This policy statement from on Cats Protection UK pretty much sums up my concerns:
https://www.cats.org.uk/what-we-do/c...-we-stand#cafe

This article goes a bit deeper:
https://www.mashed.com/118733/dirty-truth-cat-cafes/

Sounds ok. But where do they piss and shit?

Where ever they want, they are cats.

Seriously I think you will run into the same challenges as cafes that offer free internet. Your guests will buy a coffee and then park their bums for a long time.

Low revenue stream but with additional costs.

And the animal welfare people will have a very close look at this.

Do people still use open WLAN? I would think the cat cafe idea is more of a health and safety issue if any food or drink is consumed on the premises, although it sounds like a nice idea, except perhaps too those with feline allergies.

I would suggest contacting the leading Swiss Tierchutz organizations and ask for their opinions on your concept. This will be a critical part of your general market research.

Anytime animals are used in a commercial venture you need to understand not only the various animal welfare laws applicable but also broader Tierschutz/ethical concerns.


(You have a couple threads on this topic going - for clarity's sake perhaps it would be a good idea to contact a Mod to put them all together. )

Wherever they want!! What sort of an answer is that! So they can piss and shit in the corner with your concept.

No, they WILL piss and shit wherever they want. They probably would prefer a litter tray but they are cats.

In cat cafe's, cats usually have a different room that only cats can access where there food, litter, and other things are. Litter trained cats wont go poop or piss around.

This is a nice perspective actually! Will take note of it.

Animal welfare people will definitely look into it with a magnifying glass but if the cafe is compliant and will follow everything, nothing to fear really.

I already have a list of Swiss Tierchutz to contact as well as read the code for animal rights but still doing more research before contacting the Swiss Tierchutz. I am already expecting a negative feedback so planning to talk to them prepared

Thanks for the tip, I only found 1 thread about Cat Cafes and my post but would contact a mod as you suggested

Cats, food and people eating. Cats have diseases.

So do people... ;-)



OP, have you tried positioning your enterprise as more a Cat Adoption Centre, which happens to have a Cafe attached? Something tells me this might be an easier sell to the various Swiss authorities. It will still be hard, though.



Regards




Ian

That is an interesting twist!! Never thought about it that way but makes sense. Thanks for the tip Ian

Please do not 'position' your venture as an adoption center. You either are a full fledged rescue, properly constituted and properly run, or not. Rescue is about the welfare of the animal, punkt fertig.

There are already enough businesses hijacking rescue work, cashing in on the warm fuzzies of naive consumers. Many unfortunately add to animal suffering.

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If you are going to run a cat rescue, then do it right.

If you are going to run a commercial cafe, do it right.

There isn't much intersection between the two.

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Please read the links I posted on the objections made by many involved in animal welfare to the cafe-as-rescue model.

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While your business venture raises red flags for me, particularly on animal welfare grounds, I'll offer the only scenario I see as less problematic:

You personally adopt the cats. You personally commit to 100% responsibility for the care, welfare, health, and quality of life for each and every cat for the rest of their natural lives. Your primary role is that of cat owner/carer, the cats are your pets.

After thorough assessment, you carefully choose individuals that are happy to live together. After thorough assessment you carefully choose individuals who are happy to be socialable with humans. You ensure that the group of cats are well integrated with each other and with a wide variety of people well in advance of even submitting a planning application. You maintain a stable colony, any new cat added to the group goes through a proper introduction and assessment period.

You establish ground rules for your customers' interaction with your cats, and you ensure these are adhered to.

And you never, ever forget that your pet cats are not 'props' for a business venture.

Given the strict animal welfare hurdles we went through when adopting our furry friend from a Tierheim in ZH I don’t see how this could work in CH. For example they interrogated us for 30 mins on our lifestyle & potential suitability before we could even see our dog of choice, then she was on probation with us for a further two weeks, then they visited our apartment to check it’s size etc. Our chosen dog was 9 years old at the time and 11kg so nothing extraordinary - this was just the standard practice of the Tierheim to vet prospective owners.

Am sorry but I really don’t see how any Tierheim here would bless this venture but as others have listed further market research here will highlight the potential issues....

Perhaps I've misunderstood the notion of a cat café, but I found the images of keeping cats in a way that they'd be exposed (in the cats' own home? in their own safe space?) to being touched by random customers coming into the café a little sickening.

This. Thank you.

Opening a Cat Cafe specially in Switzerland will be very hard and will be under the microscope from cat lovers and animal shelters but when done correctly with the best intentions, hopefully it goes well.

The first one in Switzerland (if the one in Bern pushes through) will definitely set the picture for it and I hope it would be a good one.

I am doing as much research and reading as I can and talking to folks with different points of view really helps so I appreciate all the feedback

In German, we say "Well intended is the opposite of well done".

The problem is that the cats inevitably can't be asked if they're OK with such a concept.

They can't sign up for it, they can't refuse.

Runningwatur, have you ever run a cafe before?

It's a difficult business to begin with, many fail in the first year or two.

I'm curious as to why you would then choose a controversial model that burdens you with extraordinarily high regulatory hurdles, higher start up and running costs, and almost guarantees you a negative reputation with a segment of the customer base you are presumably hoping to attract.

If you are looking for a 'hook' to differentiate your cafe from the thousands of others that are your competition, there are better ideas out there without the animal exploitation concerns.

If you are looking to help homeless cats, there are far better ways that follow animal welfare guidelines.

So why a cat cafe?

Typical "projecting one's likings onto others and thinking it's a business idea" thinking IMO.

Basically in the same category as nude-dining restaurants and other weird ideas.


Anything that has to do with serving customers and renting commercial real estate is just a sure-fire way to blow through your 2nd pillar and be bankrupt in no time.

But hey - it's a free country, so....