In China, pets earn tips in cafes while their owners send them “to work”. This was the case of Jane Xue who took her dog OK, a two-year-old Samoyed, to her first day of work in September. Her employer? One dog cafe in Fuzhou city.
“I feel like a mother taking her daughter to school,” said Jane, a 27-year-old doctoral student, in an interview with CNN Travel by leaving OK for your new part-time activity. Jane wanted her dog to “experience a different life” as she and her partner often go out on the weekends.
“Taking OK to coffee is good for everyone. She plays with other dogs and isn’t so alone,” he added.
Pet cafes are on the rise in China. Customers pay to interact with the animals that roam the establishments which allows the owners of these places to charge more for the experience. Those who visit these cafes usually pay an entrance fee, which varies between 30 and 60 yuan (approximately R$20 to R$40), or need to place an order, such as a coffee.
In addition to having company to play with, Jane says that OK’s work at the cafe helps her save money. If they left the dog at home, they would have to keep the air conditioning on all day, which is quite expensive. “Summers in Fuzhou are brutal,” he commented.
Although Jane’s idea may seem unusual, this is a growing trend in China. Called “Zhengmaotiaoqian”, the expression can be translated as “earning snack money”, which refers to animals that generate income for owners.
The idea is that these pets are actually “working” — whether full-time or part-time — at the pet cafes, and then return to their homes at the end of the day, as if they were humans.
Although it may seem fun and cute, this trend reflects the current situation in China. The country should have more pets than children by the end of this year according to data from Goldman Sachs.
In recent months, cafe and pet owners have been posting recruitment ads for their pets on Xiaohongshu, China’s version of Instagram.
In a viral post titled “How much do you pay at a cat cafe?”, the owner of one such cafe commented: “A lot of people say they want to send their cats to work at our cafe. So, let me explain the salary we offer, as we have just paid some of our ‘old employees’!”
According to the humorous post, which already has hundreds of likes, a gray and white cat named Datou (“big head”) received five cans of cat food “after taxes”.
Another cafe owner, also in Xiaohongshu, posted: “We are looking for healthy cats with a good temperament. We offer one snack a day and 30% discount for the owner’s friends!”
Jane found the Yezonghui dog cafe on the same social network and immediately sent a message to the owner. After that, it took OK to prepare for the “job interview”.
“The cafe owner observed OK for about an hour to see how she interacted with customers and the other four dogs,” Jane told CNN.
Everything went well, and the beautiful Samoyed was “hired”. “My OK is the coffee star!”, celebrated Jane.
Affectionate cat
Not everyone is as lucky when it comes to finding a job. Xin Xin, a 33-year-old teacher at an international elementary school in Beijing, has two cats (one black and white and one orange), as well as a Shiba Inu dog.
She is looking for a “job” for her two-year-old black and white cat, Zhang Bu’er, whose name means “not dumb” in Chinese.
Xin posted Zhang Bu’er’s “resume” on Xiaohongshu on September 8, hoping to find him a position at a cat cafe, but has had no luck yet.
“He is affectionate and great at purring! A cat chosen by God to work at a cat cafe!” Xin wrote on the cat’s resume, mentioning that they “just expect a few cans of food or snacks as payment.”
“I thought the cafe owners would look for me, but now it looks like I’m going to have to take the initiative and start sending my CV around,” joked Xin in an interview with CNN Travel .
According to Xin, Zhang Bu’er spends the day sleeping and at night, she runs around and makes noise, disturbing her and her husband’s sleep.
The most annoying thing, for Xin, is that Zhang Bu’er always lies down on her laptop while she is doing overtime work. “He just lies there, watching me work like a slave,” Xin said, laughing.
“My husband and I want him to be a working cat, to experience what it’s like to scratch and earn his own food. “.
Xin said he spends around 500 yuan (about R$350) a month on feeding his two cats.
“I think Zhang Bu’er is too bored during the day,” he commented. “A job would help him expend that energy.”
The first cafe with cats from China was opened in Guangzhou, in the south of the country, in 2011, and the number of similar establishments grew 200% per year, according to CBNData, a financial newspaper linked to the Chinese government.
By 2023, there were already more than 4,000 cat cafe-related companies in the country.
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*CNN’s Joyce Jiang contributed to this report
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Johanna Foster is an expert opinion writer with over 7 years of experience. She has a reputation for delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles on a variety of subjects. Her work can be found on some of the top online news websites, and she is currently lending her voice to the world stock market.
