AFTER a highly anticipated wait, a dog café is due to open in Manchester by January 2017.

Roundthorn industrial estate by Wythenshawe hospital will soon become home to Manchester’s first dog café, Central Bark.

Husband and Wife, Tony and Tania Golding, have brought their forces together in order to create an inviting environment for dog owners and non-dog owners to enjoy a coffee and a piece of cake whilst being surrounded by up to 70 friendly, loving dogs.

For the last 7 years the couple have run a dog day care and dog boarding business that enables the dogs they care for to run freely rather than be in kennels. In an interview with Tony Golding, he explained that the dog café is “something we have wanted to do for a while.”

The 14,000 square foot warehouse conversion will include: 4 doggy play areas including a “dog zone” area where customers will be able to pet and cuddle with the dogs, as well as grooming stations, and of course a café serving hot food and drinks.

The café will have a beach theme based on one of their rescue dogs named Alfie, a Golden Retriever from Greece. “We love the beach and thought as Manchester can be quite gloomy, it would be nice for people to escape that by coming to our café,” Tony said.

Customers are able to bring their own dogs along to the café to play and interact with dogs from a range of breeds. Customer’s dogs are allowed to enter the play areas at a small price of around £5.

There will be no fee required to enter the café. A daycare will be offered for dogs at the price of £18.50 per day, with hours being flexible. Along with that they offer home boarding at the price of £21.50 per night, with the hours ranging from 9am-9am the next day. The dogs who need kennels for over night stays will all be accommodated and cared for in a room central to the building.

Since the opening of the Manchester cat café, there has been some controversy about the treatment of the animals and their general welfare. So would the dog café receive the same backlash?

Animal rights activist Hannah Rolland, 19, states “cats are solitary animals, they very rarely enjoy the company of other cats.” She believes that by putting large numbers of cats in a small environment, it can cause them to become “extremely stressed and territorial meaning they will be likely to begin spraying which is not hygienic.”

Dogs are social animals and therefore tend to prefer being in groups, however it could still become problematic depending on the difference in dog’s characters.

Tony explained, “We accept and welcome all breeds. The dogs we take on will go through a small assessment for the daycare to see what personalities they have.”We don’t want to put the dogs in uncomfortable situations.”

The dog café does not allow dogs to roam freely throughout the cafe as it “creates stress on the dogs because everybody wants to pet them.”

So if you love dogs and dogs love you, be sure to visit Central Bark, Manchester.

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