Animal shelters and cafes have popped up across Yangon over the last few years, offering a wide range of options to humans who want to schedule a fluffy playdate, adopt a new family member, or support the general wellbeing of the city’s animals.
Here’s a list of a few of the best places to meet, adopt, or play with animals in Yangon:
Freedom Cafe is actually two cafes — one for each side of the cat-dog divide.
The dog cafe in Botataung is the larger, more spacious branch, decorated with benches, swings, and lamp posts that give the atmosphere of an indoor garden. Miniature dog breeds prance around the garden, and guests can also invite their own dogs to come and play. The cafe is open from 8:30am to 9:30pm.
A the cat cafe in Sanchaung, guests can play with around 20 cats that wander lazily around the upper floor of the space, but only at certain times: 1-3pm, 4-6pm, and 7-9pm. According to its owners, the cafe’s cats are purebred, cuddly, friendly, and given proper hygienic care.
Both cafes offer healthy food and drink options, like Bio Reishi coffee, which is a coffee made with mushrooms, smoothies infused with probiotics or collagen. The cafes also sell pet foods and accessories, so your own pets can feel fancy.
JB Doggy Cafe in North Dagon has more of a loud, dog-pound style atmosphere, with the dogs divided by breed and temperament into different areas. It may not be the most ideal place for unwinding and catching up with friends, but it provides the perfect way to get to know each breed of dog, including corgis, pugs, chihuahuas, huskies, golden retrievers, dachshunds, and chow chows.
This is the ideal place for you if you want to get down and dirty playing with dogs. Hygiene is a top priority for this place; one-time-use paper socks are given to guests entering the dog pens, and guests are required to wash their hands before entering the cafe.
Admission is K10,000 per person. Puppies are also for sale in a separate section of the cafe.
Yangon Animal Shelter is a non-profit organization that provides shelter for stray dogs across Yangon and campaigns against dog poisoning. This shelter was established by American Yangon resident Terryl Just, who was inspired to build the shelter after Lucy, a street dog she knew, was poisoned.
Much of Yangon’s dog population is at risk of being poisoned to decrease the stray dog population and prevent the spread of diseases, including rabies. The shelter advocates for the TNR (trap-neuter-return) method as an alternative to poisoning. The place runs on public donations, but there are other also other ways to help out, including adopting dogs, fostering, and volunteering.
The shelter is planning to open a new facility stray cats and also wants to ramp up its advocacy of spaying and neutering both street dogs and one’s own pets in order to control stray animal populations across Myanmar.
Golden Heart Animals Rescue Yangon is a shelter run by Ma Hninsi Myint. It started when she decided to take care of a few paralyzed dogs in her home, and she eventually moved to a piece of land on the outskirts of Yangon to give the dogs a more peaceful environment. Volunteers, including veterinarians, donate time and labor to taking care of the dogs at this shelter, which specializes in caring for dogs who are sick or injured. The shelter includes a clinic, an operating theatre, an intensive care unit, and a room for paralyzed or handicapped dogs. Most of animals found or brought to this sanctuary were injured in car accidents, which are increasingly common on Yangon’s busy, congested streets.
This list should offer an overview of the current options are available to animal lovers in Yangon, but as more options arise, it’s a good idea to do some research and be aware of the risks that come with running an animal-related business or a shelter. Animals in close quarters can spread diseases quickly, get in fights, or become victims of intergroup competition. Make sure the people running the place you visit are aware of these risks and are doing their best to make sure each animal is taken care of.
Also, don’t forget to show some love for the dogs on your street.
Reader Interactions