VANCOUVER, CANADA - The cat cafe opened its doors in December and allows customers to mingle with cats and adopt if they choose to.
“We do have special criteria for the cats we can send over, because not every cat is going to thrive in an environment where there are a lot of people and a lot of other cats,” said Lorie Chortyk from the BC SPCA (BCSPCA)
“We hand-pick the ones that go over.”
But Catfé can only comfortably hold about a dozen cats at a time and the SPCA takes in about 13,000 cats every year, according to Chortyk. She says the SPCA finds homes for nearly all of them, but is now working to reduce the length of stay for cats.
Catfé gives people a chance to spend time with cats in a familiar social setting and to see if a cat to human connection can be made. Chortyk says the furry felines do most of the work themselves.
Some members of the public had early access into Vancouver’s first cat café where you can grab a java and play with kittens. (Megan Batchelor/CBC)
“I think that people just get so many benefits from being around animals. We know from research they lower our blood pressure,” said Chortyk.
“It’s that companionship, that unconditional love that people just find so relaxing and amazing to be around.”
Only 16 people are allowed in the cat-lounge section of the cafe at any one particular time and reservations are surely recommended.
Catfe has been wildly popular since December 2015, with the cafe running out of cats earlier this week. (CBC)
For more updates follow Catfé on Facebook.