I went to Tokyo last year and at the top of my list of must-dos was to visit a cat cafe.  I just had to know what these are all about.

For those who don't know, a cat cafe is a place that serves coffee or tea and happens to have a bunch of cats that roam around and hang out with you. As someone who is obsessed with animals, but doesn't have the time nor space to have a pet, I thought this would be the perfect solution.

OK, so I didn't actually make it to a cat cafe.  But I did visit an owl cafe -- that's right, you enjoy a cup of tea next to a room full of gigantic (and a few small) owls, staring at you with those wide eyes and sharp talons. My boyfriend thinks owls are extremely cute, so he was thrilled.  Me, not so much.

That wasn't even my main issue with the concept though. First, there was the smell. Cats smell bad, dogs smell bad, and apparently owls smell bad too. Next, there's the fact that there were about 8 owls in a room the size of my bathroom. I didn't see any sort of area where they might be able to fly around or have any sort of personal space. They just seemed to be constantly leashed to their tree branch. I would imagine this not being as big a problem in a cat cafe, but then I worry about people bringing their small children to these places and them scaring the poor animals.

These days, I'm constantly seeing cat and dog cafes opening up around the US. I know that we have more strict regulations on animal welfare than other countries, but I'm still skeptical.

I recently visited a local dog cafe, where all the dogs are up for adoption. You pay $10 for entrance, which includes your coffee. I thought this was an amazing idea. You enjoy your morning cup, play with dogs, donate money to care for said dogs, and if you fall in love with one, you can even take him home! 

I found this model to be far more successful than the owl cafe I had previously visited, but the smell was still so bad, I would have rather enjoyed my coffee elsewhere and then gone to go play with puppies. Also, some of the dogs (they're all rescues, so they aren't always the friendliest, happiest animals) were extremely skiddish and afraid of having strangers come near them. It saddened me to watch people barge up to them and pick them up even though they were cowering in fear. 

While I think that having animal rescues follow this model would be great in theory, the idea still needs work. Or perhaps it's just a model best served for animals who are aloof, can stay indoors all their lives and aren't afraid to fight back.