Purr Cat Cafe | Down the Rabbit Hole

[Music] while interactions on Facebook don't often attract external attention a wider audience will occasionally discover them such as in the instance of the per cat cafe though the business itself was considered odd due to its practices it was the owner and her aggressive social media presence that garnered most of the attention and this eventually became so problematic for the fledgling business that local news stations began reporting on it people online will still occasionally ask after the business its cats and its owner so what is the per cat cafe [Music] in mid-august of 2017 a woman named Kathleen Kruk Zach made a public post to Facebook detailing her grievances with her former employer earlier that year the company had opened an indiegogo crowdfunding campaign asking for $40,000 so that they could open some time soon after Boston my name is Diane Kelly I am a cat enthusiast and the founder of her cat cafe I have been working to bring her cat cafe to life for 17 months now cat cafe is a really fun place where rescue cats actually reside in the cafe in which you can come and play with a cat and best of all all the cats at the cafe are adoptable though they only managed to raise seven thousand two hundred dollars they're flexible funding goal meant that they still received this money in full but it also meant that they had taken on an obligation to their 162 backers by the time Kathleen had made her post to speak out against Diane Kelly the business was approaching three months past their scheduled opening date of June 1st this post read in part quote hi everyone cat grace former general manager of pur cat cafe here if you've emailed Boston purr in the last few months chances are high that you spoke to me directly I'm sure this post will get deleted so feel free to copy paste or screenshot most of the core team has distanced themselves from purr for several reasons everything she is being bullied for we have told her over and over again this team consisted of two feline behaviorists myself included and several people who have worked hands on and rescue for about as long as I have been alive despite our combined experience Diane chose to continually ignore and insult us Diane has no Animal Care background whatsoever Kathleen went on to explain the reasons behind many of the cafes troubles at one point Diane had reached an agreement with a local shelter named Boston's forgotten felines or BFF a charity that picks up stray cats fixes them gives them medical treatment and then adopts them out according to their deal BFF would provide cats to Diane's cat cafe and visitors could adopt the cats through the charity since the cafe wasn't licensed properly to do so not long before Kathleen's post however the two had cancelled their partnership and Kathleen explained why quote Diane will claim up and down she is being bullied and that the reason for dissolving the partnership with BFF was because they were not supplying cats the truth is she was not equipped to have any cats in the building despite her certificate of occupancy which has nothing to do with animal welfare no beds blankets or pillows no hiding places no cages hardly any toys no cat trees no scratchers nothing anything you see for the cats including 95% of the toys was either purchased by me out of my own pocket was alone from BFF or as the perches on the upstairs walls donated by arista cat designs Diane contributed absolutely nothing save a small handful of toys some random bowls and some cages bought far too late once she was pressured to do so she spent the dwindling money left in the / accounts on decorative wall art coloring books and things to entertain people etc instead of things for the two cats we now had Diane wanted to place the cats with no enrichment in a basement with no windows and cold hard floors BFF did not want to place cats until purr was equipped to do so Diane told BFF - [ __ ] off several times Diane said any other shelter would be happy to place cats in her poorly equipped basement we all said a thousand times that no one who gives a hoot about animal welfare would ever do so Diane doesn't know the first thing about feline welfare and that would be fine had she listened to the team she had now she stands alone with all of the decisions she has made and will not take responsibility for any of them after another feline behaviorist very politely told her all of the things she would need to furnish the space Diane told her to never contact her again she doesn't even care enough to remember which cat has which amber is labeled as Godric in some of these photos to top it off these cats aren't even up her anymore yet she continues to use their photos as expect that is to hide the fact that she still has no cats everything you could ever think of from a feline welfare perspective we told her from getting a munchkin cat to just buying cat toys she ignored most of it she is more concerned with making everything look nice and making profits than actually taking care of these cats she takes actual advice as bullying Dianne offered me part ownership of pur cat cafe and I chose to walk away from it completely instead I hope you all understand how serious that is she forwarded me an email with intentions to lie about vff and I immediately resigned if purr opens its doors Dianne has also told the agricultural department to [ __ ] off so I suspect it won't be open long she thinks the animal welfare laws do not apply to her because of her designation as a pet center end quote accurate to Kathleen's assessment of her personality Dianne replied to this post using the official per cat cafe Facebook page saying quote oh I am very certain I have put feline care at the top of my list I will continue my mission to rescue cats in Boston and get them adopted the both of you can continue to tell me how I should run purr for the cat's best welfare go right ahead host whatever you want but the reality and the truth about per cat cafe is going to be alive and well soon so sick of the cat fights in Boston I am learning that people in the cat world truly might be crazy I am starting to understand why people call females crazy cat lady's people that work in the cat field are crazy cat people I am a cat enthusiast and a very smart businesswoman so Boston if you like cats you will know where to find them in Boston shortly if you want to listen to some women rant and rave about crap you should contact cat and Joan end quote in response to another person expressing her concerns Dianne also spoke to the failed partnership with BFF saying unfortunately BFF was not dependable to provide cats for purr but Kathleen wasn't finished speaking about the business on August 26th she posted a photograph that took of the mostly bare basement in the per cat cafe saying quote these are the conditions that diane of her cat cafe thinks are sufficient for a large number of cats to live in this photo was taken the day / got its first three cats amber Godric and pearl Diane told BFF that the space was all set and when they walked in they were appalled does this look like a good place for a cat to live to you no windows no beds or toys or perches or hiding places cats could crawl behind the stairs through a gigantic hole by the water heater she can delete my posts all she wants but her team is dropping like flies because of her behavior and the public deserves to know the truth in the replies she went on to explain that Diane's plan was to rotate two sets of cats between the storefront and the basement to give them breaks from visitors she also went on to explain Diane's aversion to her advice quote there were issues like me saying we shouldn't be feeding animals on styrofoam plates due to the risk of intestinal blockages where she told me you will not change my mind on this she thinks only she can decide what is best for the animals she has no idea how to care for and will not budge on any of it Kathleen was joined by the director for BFF Joanie Nelson who confirmed which she was sharing and added minor details while all of this garnered significant backlash against the cafe the greatest damage would come from a surprising place Diane herself you Dayan responded to Kathleen's indictments vitriolic ly when one person stated that she no longer had any intention to visit the cafe Diane used the official business account to post a reply saying why are you being such a [ __ ] on August 28th two days after Kathleen posted her photograph of the basement Diane made a post to perk at cafes official Facebook page posing as one of her cats gussy in this post she reiterated the cafe's mission statement vision statement and oath all centered around the well-being of the cats that would eventually be housed in the building if she could secure a partnership she closed the post with her familiar tagline meow meow purr one of the replies plied Diane for answers to those questions raised by the people watching the Facebook page saying quote can you clarify how your actions such as breaking with BFF planning to place cats in an empty basement with no enrichment deleting posts with legitimate questions in the comments aligned with this oath / mission statement Diane replied with certainly please call me and I would be more than happy to answer any concerns that you may have I am working hard to open / as I have been doing for the last two years of my life I would prefer to be working on opening / to save abandoned cats rather than to respond to negative and incorrect comments about / it is not a productive use of my time it would be much better for me to stay focused on my mission to open / I look forward to your phone call sincerely Diane soon Kathleen challenged Diane directly on the page saying how about you just answer everyone publicly why do you keep deleting legitimate concerns posted by your confused and worried supporters Diane deflected saying certainly cat I can do that contact the media and line up an interview for me to which Kathleen rebutted hey you're in luck you're on social media no appointment needed speak to the masses whenever you're ready this challenge received no reply soon people began gathering around this Facebook page and where they're at once only been a few comments on any given post there were suddenly dozens of commenters bombarding Diane with criticism and comments these new people were divided into two main groups with some overlap the first were those concerned about the welfare of the cats and Diane's ability to open and maintain the business many agreed that a cat cafe of this nature could positively affect the community and the welfare of its cat population the second group found sport in antagonizing Diane remarking on her hypocrisy confrontational and aggressive attitude and poor business acumen this latter group was usually tolerated by the former if only because it helped them in their goal of holding Diane accountable Diane began posting more frequently often attempting to refute her critics but these acted as little more than new spaces for people to confront her in a post on September 3rd she stated that she would be at the storefront that afternoon and the following afternoon to answer any ones concerns in person but when multiple people went to meet with her independently they couldn't find her by this point Diane's Facebook issues had drawn the attention of local newspapers and on September 5th an article was published in Boston Magazine titled Boston's per cat cafe hasn't opened yet this piece focuses largely on Diane's failure to partner with Boston's forgotten felines and quotes Diane herself the week that BFF was supposed to bring cats to purr did not go very well at all they told me I didn't have enough stuff I ordered that day more cages which came two days later but BFF didn't come back Wednesday or by the end of the week I made my decision I'm definitely not partnering with BFF people are making accusations that I don't love animals and I don't know what I'm doing but I have done my homework purr is a conduit to help cats get adopted the adoption process will be with whatever partner I choose to partner with this article also mentioned what it called drama on the Facebook page including Kathleen's photograph of the bear looking basement and the confirmation of this evidence by one of bffs volunteers the author provided links to the posts in question drawing even more on lookers and commenters soon after this on September 8th dianne revealed that she was in talks with another shelter and stated that she had rescued another cat named polka-dots however by performing a google image search two commenters discovered that the photograph Diane had provided was actually from 2011 uploaded by a shelter in Arizona with critical and concerned people now scrutinizing dianne so closely someone posted to the cafe's facebook page in diane stead on september 10th the post was worded with diplomatic but imprecise rhetoric with phrases such as we hope to start anew and take a step in the right direction acknowledging where we have been and hoping to move forward shortly after this statement was published many of Diane's posts from the previous months were expunged from facebook as for the comments left on them this post while omitting any sort of apology was received far more positively than anything posted to the page for some time and the replies were almost universally supportive but this shift toward civility would not last on September 24th 16 days after the previous message attempting to make amends with the community Dianne once again took control of the company's Facebook page posing as her pet cat it reads in part quote good evening Boston kingpin gussy here the very proud cat adopted by diane kelly diane kelly loves cats and that is why she adopted me from little lions cat cafe there a tremendous amount of people in this world that would rather focus on hate this has been very obvious on my facebook apparently Boston's forgotten felines would rather focus on hate rather than the truth so I will focus on the truth Boston Boston's forgotten felines was not a registered shelter in the state of Massachusetts Patricia Cabral the director of all of shelter and rescue phoned me to notify me that Boston's forgotten felines was not registered in the state of Massachusetts I communicated this to Joni Nelson the director of BFF two months later BFF was still not registered with that state of Massachusetts consequently I made a sound business decision not to partner with BFF would you partner your business with a rescue group that was not registered in the state of Massachusetts and quote within two hours this was rebutted by a commenter who linked to an official government website listing approved shelter and rescue organizations and on that list was Boston's forgotten felines one person who worked for the shelter commented on the post as well to defend her organization and numerous others accused Diane of libel two days later she responded to this criticism by again role-playing as her cat Gussie quote meow Boston Gussie here the kingpin of purr I represent Diane Kelly the very proud owner of Boston's first cat cafe Diane is cat-tastic she adopted me from little Lions cat cafe in New York City Diane has been the most wonderful mom I could ever have she loves me to death and gives me the very best of care Diane is opening per cat cafe to rescue abandoned cats my mom has been working on opening / cat cafe for two years she has worked diligently every day for two years to open per cat cafe there has been a tremendous amount of inaccurate statements posted to pers social media I have captured every post for my mom Diane I will be consulting with my mother's attorney tomorrow meow meow purr in response to a comment attacking her she wrote dear Ryan / cat cafe is being harassed her cat cafe is not even opened how could any one rape her at getting cats adopted yes it is more than disheartening it is not the difficult to see her is not opened yet / had a five-star rating / walked away from Boston's forgotten felines because they were not reliable yes BFF boss was not reliable to bring cats to purr but only two days later Diane would escalate this further in a way that nobody predicted on September 26th Diane posted a picture of people in front of a banner with the café's logo on it writing her is a collective team our goal is to save abandoned cats and find them forever homes however her is also an organization that will fight against individuals that try to deface her cat cafe meow meow purr Cathleen returning to the page left a comment on this post quote just to clarify this photo is from first Caturday at Boston Common on August 6th 2017 half of the individuals in this photo were not part of the pur team only people we spoke to and pulled into the photo with us in regards to the team to my knowledge at least two individuals are no longer associated with purr and I am the short gal in black pants standing behind I am not sure what the purpose of posting this image was but I don't want to be associated with this business any further please remove my photo Diane responded within the hour dear cat just to be clear you did participate at first Caturday to represent purr did you or not additionally I know you enjoy having several different sexual partners you shared that with me and I have no interests at all having a woman that works for me that has several different sexual partners you sharing with me that you have several different sexual partners is inappropriate immediately a flood of comments filled the post admonishing Diane and many people who claim to be interested in the cafe expressed that they would not visit when it opened Kathleen responded saying we had a conversation about how you'd be meeting my boyfriend not my sex life in any aspect for anyone confused I'm openly polyamorous meaning I have two boyfriends I never spoke about anything sexual you are out of control Diane my personal life has nothing to do with your business in that same common thread kathleen noted that she had just received two messages from cafe employees informing her of their departure from the company due to Diane's behavior she made another comment later that read one of my many sexual partners worked on your freaking header image and IndieGoGo graphics so looks like you then give a [ __ ] when it benefited you what's more this attack from Dian encouraged Kathleen to post more previously withheld details about the business and their correspondence that same day she shared an image taken from a live feed of the basement earlier that month showing that Diane had failed to fulfill her promises about the space she closed the comment by saying I'm done playing nice she then posted screenshots of emails between herself and Diane depicting a bizarre exchange shortly before Kathleen left the staff of the / cat cafe she received an email from Diane that read quote Kathleen it just so happens that we have no cats at her therefore I see no need for you to work at / there is no reason to have any staff at purr we have no cats Diane Kelly Kathleen responded okay I'm assuming you're firing me right now so I'll pick up my last check on Monday have a good night cat grace Diane responded the next morning saying no I was being facetious we have no cats Kathleen we are opening a cat cafe there is a bit of a disconnect here if you no longer want to work at purr then please let me know Thank You Diane Kathleen's reply reflected her mounting stress working under Diane part of her response reads I am NOT happy about this diam I'm trying to be professional but it's difficult when it's not being reciprocated I'm being called names I am unsure if I have a job in the middle of the night and you lose your temper with me on the phone when I express my professional opinions if you continue to treat me in this manner and others in a far worse manner so much so that they stop working with you altogether we will not be a successful business if you cannot make this commitment to your employees then you will no longer have employees a workplace cannot function the way it is currently functioning I should be stressing about getting our doors open not about what name I'm going to be called over a miscommunication or if I even have my job or if I can even express my concerns about the business I'm supposed to be managing end quote immediately after this the phrase we have no cats Kathleen became a commonly repeated phrase in the comments used to tease Diane perhaps most damning was an email Kathleen revealed from Diane discussing the partnership with Boston's forgotten felines quote we discussed Joanie and BFF ringing a guaranteed 15 cat stupor by September 3rd Kathleen BFF and purr have been in a partnership for over a year now yet BFF can't deliver any cats to purr Kathleen you have worked with purr for six weeks now and you are telling me to be patient I have been working on purr since December 10th of 2015 how arrogant of you to tell me to be patient BFF can't bring any cats to purr that is obvious please let joni know that purr does not want to do business with BFF end quote the same day the official cafe account made a post with more diplomatic rhetoric but it lacked any of the hallmarks of Diane's writing making it likely that someone else had written it for her the next day Diane private at the cafes Facebook page with employees leaving an an enraged follower base the future of the business was looking more doubtful than ever but Diane's determination would prove indefatigable on September 29th Kathleen shared an email that she had received from Diane it read quote you are more than welcome to get back your belongings they are yours and please take them I also will be suing you Kathleen for defacing per cat cafe you posted a picture of an empty basement at purr which was a complete lie you posted several other things too per his Facebook page that were untruthful do you feel it is okay to abuse someone for something they did not do apparently you do be prepared to stand up in court and tell the world how you lie the truth is going to come out Kathleen Diane of note was a reply from Amy crystal the general manager that preceded Kathleen who said she isn't going to bring you to court I will be surprised if she does she threatened to bring me to court once too and it never happened did anyone go to this open house why is she still trying to open this place won't last with all the bad PR its received also alcoholics can't manage a business until they get help and can manage their own lives when I first met Diana I could see she wasn't a quitter but at some point you have to realize some things aren't meant to be also Kat she offered me a percentage of ownership in the business to however when push came to shove she didn't follow through also her letter to you is the exact one she sent me maybe she copied and pasted it all she said I don't want to lose you are you really willing to walk away from this partnership etc sometimes soon after this Diane reopened the cafes Facebook page then quickly deleted many of the posts and their associated comments then on October 3rd Diane made another Facebook post again posing as a cat as was becoming her pattern however she dropped this rhetorical device immediately and referred to herself again in the first person I read in part quote good morning Boston my name is Daley I am a cat that was abandoned and Diane Kelly the founder of purr rescued she brought me to a veterinarian to seek medical treatment for me Diane had to move and could not bring a me to her new residence she found me a safe loving caring new home with a friend there have been a tremendous amount of inaccurate statements regarding per cat cafe on several social media fronts and again I want to address your concerns again I apologize for not handling per his Facebook page as professionally as I could have I certainly have made my mistakes and I'm working hard to improve in this area I would like to share the following facts with you that may provide you with reassurance that I absolutely have the best interest of the cat's health welfare and safety at purr purr has a ten feet glass vegetable that was built with the safety of the cats in mind patrons will need to be buzzed into purr via a purr staff member the buzzer is at the reception desk the vegetable was built this way so there would be no danger of the cats getting out of the building and into the street there is a kitty door built in the door leading down to the basement of purr this was built for the cats to have an opportunity to go to the basement and seek solitude and rest if they would like to I do not have very good photos of the basement as soon as I do I will absolutely post them to Facebook a great deal of the inaccurate information being posted to many social media outlets has significantly delayed our opening for many reasons I am working with Boston's Veterans Association to have a feline veteran program her has plans to bring our cats to a senior citizen center in the neighborhood to be therapeutic for their residents we are working with the Jewish Family and Children Services Center in Brighton as well they have a program in which the individuals volunteer at local businesses to gain skills that will hopefully lead to future employment many of the adults working with this great center are planning to volunteer at purr in hopes of gaining skills for future employment the program is called pathways to employment finally I would like / to also be a food pantry in the future / also is planning to open / complementary for certain groups such as senior citizens autistic individuals and veterans etc I've spent close to two years now working diligently to open / because I have a mission to help animals / well via means to educate our community to be responsible pet owner I have always dreamed of opening my own business and particularly one working with animals I have been very upset regarding previous reviews and it has caused me to take pause in my efforts however I have lifted my spirits and I'm working diligently again now to complete my mission thank you please in advance for taking consideration of pers goal and provide positive support for a place that I truly believe will be doing excellent work for cats as well as trying to help the community as well meow meow purr the comments immediately were dubious about Dianne's claims most of all about the basement which had attracted many of them in the first place one of these commenters however claimed to be a professional photographer and offered to provide free services granting Diane full rights to the images these offers received no reply soon however Diane would announce an event that if it were to happen would render images taken herself unnecessary [Music] on October 4th an email was sent to those on the perc at cafes mailing lists inviting them to an open house in the afternoon that weekend they stated that they would be able to host 35 people at one time for tours at the top of each hour and that there would be quote no more than 10 cats after posting a few old photographs to the Facebook page in an attempt to Kindle interest however they all were met with continued admonishment for Diane's behavior and in response she posted a stock photograph of a cat at 2:30 a.m. with the text Boston clearly there is no interest in cat cafe here no meow meow purr for Boston this post was interpreted by a local news source to mean that the cafe would no longer be opening she also took the time on October 6th to reply to a commenter who was demanding updates on the space for the cats quote Kayla why don't you come to the open the house this weekend then I am very certain that coming to an open house would be more effective than posting negative [ __ ] on the internet on the internet about a business you know nothing about but what the hell I am just going to respond like you do here is my first round I will be negative and just beat the [ __ ] out of a new business to save animals because it feels cool I have never been to per cat cafe let me ask you a question Kayla what does a cat cafe do why do you surprise me with your intelligence you are so brilliant send me an email end quote later that day a volunteer named Chandler made a post clarifying that indeed the open house would be continuing as scheduled and that Diane would be there with her cats however it was clear that Chandler was ignorant of many of the details of the event writing this has been very confusing for everyone involved on the first day of the open house event however Diane made a peculiar post to the Facebook page she wrote good morning Boston her is looking forward to hosting our open house today and tomorrow we also wanted to share a video from Kathleen grace beneath this writing was a video Kathleen had made for her YouTube channel in which she shares some of her pet play fetish gear with her viewers kathleen was granted no chance for a rebuttal as Diane had blocked her from the Facebook page but sometime afterward kathleen deleted this video from youtube the response to this post was universally negative with many people expressing confusion as to why Diane would post an X employees fetish video to her business page later that morning Diane posted again writing I do not understand how there could be so much negativity cruelty and slander to a business that is not even open yet and most importantly trying to save animals is that a bad thing when the post was archived - there were 88 comments but it's likely that before it was deleted there were well over 100 however at long last Diane gave the commenters the photographs of the basement for which they've been asking but it showed little more than what had been there in the earlier photographs with objects like scratching posts nests and tents scattered haphazardly across the basement floor at last the weekend of the open house had come several people who had raised concern on Facebook went on the first day and posted their findings despite her hopeful claims of no more than 10 cats Diane had only brought for her 35 people at once limit proved similarly inaccurate with apparently no more than a few people at once in the storefront one visitor going by Michele noted that the 10-foot vestibule that Diane had touted was not prepared rather the first door was an automatic sliding door while the door on the inside was simply a locked swinging door and while she was holding the inner door open for her friend the automatic door opened as well though no cats escaped another woman named Marie Billie L live tweeted about her time at the cafe some of the tweets read quote at the Boston / open house there are kittens no idea where they're from or if they're up to date with their shots I can overhear Diane talking to a reporter she's still talking about her vision but she wants to get for the basement Kathleen was right about the vestibule it opens onto the street currently propped open so does not offer safety for escaping cats Diane just brought gussied up from the bay and he's clearly terrified the door remains locked and with Diane in the basement and Chandler playing with a cat guests have to awkwardly let other people in one kitten is now growling and clearly unhappy no one reacts now Diane is asking people to help assemble cardboard cat houses because it is too technical for her chalk sign on the wall asks people not to pick up cats people do it anyway staff doesn't notice or care this little guy is hiding behind cat litter also it looks like the cat door is taped up so the cats can't actually leave the public space air in the basement is stagnant that seems fine now but what about when cats live there and start using litter boxes and corners it's unclear if the basement has heat but for sure there is no obvious form of ventilation on the second day the automatic door was disabled requiring guests to open the door manually but overall the open house only raised further concerns Diana would go on to lament in the comments on her Facebook page that those people criticizing her wouldn't go to the open house in spite of the fact that at least one of the people she named had documented her time there and when people pointed this out she didn't reply shortly after the open house she attempted to apologize for her previous statements but few people took her at her word in the coming weeks Diane would continue to respond to comments repeatedly purging the post history of the Facebook page and so occasionally speaking about Kathleen and her quote sexual preferences all while more and more people discovered the business and attacked her in the comments over the inadequacy of the space and her aggressive social media strategy this pattern repeated for weeks and eventually on October 17th Chandler announced in a comment that she would no longer be assisting Diane on October 21st another person named Elise krob visited the cafe for a tour but most of the issues people had were unaddressed as of yet there was no heating solution for the basement though Diane claimed she had installed a HEPA filter she also claimed that she was planning to create ramps for the cats to climb onto the beams but Elise noted her concern due to the presence of electrical wires on them while Diane stated her desired open the cafe in two weeks she also admitted that she still had not partnered with an animal rescue yet but also claimed that upon opening there would be eight cats living in the space though they wouldn't be adoptable the only explanation which Elise could imagine was that Diane would adopt more cats herself in the following weeks Diane continued to post calling for people to assist the cafe on social media quote or we can just continue to be negative and Kirk at cafe will die the abandoned cats of Boston need your help Boston on October 31st Diane posted that the per cat cafe would have a soft opening the following day though what made it soft was vague however the next morning she stated that at the suggestion of who she called a consultant the opening would be delayed yet again and the following day someone going by édouard made a post in Diane's stead he wrote good evening Boston for the last two weeks I've been reading your comments and all of the prior posts and catching up on private messages sent through this page I've been compiling all of the questions comments and concerns and wanted to address them with Diane personally so I have all the answers without giving the wrong information to you I'm meeting with Diane this Saturday to get all the questions answered it's likely that this was the same Edward who had been unconditionally supporting Diane in the comments of the café's posts someone to whom Diane had been responding three days later this Q&A was released but as Diane had proven herself untrustworthy multiple times over the previous months none of these statements were particularly convincing in these answers however there were some interesting notes the first was that she had some sort of consultant for the welfare of the cats though their qualifications were unspecified in response to a question about a ventilation unit for the isolation room used for sick cats she wrote that she would purchase one when she had the funds for it and she claimed interchangeably that there would only be either eight cats or eight ten cats in a later question asking about Kathleen's back pay of $2000 Dianne stated that quote unfortunately the funding for purr has run dry and I can only pay her back if I open the doors so I can pay her back with interest and I will do right by Kathleen for all the work she put into / Dianne also claimed that she had made a $6,000 contribution to Boston's forgotten felines at some point in the past and that the Kickstarter funds had all been spent on rent despite still being unopened she had been renting the space for over a year at a cost of four thousand one hundred dollars a month meaning she had spent well over $50,000 for the storefront property that was still not in use when asked about who was employed Diane replied vaguely that quote we do not have a full staff by this point it seemed likely that everyone who had once been on the payroll of per cat cafe had either left been fired or laid off when the company ran out of money how Diane was paying for rent was at this point unclear Edward also fielded questions though they mostly amounted to him stating he was contracted to handle per cat cafes social media from then on however only two days later he made a post himself to the per cat cafe page writing quote I joined this cafe with the utmost concern for the safety and welfare of the cats due to creative differences I have decided to part ways with the cafe I wish Diane well in her endeavors one commenter wrote I'm torn between that was fast or you stuck it out longer than expected by the ninth Diane was again lamenting the negative comments that plagued the business's social media page four days later on November 13th Diane posted again that per cat cafe would be opening that weekend but she would be threatened by a surprising body the City of Boston on November 15th Boston 25 News aired a segment stating that the Boston inspectional services department but blocked Diane from opening the cafe unless they received proof of her licensure for the business this investigation was spurred by multiple complaints from people who had been following the Facebook page and were either concerned the issues Kathleen had raised or interested in provoking Diane to further outrage in a reply that same day Diane stated that quote the cruelty investigation is bogus and I will be pursuing a lawsuit against Fox 25 for slandering my personal character and my business what specifically have I done cruel to the cats at her to here are no cats residing at per cat cafe currently for me to be abusing this investigation however proved to be little obstacle for Diane and at last on November 18th 2017 the per cat cafe had its first day of business however the issues that people had raised on Facebook were still largely unaddressed not only was the cat door to the basement still blocked but Diane had added even more tape this time to keep it closed the vestibule was still not being properly managed either none of the cats were yet adoptable and it appeared that Diane had adopted cats specifically to live at the cafe in the following weeks Diane would attempt to address questions from commenters on social media and while many of these answers were inadequate to these people one note in particular stood out since she still hadn't secured either heating or ventilation for the basement it would remain barred to the cats on the 29th Diane claimed that she had seven cats and more would continue to come promising that she would partner with cat rescues in the near future she continued to profess that she had quote learned from her mistakes but in the months that followed a strange series of events would occur that would leave those following the cafe perplexed and concerned [Music] in December of 2017 a woman named Janice had contacted Diane about leaving her cat as she would be preoccupied caring for an ill relative Diane agreed to try housing the cat at her cat cafe though it appears that this arrangement was remarkably informal On January 3rd 2018 rather than seeking care for the cat Diane called Janice to angrily accuse her of giving her a sick cat and demanded that she returned to take them away Janice was out of state and will be unable to return for at least three days and so the cat languished in the / cat cafe as their condition deteriorated by the time they were taken to see a vet the cat's condition had worsened to the point that the vet recommended immediate euthanasia to which Janice agreed a subsequent MSPCA investigation found that Diane was not at fault for the cat's death and it appears that she never publicly commented on the issue as the months passed Diane's psyche diminished on March 13th at 6 o'clock p.m. police were called when one of Diane's volunteers discovered her on the floor of the cafe surrounded by empty wine bottles and an open container of cat medication according to the police report quote officers asked when she last stopped drinking to which she replied I never stopped Dianne shouted and cursed at the volunteer and at the officers as she began to weep when one of the officers asked her if she wanted to hurt herself she nodded realizing what she had done the officers called an ambulance and she was taken to the hospital where she apparently recovered around this time Diane was able to partner with another cat shelter named feline victory rescue or fvr but on March 21st after the state discovered that they weren't registered they were issued a cease and desist letter and ordered to remove all cats that they had given to the / cat cafe as the year wore on Diane reduced the operating hours of the cafe multiple times a reflection of low patronage online reviews over the course of 2018 were extremely mixed some people were marked that it was a positive experience but even the positive reviews would sometimes remark that the cat seemed tired or nervous the images attached to the reviews betrayed the reason a photograph from January of 2018 showed that the entrance of the basement was still blocked off as did another from six months later despite these concerns diane was able to partner with a licensed group named the bay state animal cooperative the reviews continued to dwindle in number going into 2019 reflecting even further reduced patronage and diane listed the cafe for sale on Craigslist in august nobody took the offer what's more the bay state animal cooperative had canceled its partnership with Diane as a last-ditch effort to raise funds Diane announced a silent auction for the end of September but this apparently failed finally on October 8th 2019 a sign was posted by the landlord in the window of the cafe that red / cat cafe is permanently closed no further information is available a new tenant will be coming soon Boston Magazine made one final article published the day after to commemorate this event when they asked Diane for a quote she responded almost incomprehensible keep on wagging the dog's tail if you can't save yourself from reading this story rescue a cat in the meantime or perhaps even a dog I know this is better than Game of Thrones the article also noted that the landlord had sued Diane for failure to pay rent upon losing the case Diane was evicted she took to the defunct cafe's official Facebook page to protest writing quote meow meow purr all part of the history of per cat cafe you can read about the true story shortly in the perfect claw it will be the true story of purr cafe it will be a very true story about the society we live in a society in which social media and the media spin reality to suit their needs it will be a story in which speaks volumes about animal regulations in the state of Massachusetts however the nature of the perfect claw remained unclear whether it will be a book or an article and she provided no release date she would continue by indicted individual commenters as well going as far as posting pictures of one woman's Facebook profile she continued to use Facebook to blame the failure of the cafe on the media coverage the negative attention on social media and Kathleen Kruk Zek but she apparently had no strategy to bring back the cafe while it's uncertain how Diane managed the finances of the business it seems likely that she spent nearly all of her funds on attempting to open the per cat cafe and if the article in Boston Magazine is correct then the landlord had not sued the business but rather Diane herself and if he sought damages it seems unlikely that she has the money to pay him searching for the per cat cafe online will still show remnants of it on social media sites during a time when people found humor in Diane's posts or frustration with her neglectful attitude towards the cats in her care and in nearly all of them can be found the familiar phrase first written by Diane in 2017 we have no cats Kathleen [Music] you meow meow purr

Channel: Fredrik Knudsen

Views: 2,787,314

Rating: 4.9237099 out of 5

Keywords: Purr Cat Cafe, Fredrik Knudsen, Down the Rabbit Hole, Ryan Probert, documentary, DtRH

Id: wNsqEntHuV8

Length: 49min 54sec (2994 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 08 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/FaulheitARG]

i think this is one of very few channels where they can talk about something i have no idea about for an hour and id still watch it

[u/[deleted]]

No one is gonna make a joke about Kathleen shorting her name to Kat, talking about cats, who worked with cats? In a post about a business about cats --- no... okay I'll shut up. Great video regardless.

[u/Helelium]

I just took a look at the Purr Cat Cafe facebook page. It's active if you Google them, and Diane is still active in her posting now. I wonder if the attention that will likely be garnered from this video will spur on more drama?

Honestly, with Diane's clear decline in mental health, I fear for the safety of those poor kitties.

[u/Pinwurm]

Good god, this place was down the street from me. Passed it everytime I grabbed a gyro next door, was sad. They had some cats in the later days.

[u/stuffthatsonmydesk]

Holy shit. I love Down the Rabbit Hole and I've followed the hilarious shitshow that is Purr for years. What a glorious day.

[u/BeerCzar]

Meow. Meow. PURR.

[u/javelinRL]

What saddens me is that:

• toxicity
• alcoholism
• dissociative tendencies (posting as a cat while referring to herself in the first person)
• complete lack of social skills
• fanatic obsession towards caring for animals
• inability to learn or assume fault and absolute failure to handle finances and responsibility

... are hallmarks of a person who has suffered major trauma and abuse in childhood - or at the very least some sort of neurological learning disorder. In the end, being so toxic it might not be her fault or choice - just a deeply broken person trying to heal herself by doing a good thing for society and animals but unable to escape her own problems.

In the end, she tried doing something nice, failed miserably and is now likely half a hundred thousand dollars in debt (or maybe more due to interest and such) - which just puts herself in an even worse situation than she started with.

Although I'm not defending her bad behavior, it's not like she deliberately scammed or hurt anybody. She just never realized her "mission" was way above her capacity to handle it and now she's ruined despite her good intentions.

Meanwhile politicians steal, countries wage war killing millions of innocents, corporations destroy the environment, big pharma does its very best to profit the most out of dying people and grieving families, drug cartels operate with impunity, major banks cause worldwide recession - and none of them get punished for it, most of them actually making billions or trillion of dollars at it! Meanwhile all this woman wants is to help cats and somehow she is the one who gets to be held accountable for her personal failures as an individual?!

[u/MrGutty117]

We have no cats, Kathleen.

[u/painted-comrade]

Love fredrik