Beijing: Pet cafes, where customers pay to interact with animals, are popular in China. The idea of pets earning “snack money” is a growing trend in China, where pets work part-time or full-time at cafes and then return home.
Jane Xue, a 27-year-old PhD student from China, started sending her 2-year-old Samoyed dog, OK, to work at a dog cafe in Fuzhou in mid-September. Xue compared it to parents sending kids to school, saying she wanted OK to “experience a different life” since she and her partner are often away on weekends.
Part-time job for pets
For Xue, it’s also a money-saving option as she doesn’t need to leave the air-conditioning on all day for OK at home, CNN reported.
Pet cafe owners are even advertising for “employees.” A viral post from a cat cafe described how a cat earned five cans of food after taxes. Another post seeking healthy, friendly cats for work attracted hundreds of comments. Inspired by such posts, Xue found a cafe for OK to work at. After she groomed OK for the interview, the cafe owner watched the feline for about an hour to observe if she interacted with customers and the four other dogs at the cafe.
Others, like Xin Xin, a 33-year-old teacher from Beijing, is struggling to find a job for her 2-year-old tuxedo cat, Zhang Bu’er. She posting his CV online but is yet to receive offers. Zhang Bu’er, who spends his days lounging and nights causing chaos, is clingy and good at purring. Xin hopes a job would help burn off his excess energy. She spends around 500 yuan (Rs 5,900) a month feeding her two cats and believes Zhang Bu’er should “earn his own food.”
The trend reflects the booming pet café industry, with over 4,000 cat cafe-related businesses across China in 2023. By the end of 2024, China is expected to have more pets than toddlers.
