Crumbs and Whiskers
| Crumbs logo Crumbs and Whiskers logo | |
| Formation | June 20, 2015[1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | Kanchan Singh[2] |
| Type | Cat café |
| Location |
|
Region | Washington metropolitan area Los Angeles metropolitan area |
| Products | |
| Services | Cat interaction • Cat adoption
|
| Owner | Kanchan Singh (Co-owner)[2][3] Chetan Singh (Co-owner)[3] |
| Affiliations | • Homeward Trails Animal Rescue • Stray Cat Alliance |
| Website | www.crumbsandwhiskers.com |
| Remarks | Financed via Kickstarter: Link |
Crumbs and Whiskers is a small business which operates cat cafés that foster rescue cats and offer cafe amenities, in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, California. Crumbs & Whiskers partners with rescues who save cats at risk of euthanasia in high kill shelters and cats facing homelessness on the streets.
By housing cats who have nowhere else to go, they reduce the number of cats who are killed in the cities they operate in simply because there's no more space for them. By housing homeless cats in a unique space and marketing their profiles in a different way than shelters do, Crumbs and Whiskers significantly increases the exposure shelter cats get to potential adopters, which in turn, increases the adoption rates at their partner rescues.
Crumbs and Whiskers opened its first cat café in Washington on June 20, 2015; this was the first cat café to open in the Washington metropolitan area.[sources 1] The Washington D.C. café is partnered with Homeward Trails Animal Resuce, and provides a living space for around 20–25 cats at a time.[4][10] Through the partnership arrangement, the Homeward Trails provides vaccinated and vetted cats to Crumbs and Whiskers, which functions as a foster home for the cats until they are adopted.[4][9]
The Los Angeles café opened on September 30, 2016, and was the first cat café to open in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.[3][11][12] The Los Angeles café is partnered with Stray Cat Alliance, a Los Angeles-based animal rescue which provides cats for the café.[3][11][12] Similar to the Washington D.C. café, the Los Angeles café offers a living space for the cats until they are adopted.[3][11][12]
Crumbs and Whiskers uses an online booking system for scheduling visits and offers a fixed admission price per visit.[1][2][13] For safety reasons, children under 13 are not allowed, and young adults between the ages of 13 and 17 must have a waiver signed by an adult. Crumbs and Whiskers allows customers to begin the application process for adopting one of the cats on site at their cafés.[13]
Startup funding
The business founder, Kanchan Singh, opted to finance the venture by crowdfunding through a Kickstarter project with a US$15,000 target, an amount which she was initially uncertain that she could raise.[2] The Crumbs and Whiskers Kickstarter project reached its funding target less than a day after it launched, and doubled this amount prior to the project deadline.[4][9] The campaign ended with 705 backers and raised a total of $35,881 for the café.[14]
References
Notes
Sources
- ^ a b c Associated Press (June 9, 2015). "DC's first cat cafe to open in Georgetown June 20". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Perry Stein (February 6, 2015). "Meet the woman who left her consulting job to open D.C.'s first cat cafe". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e "Los Angeles' First Cat Cafe Is Cat-Lover Heaven". Epoch Times. September 30, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - ^ a b c d Caroline Tucker (March 28, 2015). "Cat cafe pounces forward in D.C." ABC7. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Perry Stein (March 9, 2015). "Not-yet-open D.C. cat cafe raises serious money in 1 day". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Maura Judkis (November 20, 2014). "So, how would a cafe crawling with adorable kittens pass a D.C. health inspection?". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Courtney Pomeroy (March 23, 2015). "D.C.'s Cat Cafe, Crumbs and Whiskers, Makes Strides Toward Opening This Year". CBS. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ Rachel Nania (February 18, 2015). "Founder shares plans for D.C.'s first cat café, Crumbs and Whiskers". WTOP. Washington's Top News. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
- ^ a b c Ellison L Barber, (March 24, 2015). "Georgetown Cat Cafe gets approval". WUSA9. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
On Tuesday morning, a zoning hearing approved to operate Crumbs & Whiskers – a café that specializes in cats. Kanchan Singh said this means a blue building on the corner of Wisconsin and O St NW will officially become the location of her café.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ Jeff Clabaugh (June 9, 2015). "D.C.'s first cat cafe (yes, a cafe with cats) opens this month". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
- ^ a b c "Cats Looking for Furever Homes at LA's First Cat Cafe". NBC Los Angeles. October 18, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - ^ a b c "Everything you need to know about LA's first cat cafe Crumbs & Whiskers". Los Angeles Daily News. September 23, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - ^ a b Emily Blomquist (June 10, 2015). "Crumbs and Whiskers: D.C.'s first cat cafe". The Eagle. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
Customers who decided to purchase any of the cats will start the application process at the cafe.
- ^ "Crumbs & Whiskers: Washington DC's Cat Cafe". Kickstarter. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
