The co ap cat. Aubi to complain

[Tinktravels]

At my local co-op in the village where I live half of the time that I go in I go in there is a random cat walking around the aisles.
I have asked staff about this before but All they have really said is that it is the local cat and it is always in and out of the few little shops there.

I am definitely not a cat lover and I don't really like the thought of the cat walking around the food shop.
Aubi to complain or should I just let it go and drive further out to a different store if it bothers me.

Picture of the cat attached

I don't think it's OK. Cats jump up on kitchen worktops,it could be jumping on food shelves too. Do they have uncovered food that cats would like? I'm extremely allergic to cats - to the extent that I have to manage my social life around it - so I would find this problematic.

I don't think there are specific laws prohibiting it in the UK though, it seems to be down to shop policy. Wilko for instance have said they will welcome cats and dogs. Grossly unfair on people with allergies in my opinion, and more people are allergic to cats than are to dogs.

What do you think the cat is going to do to the food?

I honestly couldn’t get worked up about this enough to raise it with anyone.

Go to a different shop if it bothers you.

What is the cat going to do to the food, given 99% of it is in sealed packaging.

I think it's lovely and real palate cleanser from screaming kids in most shops I visit

I would love this! I can see why people wouldn't though as I have a dog allergy and suffer if I'm ever in a train with dogs even for short times and find that difficult to manage (recently eneded up sat across the aisle at the theatre from a dog too, which was unlucky!) So I guess if you have allergies the whole store is a no go

Is this in Merley OP

@SirCumference to be honest I doubt it's going to do anything to the food but I just really hate the thought of it .
I don't personally have allergies but a lot of people do!

Maybe I am just a cat hater.

There is uncovered fruit in store yes

I'd not be bothered at all. If there are unwrapped items within jumping ability of a cat then I wouldn't buy them. Or I'd go elsewhere. Seems like the other villagers aren't bothered if the cat is a regular in all the shops.

😼Don’t go to Greece OP

I wouldn't worry about the food. No cat is going to jump on top of a counter for fruit surely! It's all washed when you get home anyway

@TwoMonthsOff no it's not but sounds like there's another co op cat about in merely?

They are probably not encouraging it...just struggling to prevent it.

On the plus side... it may discourage vermin!

🙄

Do you not wash fruit? Eugh! People cough and sneeze over fruit, pick it up to check it's ripeness with their havent-washed-after-using-toilet hands. Please wash your fruit.

Besides cats don't eat fruit so Tiddles isn't going to be licking it!

Also.. you do know that all sorts of animals have potentially been on your fruit and veg?

You beat me to it!

In the UK there's a legally allowed amount of insect parts that can be found in prepared foods before public health will get involved.

Compared to this a cat seems fairly minor.

My local Co op has a ginger cat that wanders around.

I really couldn’t get worked up about this unless it was peeing / pooing in store , do you not wash fruit / veg before you eat it

I would make a lot of extra visits to a shop with a cat. It's beautiful!

Or America. Bodega (corner shop) cats are a whole thing there.

"Cats love the Co-op".
Should be their new marketing strategy. It's a winner!

It's difficult, DD has a really strong allergy to cats and they can put her in hospital very quickly so it would mean she couldn't shop there but I would imagine that chasing a persistent cat round the shop in order to shoo it out could be a full time job for the staff.

That cat will cheer up so many people - I think you would be massively unreasonable to complain (joy sucker).

What do you think is going to happen, exactly?