Charities call for cat café phase-out
There could be many more cat cafés operating without regulation.
RSPCA and Cats Protection have collaborated to call for a phase-out of so-called ‘cat cafés’, reporting a 44 per cent increase in licences.
The welfare charities state that it is ‘almost impossible’ to properly meet the welfare needs of cats in this environment.
The campaign follows a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to all councils in England, which revealed that there are 30 cat cafés licensed in England. Of these cafés, 44 per cent received their licences in the past financial year.
Since there is no cat-specific licence, cafés which are inspected by local councils are normally managed under regulations related to keeping or training animals for exhibition. However it is not mandatory for a cat café to be licensed.
RSPCA and Cats Protection believe there could be many more cat cafés which are operating without regulation.
In cat cafés, the charities say that cats will frequently be handled and stroked by strangers, with limited opportunity to hide or escape. They may be unable to access resources such as litter trays, and may be left in small pens. This close proximity can increase their risk of developing cat flu or feline enteritis.
These cats may hide signs of stress, often by feigning sleep, which can seriously harm their physical and emotional wellbeing.
Alice Potter, cat welfare expert at the RSPCA, said: "Although those that are licensed under exhibition regulations will be subject to some level of inspection, cat welfare experts believe it's simply not possible for cats to experience a good quality of life in cafés - and therefore they should not be rubber-stamped by local councils.
“Equally, the legislation is quite unclear about whether cafés need to be licensed at all, and therefore we suspect some cat cafés are operating without any form of regulation or local authority oversight at all."
RSPCA and Cats Protection are urging local authorities to stop granting new exhibition licences for cat cafés, and also to stop renewing existing licences.
In the long term, the charities are calling on UK and Welsh government to review their licensing activities. This would see them create a list identifying activities which negatively impact animal welfare and preventing businesses from doing them.
Daniel Warren-Cummings, central behaviour officer at Cats Protection, said: Although many cat café owners start their enterprise out of a desire to help unwanted cats, they will ultimately commit themselves to having high numbers of cats to meet consumer demand, which makes it difficult to run these businesses in a way that truly protects cat welfare.”
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