Long-tailed felines of all ages pad about the soon-to-be cat café, batting toys and lounging on cushy chairs. The calm, relaxing environment marks a drastic change from their living situations mere days and weeks ago where many were facing imminent euthanasia inside the cramped metal cages of North Carolina’s overcrowded animal shelters.
Beautiful Together Animal Sanctuary’s Cat Café will be open to the public on September 8th – the second-story space awaits a few finishing touches before kitty and coffee lovers can reserve a slot for some time with furry, adoptable friends. Despite lacking final tweaks, though, the modern farmhouse-style building is already plenty warm and welcoming. Its large windows give a glimpse into an interior decorated with velvety couches and hanging glass light fixtures that bathe the rooms in soft hues.
The cat café is one of many projects in the works at the sanctuary. Since they bought the land in 2020, founders Tamara and Steve Lackey have started building out spaces for a myriad of different rescue animals. From the café’s balcony, there is a view of the construction underway for a series of Good Dog Cottages where canines will have space to stretch their legs and decompress from any previous trauma. Next to the dogs, 15 acres have been allotted for an equine and large animal rescue center, for which the sanctuary has plenty of space. The slice of farmland, just 15 minutes from the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, is around 83 acres…