Italy: Cat-friendly cafe to open in Turin By News from Elsewhere...

...as found by BBC Monitoring Published duration 21 March 2014

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Italy's first cat-friendly cafe is scheduled to open in the city of Turin on Saturday, it's been reported.

The establishment - to be called Miagola Cafe, or Cafe Meow - hopes to give a home to abandoned cats and encourage customers to become more respectful towards animals, says owner Andrea Levine in an interview with La Stampa . "I wanted the cafe to launch with a message: we rescue cats in trouble," she says.

Some experts also believe the sound of a cat's purr and playing with the animals can relieve stress, The Local website reports.

The cafe will also have an area where children can play with the cats, and learn more about animals. Levine adds that she is planning to screen videos with information about adopting animals.

Cat cafes are already very popular in Japan - there are reportedly more than 100 of them in the capital city Tokyo. The trend seems to have spread to China, Taiwan and Australia too.