Click here to read the Spanish version.
In the Asian country there are a number of cafeterias where the waiters are neither humans nor robots, but dogs and cats. This is an unexpected phenomenon that is booming in China, and is known as ‘Zhengmaotiaoqian‘.
This labor trend brings pets to work, opening a new unusual -and even surreal- reality that has fascinated users on social networks, with images of dogs and cats in their ‘work shifts’. Before being hired, they undergo a behavioral assessment and a test in the workplace to check if they are sociable and react well to the place.
Pet cafes have thus become big business in China. In them, visitors interact with the animals that roam the space, allowing their owners to charge more for the experience; such as entrance fees of around 30 and 60 yuan per person. Minimally they are asked for some kind of requirement, such as asking for a cup of coffee.
This cultural shift towards pets, which could open debates about animal exploitation, was picked up by CNN. The media would bring to the national territory this typology of coffee shops that allow visitors to enjoy their food, while playing with the animals that have been ‘hired’.
One of the pioneers in promoting this phenomenon was Jane Xue, a student who decided to have her Samoyed dog named OK work in a canine cafeteria in Fuzhou. She justified this by saying that it would keep her company when she was away with her partner and save on expenses, such as air-conditioning.
