Brace Yourselves, L.A. Is Opening America’s First Ever Dog Café

On April 7, America’s first adoption dog café will open and warm the hearts of doggie-lovers across the nation, well if they’re willing to travel, that is.

The café, rightfully named “The Dog Café,” will open its doors to the lucky pooches of the west coast, located right off of Silver Lake Boulevard.

Café owner Sarah Wolfgang said her vision for the dog-friendly café is to provide a fun and relaxed atmosphere for patrons to interact with the café’s adoptable canines. Wolfgang told the LA Times, that she was inspired by the animal cafés she found in South Korea but noted that the dogs in those establishments came from puppy mills.

“After recently moving to the US, I realized there was a greater intake of dogs than there were adoptions. I realized a dog café would be the perfect solution to giving these shelter dogs a second chance at a forever home,” Wolfgang told NY Daily News.

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According to the café’s website, Wolfgang’s café focuses on “rescuing dogs who have been at the shelter the longest due to health or behavioral issues and are at the highest risk of being euthanized.”

Wolfgang is currently partnering with animal shelters in southern Los Angeles and other local organizations to vet the stray pups to ensure that they’re comfortable in large groups. From there, the dogs will be brought in on a rotating basis.

“My dedication to helping dogs truly started when I began to volunteer and foster for a private shelter in Korea at the age of 14 to cope with the loss of my first childhood dog, a brilliant and loving poodle named Shadow,” she said on the café’s Indiegogo page. “The shelter was eventually scheduled to close… In the following few months, with a team of amazing volunteers, we were successfully able to prevent all 120 dogs from being put down by tirelessly working to adopt out and relocate every single one.”

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As for the coffee shop portion of the café, Wolfgang will offer drinks made with products from Grounds & Hounds Coffee Co. and Dogs Drink Coffee – Grounds & Hounds donates 20 percent of their southern California proceeds to local animals in need. Due to the proximity to the dogs, there will not be food served at the café.

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“I think it’s a neat concept,” local resident Amy Rotchford told the Daily Trojan. “My husband and I have two rescue dogs right now and before them, our first German Shepherd was a rescue we got when he was three years old. And they have all been amazing, caring pets.”

In addition to pups and cups of joe, there will also be a retail area with dog merchandise.

Admission is $10 per person for a 55-minute block of time, and one free beverage. Customers can secure their spot and see a full list of available dogs for adoption on the café’s website.