A Café for the four-legged kind
We often add extra family members as we grow up. Mostly lifelong friends, or pets. Nowadays pets can be with you and live life alongside you as a welcome addition to your family. But here is Sri Lanka, it’s hard to integrate them into every aspect of your life, particularly when you’re going out.
Pix courtesy facebook.com/ tayobearSl/
This is why Shanaz Fouze and her cafe Tayo Bear are important. Named after one of her ‘kids’, a labrador, Tayo Bear is the first pet friendly cafe in Colombo. At any given point of day, you’re likely to see humans and dogs socializing with each other, or in some cases, utterly fascinated.
Shanaz, who is 26 years old, has worked in the food industry for almost 6 to 7 years. She has a family that consists of her mom, dad, two brothers, and 4 kids (3 dogs: Tayo, Lisa, Mango and a cat: Goat)
Shanaz recalls that her love for dogs started with her very first dog, named Scooby. She remembers that after his death they didn’t want to get another dog, because it hurt so much. But for her 21st birthday her brothers had gifted her with Tayo, and her family expanded with Lisa and then Mango.
Tayo Bear is named after Tayo not just because of their bond, Shanaz shared. It’s also because she’s a lazy lug. Shanaz says that it’s impossible for Tayo to not gain weight because she loves eating, and doesn’t love exercise.
“She loves food so giving her mass produced doggy food was not an option so I switched her to organic food I made at home and I made all of these organic and healthy treat, cupcakes to cakes for her so she won’t miss anything in life”
Soon after that, she decided to share these with other pet moms in Colombo and that’s how Tayo Bear came about. It has improved life for all three of her dogs, she says. She added that everyone has been very supportive and appreciative of her venture since it opened, and that it’s amazing how many people in Colombo love their dogs and bring them up as their own kids.
“It’s not easy running a business in Colombo and especially when you’re a girl.. but I have family, my future in- laws and our friends who are always supporting us and they make it all worth it.. “
She also teased some big plans for the future, which are top secret for now. There will be a lot of changes happening, and the plans will be out in the open soon, she reassured us.
“Tayo Bear means the world to me coz its my tayo girls. I have always wanted a place safe for my girls and for my self to be me. And with tayo bear I get to be myself and I get to have my girls around.”
In addition to running Tayo bear, Shanaz along with Rashmini de silva, a mother of two dogs Theja and Sukhee, started a club where people gather up for a beach run with their dogs. The main reason for that was the fact that a lone person walking a dog may be targeted for insults, but a well behaved group would not be. “we take our kids swimming and we have zoomie sessions and we get roasted in the sun and have fun,” Shanaz said.
Tayo Bear also supports a whole lot of charities such as “save a paw”, “tails of freedom”, “sos” and few other individuals and NGO.
In addition to accepting and giving donations, they also send them extra cookies when dog treats are made.
Every year they also have a dog almsgiving for Shanaz’s or her kid’s birthdays. While she’s happy with helping out as much as she can, she dreams that one day she could own a huge plot of land away from people who are cruel to animals and open a dog sanctuary.