This New Proposal Will Help Protect the Beloved Bodega Cats of New York City

New Yorkers have a reputation for being fast-moving and endlessly busy, but it’s not a totally accurate stereotype. In reality, we always take the time to stop and smell the roses — which is to say, we always take the time to stop and pet the bodega cat. Bodega cats — who out-of-towners may be familiar with from the Instagram account @bodegacatsofnewyork — are a fixture of life in the city, sprawling out for naps on top of canned food and candy in convenience stores on every corner. As beloved as they are, there are few protections for them, and the rules around their residencies are murky. Dan Rimada, the founder of Bodega Cats of New York, aims to fix that with a new proposal.

Rimada knows how important bodega cats are to New Yorkers. He’s witnessed the way people bond with cats they meet, sometimes ducking into corner stores just to greet the pet. He personally remembers several stand-out cats, including one named Zorro who curls up at Zaragoza on Avenue A. “He took over the warm spot on top of the cable box, and Ruben (the owner) finally gave up and built him a platform so he’d stop messing with the TV,” Rimada says. Prince, a cat at Houston News International, has lived there for twelve years. “He’s outlasted changes in ownership, watches the neighborhood change around him,” Rimada says. “He visits the pizza place next door for cheese, then comes back to work.”

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The cats also serve a practical purpose as shop employees, helping to keep pests away (as former sanitation commissioner Jessica Tisch famously said: The rats don’t run this city, we do). “These cats keep things running in ways most people don’t think about,” Rimada says. “They handle the mouse problems without chemicals or traps.”

As he met more and more cats shopkeepers, he became struck by the contradictions of health codes. “Store owners get fined for having cats, but they’d also get fined for having mice,” he says. “It makes no sense.”

Many health inspectors turn a blind eye to the cats, recognizing them as an ordinary and appreciated part of a deli run. But some shop owners face fines for keeping cats on their property. Rimada’s initiative aims to prevent penalties that burden small-business owners by allowing them to have their cat certified.

The certification would protect the cat, too; to gain a certification, shop owners would have to prove their cat meets humane standards, including regular veterinary visits, proper feeding, and spay/neuter surgeries. “A system that acknowledges them would help make sure they’re looked after, not just tolerated until someone complains,” Rimada says.

He adds that one component of the program would be a fund for rescue organizations, who are already helping bodega cats who are left behind or in need of medical care. “The fund would give them resources to continue this work, making sure no bodega cat falls through the cracks,” he says.

It’s a win-win for shopkeepers, who face inconsistently applied fines, and cats, who would be given regulated care standards. “Good store owners already take care of their cats, but formalizing it means the cats won’t be abandoned when a shop closes, and new owners will have guidance on how to continue the tradition properly,” Rimada says.

To sign the Change.org petition, visit the link below.