Animal rights foundation president calls 'Bunny Cafe' a 'torture chamber'
A café where you can dine with some furry friends has sparked controversy with an animal rights organization after their president claims the owner is exploiting bunnies for money.
"No matter how much you polish it, it is still a torture chamber for animals who are frozen from fear," said Lejla Hadzimuratovic, president of the Bunny World Foundation.
The café is one of the "interactive customer experiences" created by JoyGrab. The company's founder, 23-year-old Kevin Grushkovski, said the rabbit-filled pop-up coffee shop is one of his first concepts. He charges people $25 an hour to enjoy the company of their furry companions.
"They can get drinks, coffee and tea and they're able to pet the bunnies," said Grushkovski. "The goal of the event is to educate people about bunny adoption and to find many bunnies homes."
He said that thousands of people have visited the shop and 10 of the bunnies have been adopted, which were rescues from Los Angeles animal shelters. However, organizations like Hadzimuratovic's and the Los Angeles Rabbit Foundation.
"This isn't about him. It's not," said Michelle Kelly, president of the Los Angeles Rabbit Foundation. "It's about the rabbits. He has to find some way to make money that doesn't exploit the rabbits."
L.A. Animal Services said it is monitoring the café and investigated the allegations. A pet shop permit was approved and it was last inspected a week ago.
Grushkovski said that none of the bunnies have been harmed or died. He hopes to expand his bunny café concept into art shows and free community movie nights.
