Two New Yorkers Have Begun Crowd-Funding A Dog Café In Manhattan

Last week we learned about the Los Angeles team that had launched a fundraising campaign to open America's first-ever dog café, which would simply be called The Dog Café.

Now, on the opposite coast, there's yet another fundraising campaign — from 24-year-olds Maggie Chan and Mandy Chow — whose goal is to open a dog café in Manhattan.

As far as we're concerned, this is the best possible result of the undeniable success of Meow Parlour and other cat cafés that have hit the States in recent months. Is there room in the U.S. for all these animal-centric cafés? We'll go with yes, obviously.

The team was inspired by a visit to a dog café in South Korea, which they described thusly: "It's just impossible to not smile when you have swarms of dogs running towards you wagging their tails and begging you for treats and some attention."

Unsurprisingly, Chan and Chow were also moved by the popularity of the Purina pop-up Cat Café from last year, and the subsequent endeavors to build a more permanent sanctuary for cat lovers.

"I saw the lines that wrapped around the corner," Chow told AM New York. Indeed, the reservations for some quality time at Meow Parlour are booked at least through March.

The East Coast dog café team is looking for a space in Manhattan, potentially the first of several, where they'll be able to build a puppy playground on one side and a seating area for coffee and snacks on the other, separated by glass. All the animals will be available for adoption.

Chan and Chow are hoping to raise $70,000 before they start building the dog café, which you can help make a reality. As if you needed more convincing, check out the Indiegogo campaign for more details.