These Cats Are Actually the Bosses at the Supermarket
Keeping an eye on customers. Chasing dogs outside. Helping at the checkout. Inspecting supplies. That’s the job description of shop cats, and they throw themselves into it wholeheartedly. And sometimes they take a short catnap between the shelves, but no one dares say anything about it.
In New York, you have bodegas: small shops selling groceries, clothespins, chewing gum, luncheon meat, condoms, bicycle parts—and whatever else you might need. The shops stay open late, because this is the city that never sleeps, and naturally an owner wants a little company in the small hours too. That’s what those bodega cats, the shop cats, are there for.
Brilliant Collection of Cat Photos
The photos of these hard workers are collected on the Instagram account bodega cats. Rob Hitt is the brains behind the brilliant photo collection. The photo he took years ago of a bodega cat was an instant hit on social media, and Rob sensed there was more to it. He started the account and now receives around a hundred photos every week of cats sleeping on a box of bananas, napping on a warm ATM or carefully inspecting the supplies of cat food.
Not a Mouse in Sight
Juicy detail: the cats are illegal. Owners risk a fine ranging from three hundred to two thousand dollars from the city’s food and health authority. Cat hair on your watermelon—who wants that, and where is the litter box anyway? But cat lovers tell inspectors: there isn’t a single mouse to be found in these little shops. According to photographer Rob, the cats are so popular because they give customers a homey feeling. Through his popular site Rob also helps other cats: proceeds from Bodega Cats merchandise go to the animal organization Flatbush Cats.
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