Cat Cafe gets $165k from New York State

In mid-May, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that $7.6 million would be awarded to 21 animal shelters and humane societies across the state for capital projects that “will help ensure adoptions for New York’s dogs and cats.” One of the recipients in this fifth round of the program is Brooklyn Cat Cafe, a volunteer-run adoption center and community space in Brooklyn Heights.

The money will help the cafe expand its to a second floor and create a fullservice medical suite. The expansion will include an outdoor catio; a nursery for cat moms and kittens; a shelter room dedicated to cats who are positive for feline leukemia; and a space for single, adult cats.

“The new space will provide shelter cats that cannot be housed in Brooklyn Cat Cafe’s main space with better enrichment and more opportunities to socialize with people, leading to quicker adoptions and increasing our ability to rescue other cats waiting for intake. In addition, the new medical equipment and veterinary space will allow us to treat rescued cats more quickly and make them available for adoption sooner,” said Anne Levin,

by Erin DeGregorio

head of the animal service.

NYS breaks animal ground

As the first state in the country to fund capital projects for animal shelters, New York has dedicated more than $33 million to the program.

“Animal shelters and humane societies across New York provide essential care for dogs and cats as they await their new families and forever homes,” said Gov. Hochul.

“Part of the reason why we wanted to create a cat cafe is because we need more places where people can come and meet adoptable cats,” said Managing Director of Rescue Julia Rosenfeld.

Underlying Crisis

Though an estimated 500,000 homeless cats roam freely in New York City, Levin believes this number is much higher—by 200,000—given the lack of accessible and affordable spay/neuter services.

“It’s great that New York State is supporting shelters. It’s definitely needed and hopefully it will help to increase adoptions and education about rescuing animals,” Levin said. “But, the underlying crisis of homeless animals in New York City—specifically home- less cats—is that shelters are dealing with about five percent of the problem, because there’s very limited or no affordable spay/neuter.”

“We’ve seen the impact in waves,” Rosenfeld noted. “At the beginning of the pandemic, everyone wanted to adopt a cat and cats immediately found homes. But at the same time, during the pandemic, access to most spay/ neuter was extremely limited because veterinary care was significantly harder to access. We have since seen the impact of that because there are more kittens being born, because cats who would have been spayed/neutered two years ago weren’t. So, at least to me, it has felt much more overwhelming because there are a lot more cats.”

According to a study, spay/neuter surgery with vaccination for cats at private veterinarians ranged between $400 and $1,000. To help combat this financial barrier, a discounted rescue veterinary clinic for cats at Brooklyn Cat Cafe was opened in 2020. A year later the group opened a deeply discounted spay/neuter and surgery clinic for cat rescuers and low-income cat owners—the only low-cost spay/ neuter option that is currently avail- able for owned cats in New York City without several months’ wait. Since launching the clinic 3,200 cats have been treated.

More money needed

Since the State grant funds only half of the Cafe’s project costs, the Brooklyn Cat Cafe needs to raise an additional $165,000 before the end of August to match the grant and secure its funding. The Cafe has received nearly $6,300 in donations as of May 29. To make a donation, visit catcafebk.com/ donate