Milwaukee is home to many dog-friendly bars, together with The Backyard in Bay View and Art Bar in Riverwest. For pup caregivers, that is nice information – however members of the Brew City Cat Alliance are hissed.
“Why don’t Milwaukee cats have the same opportunities as Milwaukee dogs?” asks Emma Kruegerski, government director of the Brew City Cat Alliance.
OnMilwaukee requested quite a few bar house owners this query.
Mike Eitel is the proprietor of Nomad World Pub on Brady Street, and he says it’s tremendous to convey a leashed cat to his bar patio. “No issues here, as long as the cat likes soccer and Belgian beers,” he says.
Bob Weiss, the proprietor of Shaker’s Cigar Bar in Walker’s Point, additionally says it is tremendous for visitors to convey cats on his rooftop patio.
“We had a cat in here last week wearing a really sharp-looking velvet smoking jacket, but he couldn’t keep his paws to himself so I had to toss him,” says Weiss. “But yeah, in the event you’re an especially engaging feminine beneath the age of 30, I don’t care in the event you convey a whole litter right here.
“In truth, 110 years in the past, this bar was Milwaukee’s first and solely feline tavern. During Prohibition, rumor was that Capone’s kitty might typically be discovered prowling the basement speakeasy.”
Weiss did request, nonetheless, that black cats stay at home, as a result of “Shaker’s is spooky sufficient as is.”
Kruegerski, nonetheless, says these responses are unacceptable. Unlike dogs, most cats despise being on leashes and would, due to this fact, be unable to bar hop with their people.
“Bar owners make so many accommodations for dogs – bowls of water, treats behind the bar. We want to see similar accommodations being made for cats based on what they enjoy, too,” says Kruegerski. “Bars need to offer cats boxes for sitting, fake Christmas trees for climbing, weird and random things to chew on, and a general understanding that cats like to knock things off tables. Sorry if that occasionally means a Weiss beer on the linoleum, but inclusion isn’t always convenient.”
Eitel says he might see, perhaps, including just a few palm timber to his already-beach-themed patio, however he’s involved that hoards of free-range cats will not be good for business.
Kruegerski disagrees.
“That’s crazy. Everyone loves having lots of cats around them. I personally have 11 in my studio apartment and it’s no inconvenience at all,” says Kruegerski. “In truth, I’m contemplating adopting a bonded pair of orangies later as we speak.”
Kruegerski says she won’t relaxation till there are a minimum of 20 cat-friendly bars within the Metro Milwaukee space.
“Dogs, dogs, dogs. Our entire Cat Alliance is so sick of all of the special attention they get. Cats might be uninterested in or annoyed by most humans and have zero interest in leaving their comfy sunspots, but they should still have the right to go to bars,” says Kruegerski.
