MANHATTAN — Dog lovers who can't have a pet in the city may soon be able to play with adoptable pups at the borough's first canine cafe — if two young women can get their Indiegogo campaign off the ground.
Maggie Chan and Mandy Chow, who are both 24 and met as freshmen at Syracuse University, are trying to raise $70,000 in the next month to build the Dog Cafe — a doggie playground and human cafe that would connect New Yorkers with adoptable shelter dogs.
They were impressed by the Lower East Side's Cat Cafe and felt dogs deserved similar treatment.
"Why not have a dog cafe?" Chow asked.
So far, Chow, who works in information technology, and Chan, who previously worked for a payroll company, have raised about $700, but they'll need tens of thousands of dollars more to open their spot.
They envision an expansive indoor space of at least 2,000 square feet in a place with high traffic, like Midtown, Chelsea or the Lower East Side. The Dog Cafe would offer pet-sitting services, as well as a chance for dog owners to bring their pets to play with others, and shelters would send in adoptable dogs for New Yorkers to meet. The cafe would be separated from the playground by a glass wall, to comply with food service regulations.
Both Chow, who lives in Midtown, and Chan, who lives on the Lower East Side, are lifelong New Yorkers and dog lovers who are alarmed by the number of abandoned dogs in need of homes in the city.
"[There are] too many strays," Chow said. "We're hoping to promote adoptions to reduce that problem."
