“Hug, I see you! Busy preparing a tea, Deborah Muroni, the creator of Tea Dog, keeps an eye on her doggie, who tries, not without difficulty, to climb on a chair. “Hug, he’s 13, he’s been abandoned three times,” says the manager. He is very anxious. To calm him down, you have to stand up, and he slips between the legs. »This Montpellier has opened the first dog tea room in the city, very close to the Castellane market. They serve croque-monsieur, salads and homemade cakes. And Câlin, and his friends Néïa and Zouk, provide “cuddle therapy”.
“Today, if you want to work with animals, it’s quite complicated, places are expensive. You have to do it yourself, continues Déborah Muroni, who was an employee in a dog boarding house, veterinary assistant and volunteer at the Montpellier SPA, before setting up her business, in the midst of a health crisis. I saw that there was only one dog tea room in Lille. I told myself that I will be the second. “
“We interact with other people, because something brings us together”
As for the cat bars, which are still two in Montpellier, the concept allows animal lovers, who do not have the opportunity to adopt for reasons of space, money or time, to spend a little moment in their company. “It’s a plus compared to classic coffees,” says Ash, a loyal Tea Dog customer. We interact with other people because something brings us together. Whereas in an ordinary bar, it’s each one on their own. The idea is, also, to help the doggies. If the café now only accepts dogs that belong to the manager, it will soon house a new animal, available for adoption. However, he will be rigorously cast, to assess whether his behavior is compatible with such a concept.
But if, in cat bars, the residents willingly live their lives, how do you manage the dogs in such a cafe? On the tables, the establishment in the rue des Trésoriers de la Bourse sets out the rules to be observed. First, despite their glowing glances, we do not feed the doggies. Everyone has their own bowl. “Dogs have a specific diet, and in addition, certain foods are toxic for them, so we hold on, warns a small poster. Even a little bit, we saw you! “
And yes, we can stroke them, of course. But we go there gently, and “we avoid waking them, if they sleep,” smiles Deborah Muroni. They must also, of course, be taken out. “In the morning and in the evening, I take care of it. But when the show is open, they can’t stay locked up from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. I have a pet-sitter, who takes over, and takes them out, one by one. “But” accidents happen, “resumes the Montpellier. If one of the doggies forgets himself, “I made my floor in function,” notes Deborah Muroni, pointing to the floor of her cafe. And if a doggie is not on his plate, there is “a room that closes.” If I consider that a dog needs it, I can isolate it. “