A dog café is due to open in Manchester next month.
Roundthorn Industrial Estate near Wythenshawe hospital will soon become home to the city’s first dog café, Central Bark.
Husband and wife, Tony and Tania Golding, are creating an inviting environment for dog owners and non-dog owners to enjoy coffee and cake in the company of up to 70 friendly, loving dogs.
For the past seven years the couple have run a dog day care and dog boarding business that enables the dogs they care for to run freely rather than be in kennels.
Mr Golding said the dog café was something they had wanted to do for a while.
The 14,000-square foot warehouse conversion will include four doggy play areas including a “dog zone” area where customers will be able to pet and cuddle the dogs, as well as grooming stations, and a café serving hot food and drinks.
The café will have a beach theme based on one of their rescue dogs named Alfie, a Golden Retriever from Greece.
“We love the beach and thought as Manchester can be quite gloomy, it would be nice for people to escape that by coming to our café,” Mr Golding said.
“Alfie will be the café’s mascot, meeting and greeting customers at the door.”
A dog cafe is opening in Manchester in January omg I am SO excited ??
— Eva Boyle (@evalilboyle1) November 23, 2016
Customers are able to bring their own dogs along to the café to play and interact with dogs from a range of breeds. Customers’ dogs are allowed to enter the play areas for a fee of around £5.
There will be no fee required to enter the café. Daycare will be offered for dogs at £17.50 per day, with hours being flexible.
Manchester’s New Dog Cafe Is Looking For Volunteers #lovinmanchester #centralbarkhttps://t.co/DOvbLQp9o1
— Lovin Manchester (@lovin_mcr) November 23, 2016
Since the opening of the Manchester cat café, there has been some controversy about the treatment of the animals and their general welfare. So would the dog café receive the same backlash?
Animal rights activist Hannah Rolland, 19, states: “Cats are solitary animals, they very rarely enjoy the company of other cats.”
She believes that putting large numbers of cats in an enclosed space can cause them to become “extremely stressed” and territorial meaning they will be likely to begin spraying which is not hygienic.
Dogs are social animals and therefore tend to prefer being in groups, however it could still become problematic depending on the difference in dog’s characters.
Mr Golding said: “We accept and welcome all breeds. The dogs we take on will go through a small assessment for the daycare to see what personalities they have. We don’t want to put the dogs in uncomfortable situations.”
The dog café does not allow dogs to roam freely throughout the cafe as it would stress the dogs.
By Megan Green
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