There are more than 10,000 bodega — Latin American Spanish for " little neck of the woods store " or grocery store — acrossNew York City ’s five borough . In addition to sell food and good , the stores are an important part of the community of interests — not to cite a place where you’re able to see , and best-loved , bodega cats .
These work felines range the stores , greet customer and lallygag on countertops or child in shopping baskets . The internetadoresthem , commit fan pages and Instagram accounts to the cat , whose sworn duty is to rid the shop of the vermin that can cue city fines and spread disease .
Are theyadorable ? Yes . But are theylegal ? Not really .
Cats fall under aprohibitionupheld by the city ’s Department of Health and Hygiene as well as the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets thatpreventsany fauna ( other than fish or service dogs ) from being on the premise where food and drinking are being sold : The felines couldpotentiallyshed pilus and excrement around edible merchandise , a clear violation of safety regulation . Fines for keep on a cat in a bodega or other food for thought market can drift from from $ 200 to $ 350 , and for repeated violations can reach $ 2000 .
Butsome arguethat cats are far less of a wellness hazard than rats and a safe solution to the toxic chemicals used by exterminators . ( Vermin killed by toxicant sometimes drop dead under deep freezer or in other narrow-minded confines , stinking up the place before being settle . ) Even the comportment of computed tomography is suppose to be a deterrent , with rats head off areas where they can smell a marauder .
That ’s likely why there are few reports of bodega being fined excessive amounts or shut down as a result of feline occupancy , despite the prohibition era . Most often , even client who are less than trance by the furry sentinel will digest them . But because cat can allow for behind pelt , people with allergic reaction may find shopping a sneeze - put forward experience . One yelping userleftthe SK Deli Market in the East Village a one - star review because they harbor a guy , and they were immediately verbally outrage by pro - bodega cat commenters . Subsequently , a pro - bodega cat contingentstarteda Change.org prayer that logged 5870signaturesin an movement to legitimatize them , citing the city ’s Dining with Dogs jurisprudence that permit cuspid in certain outdoor dining establishments .
There ’s intelligibly an emotional component to keeping the tradition of bodega cat alive , although science has recently called into inquiry their actual efficacy in controlling rodent populations . Researchers at Fordham Universitylookedat a recycling facility in Brooklyn that was overrun by both rats and cat-o'-nine-tails . Through the use of surveillance and radio frequency ID tag nip to the varmint , they receive that cats generally compensate little mind to the rat scuttle around . Out of 306 videos taken over a menstruum of six calendar month , the Fordham team recorded just two kill ( and one unsuccessful endeavour ) , barely do a slit in the shower of scum bag in the buildings . ( The scum bag did , however , tend to launch the polar way when encountering a cat . )
Gregory Glass , a professor at the University of Florida , toldScientific Americanthat contrary to pop notion , cat are n’t initiation - felicitous when it comes to skunk . Once the gnawer mature , they ’re often too big and formidable to stack with . Glass predict cats keep around for squealer check a " placebo . "
So , unfortunately , bodega cats might not quite live on up to their reputations . But , as a photographer for Chewy.com pointed out after being dispatch to shoot bodega cats in their natural habitat , that mightmiss the level . The cat seemed to work citizenry together and lighten their temper . Coupled with their probable deterrence of rats , it ’s a net positive — if you’re able to stand the fur .
