If you stop into a corner store in New York City for a quick snack and hear an occasional meow, don’t be alarmed. Bodega cats (also called shop cats) are currently taking the internet by storm and are quickly becoming NYC’s newest tourist attraction.

Daily Paws spoke with Dan Rimada, the founder of Bodega Cats of New York, to learn what makes these corner store cats so special and why they need protection.

What is a Bodega?

First, let’s break down the basics: What is a bodega? Bodega is a term for the convenience stores that can be found in every nook and cranny of NYC’s five boroughs. It’s estimated there are more than 10,000 bodegas city-wide.

“Essentially, a bodega is a small convenience store, and it’s typically independently owned,” says Rimada, a Brooklyn native. “It’s got everything from toilet paper to eye drops to Red Bull, to lottery tickets—all the staples.”

In addition to being a convenient one-stop shop, bodegas are a cultural cornerstone of New York, and now their mascots are receiving an influx of attention.

What Does a Bodega Cat Do?

Even though bodega cats have just recently made their way into the public eye, they’ve been around for decades, sometimes even handed down from shop owner to shop owner. These cats might wander into a bodega off the street one day or belong to the shop owner full-time. But regardless of how they ended up at the bodega, they all have a shared purpose.

You can always count on prepackaged snacks lining the shelves of your local bodega, but sometimes you can also score made-to-order grub. Unfortunately, food doesn’t attract just humans. Enter bodega cats.

Bodega cats are some of the most effective pest control specialists in the tri-state area, helping curb rodent infestations left and right—well, most of the time.

“There’s this one cat named Tiger the bodega cat in Williamsburg,” Rimada says. “The shop owner’s name is Chiku, and Tiger, a Scottish fold, is very much his pet that he takes to the bodega. But Tiger is a terrible mouser—he doesn’t understand he’s supposed to kill mice, so he’s just the store mascot.”

Luna the Tuxedo Cat: Rimada’s Unexpected Muse

Bodega cats were so commonplace for Rimada growing up that he didn’t pay any extra mind to them—until one particular kitty stole his heart.

“[Bodega cats] weren’t something that I stopped and paused for and was like enamored by,” Rimada says. “But as I got a little older—when I was like a freshman in high school—I really noticed this one cat named Luna.”

Luna, a tuxedo cat, won Rimada over so completely that he would alter his commute home from school just to visit her. And when Rimada decided to take his affinity for bodega cats online, Luna cemented her legacy as the inspiration for the Bodega Cats of New York logo.

“She really stuck with me,” Rimada says.

Bodega Cats of New York, Meet Instagram

Bodega Cats of New York started as just a personal Instagram account for Rimada, where he could post his own pictures of his favorite bodega cats, but it quickly became much more than that.

“I expected to get, like, 100 followers at the most,” Rimada says. “Then, people started sending me pictures of their bodega cats. I ignored the first dozen—probably several dozen—DMs because that wasn’t what this was about.”

But Rimada couldn’t ignore the growing number of messages forever and slowly began to post other people’s bodega cat pictures.

“I just kind of gave in to the pressure, and that’s kind of how it spiraled,” Rimada says. “People have so much pride in their own neighborhood’s bodega cats that they want to show them off.”

Today, Bodega Cats of New York has more than 50,000 followers on Instagram, and Rimada regularly receives DMs from tourists requesting recommendations for which bodega cats to visit while in town.

And while the bulk of Rimada’s work is fun and games, he is also using his platform to garner support for these very special cats.

Caring For These Controversial Kitties

On the surface, it seems like there is virtually no downside to having a bodega cat. No mice, more cat lovers patronizing their business—what could go wrong? Here’s a big downside: bodega cats are technically a health code violation.

“What I kept hearing was ‘Yeah, the health department comes and gives us fines for having these bodega cats,'” Rimada says. “While they’re amazing to have, they have to pay up to $300 per instance if the health inspector is having a bad day.”

But despite the fines, having a bodega cat around is still the best option for many shop owners.

“The thing is, the rodent fine is way bigger, so they choose the smaller fine,” Rimada explains.

Another tricky aspect is how to secure veterinary care for bodega cats. While shop owners do their part to feed and water their corner store companions, they can’t exactly afford to close up their shop for a few hours to take the shop cat to the vet. And while community volunteers do their best to pitch in and help from time to time, it’s not a sustainable solution.

“There’s this one story I always tell, and it’s a really powerful one,” Rimada says. “This woman, after work on her payday, had to take an Uber to a bodega to get the cat, and then another Uber to the vet, and then another Uber back to the bodega. And this is her personal like time, and this is her own money out of her own pocket.”

Bodega Cat Fundraiser Raises Thousands

This sparked Rimada to create a large call to action for cat lovers everywhere, teaming up with like-minded social media influencers like Shop Cat Show, Bodega Cat Spirits and Bodega Cats of Instagram to launch The Bodega Cat Fundraiser, reaching nearly 1.7 million total followers.

The fundraiser, which ran April 30-June 30, ended up raising nearly $8,000, which was distributed to a coalition of NYC-based animal welfare organizations, including:

The Future of NYC’s Bodega Cats

There’s still a lot of work to do on the bodega cat front, and it starts at the top. Recently, Rimada teamed up with New York City councilman Keith Powers to introduce legislation to legalize bodega cats, which would allow for city protections for both the cats and bodega owners.

“Essentially, a bodega cat union!” Rimada says.

Meanwhile, Rimada will continue sharing the benefits of bodega cats on Instagram and educating tourists by leading NYC’s first and only historical cat walking tour Cats About Town.