Cat-astrophic vandalism leaves Saskatoon cafe seeking a new home

Michelle Berg/Saskatoon StarPhoenix A cat up for adoption yawns at The Purrfect Cup Cat Cafe downtown Saskatoon.

Brody Langager

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

The Purrfect Cup Cat Cafe in Saskatoon is pondering a move, fed up with vandalism in the downtown core.

Owner Sydney Sylvester said one of the business’s windows was broken twice within 13 days.

“What is our city coming to? Why is nothing being done about the destruction of businesses due to vandalism?” Sylvester said in a Facebook post.

She said replacing the glass again for $1,200 wasn’t worth it, so the window will remain boarded up.

The cafe has been located at 142 Second Ave. S. for two and a half years and had not been vandalized before, but people have been loitering and doing drugs outside the business, she said.

The window that was smashed is in a separate area from where the cafe’s cats hang out, but Sylvester said she has nightmares about the other window being smashed and the cats escaping.

“It’s definitely a fear that I’ve had for three years,” she said in an interview.

The cafe currently has 19 cats, which are adoptable through the Battlefords Humane Society.

Sylvester said the only option she could think of to prevent the large glass panes from being smashed again would be to add bars or sheets of plexiglass, both of which would be expensive.

Instead, she’s planning to move the business.

“We have been looking at a new location on Circle Drive by Dollarama and Staples, near the Lawson/ Canarama area,” she said.

The new location would be larger and have more room for things like a kitchen, a restaurant and a separate cat room, Sylvester noted.

However, “This new location and increase in space comes with an increased price tag,” she said.

A GoFundMe page has been set in the hope that the business can move when its lease expires in April. Sylvester said the cafe can also accept e-transfer donations by email to thepurrfectcupcatcafe@gmail.com.

She said the challenges include finding a location with the proper zoning, and a landlord willing to lease to a cat cafe.

“We definitely need more space for our cats, but we also want to expand the restaurant and food service side as well.”

-Advertisement-