SOHO — A cat cafe on Grand Street has facilitated the adoption of nine cats barely two weeks since it opened.
Little Lions at 40 Grand St. offers coffee, tea, pastries and the opportunity to play with cats you can take home after an adoption process.
Half of the space is the cafe, and a separate section is a hang-out for cats. Humans can join for $10 an hour.
The felines hanging out in Little Lions' "cat sanctuary" are provided by Best Friends Animal Society, an animal rescue organization that aims to save dogs and cats from kill shelters. Each one is spayed or neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped — ready to be adopted.
Little Lions founder Erin McShane was inspired to open the cafe — and to use homeless cats — by her experience volunteering in animal shelters and fostering felines. She sees the enterprise as "a labor of love and a pragmatic solution to address cat homelessness."
"The response has been so wonderful," McShane wrote in an email. "We are getting more cats in this week since all but one in the sanctuary is now either adopted or going through the adoption process!"
The one remaining is one-year-old Marlie, below, who McShane describes as "sweet and sassy."
Anyone interested in meeting Marlie can visit Little Lions any day of the week, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Little Lions, 40 Grand St., 646-484-6250. The teahouse opens every day at 8 a.m., and the cat sanctuary opens at 10 a.m. Both close at 8 p.m. Reservations for the cat sanctuary are recommended but not required, and can be made online.
