animal welfare

Weekend Cat Blogging: Brooklyn Cat Cafe

We at CatSynth took a break from our busy schedule of art, friends, and family in New York to visit the Brooklyn Cat Cafe.  

The concept of the “cat cafe” originated in Japan, but has spread around the world, including at least three in New York.  Like Cat Town in Oakland, it is an all-volunteer effort focused on finding foster and forever homes for the cats in their care.  It is located in a small storefront on Atlantic Avenue in the shadow of the bridges and downtown Brooklyn, but a peek inside reveals a space covered in cats.

Many were napping, like the line above, but they are also quite playful and affectionate.  They are, of course, cats.

This sweet black kitty greeted me with a nose kisses.

Hilda was perhaps the most playful on this evening, looking visitors in the eyes as she played with various toys.  She especially liked this wires dangling from the main table.

Burton was a big fellow and quite a character.  A very friendly cat, he minded me a big of our friend Marlon, aka “the big merp” in Oakland, but with Sam Sam’s markings.

One of the hardest parts of traveling is leaving behind my cats.  So having cat cafes is in the cities I visit is most welcome.  The change to play with cats, cuddle them, and pet them can brighten the stormiest night.

The cats are clearly loved and well cared for, and there are rules for visitors that help ensure a safe and respectful space for them.  Most of these fall under the rubric of “don’t be a jerk”, but there are also reminders of the fact that each cat has a different level of comfort with human behavior.  If a cat is wary of being pet, respect their boundaries.  If a cat needs a break from human interaction and wants to hide (and I can certainly sympathize with that), let them.  And the result is a place filled with love among human and feline alike, and many cats have found their forever homes through visits to the cafe.

The Brooklyn Cat Cafe is run by the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, which is dedicated to finding homes for cats and other animals in their community.  They opened the cafe in 2016.

By our one-year anniversary in May of 2017, the cafe had welcomed over 35,000 visitors — an average of over 95 visitors cuddling with our cats per day — and placed over 250 cats in permanent adoptive homes.

To find out more about the cafe, including visiting, adopting cats, and how to donate or volunteer, please visit their website.

Animal welfare and wild cats for “Mo’ Cats Day”

Back in 2009, some individual or group declared that 09/09/09 would be “No Cats Day”, a day on which there would be “no cats on the internet.” It is true that there is a preponderance of cat-related material on the internet, some of it fun and endearing, some quite informative, and some downright insipid. But the idea of banning cats from the internet for one day is preposterous, and quite mean. So in defiance, many cat-related blogs declared “Mo’ Cats Day” on 09/09/09, and on every September 9 since then.

We have not participated in the past, but this year we are doing so with a brief post highlighting the work of organizations that promote the welfare of domestic and wild cats. The Humane Society of the United States is one such organization – one of their recent monthly magazines achieved coffee-table-quality and is shown in the above photo at CatSynth HQ.

Locally, we have the San Francisco SPCA, which has adoption and animal-welfare advocacy programs among their many functions. They are behind those holiday windows at Macy’s Union Square that feature adoptable cats.

Both the SPCA and our local Animal Services operate no-kill shelters, and indeed we became the first “no-kill city” in the United States.

Luna was adopted back in 2005 from the local shelter in Santa Cruz, and in gratitude we continue to support Friends of Santa Cruz County Animals.

We are also thinking about wild cats on this day and the organizations that work towards their welfare and conservation. The International Society For Endangered Cats (ISEC) Canada is dedicate to the conservation of small wild cats, who often don’t get the attention of their famous big-cat counterparts. The have lots of information and are involved in several programs around the world.

Closer to home the Felidae Conservation Fund “aims to advance the conservation of wild cats and their habitats planetwide through a combination of groundbreaking research, compelling education and cutting-edge technology.” They are involved in several research studies, some of them quite local to northern California, as well as conservation efforts.

Please visit our previous wild cats posts for more information and links to other organizations.