Vancouver cat caf gets another life after $100K outpouring of support

A cat cafin Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood recently put out a plea for help, saying rising costs and the residual effects of the COVID-19 pandemic had left the business struggling to the point where it might have to close its doors.

Thursday evening, a week after CatoroCafe launched an online crowdfunding effort, an outpouring of support had raised nearly$104,000.

"This week has been very emotional,"saidVictoria Vandenberghe,manager at the cat caf, who has been working there since it opened in July2019.

She says the cafand its employees foundtheyreached their goal of raising $100,000 on Thursday morning.

"The amount of support that's come in has just been astounding. We really do see that the community wants us to stay."

Tributesand donations on the fundraising website have come from both locals and people from out of province, many of whom shared pictures of the cats they adopted through Catoro Cafe and thanked the business for what they do.

Vandenberghe says the original owners of the cafe wanted to offer a safe space where people could grab a bubble tea and then head into a so-called cat forest to hang out with free-roaming felines.

The idea was to allow visitors tobenefit from animal therapy, and give people considering bringing home a new pet the chance to enjoy them in the cafe.

The cafworks with twocat rescues based out of Saskatchewan, helping themfind homes for over 850 animals.

Vandenberghe says between staff at the cafe and the adoption centre, as well asdrivers who deliver pet supplies, the Catoro Cafeemploys around20 people full- and part-time.

Over the course of the pandemic, when most businesses wereshut down due topublic health measures on multiple occasions, bills started to pile up and the cafe racked up significant debt.

"Like all businesses, it's definitely been a struggle to recover," Vandenberghe said.

"A lot of the funds will be going toward paying the debts, providing more food and litter for the kitties and also going to a lot of their future vet bills."

She says she and the team are excited to be able to continue their work and maybe even expand their operations in 2023.

The cafwill also be giving some of the moneytotheir rescue partners, Running Wild Rescue and SOS PrairieRescue.

"We're so, so thankful for all the support from every person that even just liked, shared or spread the word,"said Vandenberghe.

"Without the support of the community we wouldn't be able to continue what we're doing."