially restaurants and cafés. Pet shops in Canada and the U.S. may want to take note of a growing trend in Asia towards specialized pet cafés.
Imagine being able to pop into your local pet store and finding it transformed with a pet-friendly café where you could sit and relax with a cup of coffee or tea and visit with all the pets.
Due to a limited amount of space in Japan, long work hours, and apartments with no-pet rules, many people would love to own a cat but are unable to do so. One of the next best things is to visit the local cat café where customers can enjoy a cup of tea and visit with cats.
The patrons generally pay a cover fee, or an hourly rate around $12 plus about $4 per drink which, when you factor in the cost of pet ownership, seems pretty reasonable. Due to this hourly fee, cat cafés are seen as a form of supervised indoor pet rental.
The first cat café opened in Taipei, Taiwan in 1998 and, in addition to local visitors, began attracting a great many Japanese tourists. Six years later, the first Japanese cat café opened in Osaka in 2004, and the phenomenon has grown to the point that Tokyo is now home to at least 39 cat cafés.
There are a variety of cat cafés with some featuring specific types of cat like black cats, fat cats, ex-stray cats, and rare breeds like Himalayans and Persians, as well as cafés and restaurants where cat-owners can bring their own pets for snacks and treats and relax and play games. Café owners must obtain a license and comply with strict requirements and regulations of the Animal Treatment and Protection Law.
Customers say they feel that visiting a cat café has a soothing effect on their stressful lives, and one café in western Tokyo with 19 cats is so busy, reservations are often needed. There are also strict rules regarding cleanliness and animal welfare to ensure the cats are not disturbed by excessive unwanted attention, particularly by young children or when sleeping.
Many cat cafés also seek to raise awareness of issues, such as abandoned and stray cats. There are reportedly 80,000 dogs and 200,000 abandoned cats destroyed every year in Japan, according to the Japan Times. Although pet cafés help keep animals off the streets, some of them are open 24-hours a day, which recently prompted officials to change the laws so that they close by 8 pm.
According to a survey conducted by the Japanese government in 2000, the most popular pet is the dog, followed by the cat. Third and fourth places go to the fish and birds, respectively. It’s interesting to note that this ranking is exactly the same as the United States, which may mean that people’s preferences for companion animals may be somewhat universal.
Maybe one day, no matter where you live, you’ll be able to meet up with friends at a local pet-friendly café, much in the same way the parents congregate at the local Playland, except this venue will be strictly for pet parents and their four-legged family members.
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