Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, Inc./Brooklyn Cat Cafe

Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition (BBAWC) was founded by a group of animal rescuers in 2007 with a focus on improving the welfare of abandoned animals in Brooklyn. The organization began working with individual animal rescuers to provide low cost veterinary services, adoption listing and screening services.

Finding foster homes for rescued cats and those accepted from city shelters became the organization’s top priority — but it was a major struggle without a central facility where rescuers, foster families and potential adoptees could meet together. The organization launched The Brooklyn Cat Cafe to address this need.

Brooklyn Cat Cafe is primarily volunteer-run, managed by the Director of BBAWC who oversees the business affairs, cat care regimen, and daily operations at the cafe. A team of volunteers serves at the cafe during open hours and prepares and cleans after hours.

We also operate as a resource center for animal rescuers, providing educational workshops and holding space for newly-rescued cats. We perform TNR (trap-neuter-return) and other community outreach and education. In 2020 we opened up a clinic offering basic rescue services and hope to have our spay/neuter surgery up and running in 2021.