PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — This nonprofit cafe in Queen Village is helping an animal rescue find homes for adoptable cats.
At Get a Gato on South Seventh and Christian streets, you can try delicious Columbian-inspired beverages and bites, hang out with up to 12 cuddly cats in their back lounge and maybe even take one home. You just have to buy a ticket, take off your shoes and sanitize your hands before interacting with them.
Jackie Starker is the executive director of the cafe. She says the cats have color-coded collars — either green, yellow or red — with their names attached to show how approachable they are.
"Green means they are very friendly and outgoing, you are free to pet them and play with them. Yellow is that they are either maybe new to the space or a little shy, so just go slowly with them, and we don't have any reds right now, but red means they need some space,” Starker said.
The nonprofit cafe essentially serves as a satellite adoption center for their new partner, Morris Animal Refuge.
“And what it really does, is it just exposes more animals to the City of Philadelphia, and that's what we really need because there are a ton of homeless cats out there,” said Lewis Checchia, executive director and CEO of the refuge.
It’s an initiative that helped Courtney of Center City find her new fur-ever friend named Stewie. She moved to the area a few months ago and had been researching where to adopt a cat — Get A Gato, she said, kept popping up.
“In this environment, you actually get to meet the cats in a way that they are not just in cages and you’re walking through going, well that one is cute and it’s a lot more conducive in getting to know the cat’s personality and bonding with them.”
All adoption applications are processed and approved by the refuge.
For more information on the cat lounge, visit getagato.com.