Restaurant Pleads With Customers to Keep Local Cat Out, He Has Other Ideas

A cat barred from a local restaurant has received support from TikTok users.

On October 23, user @negatr0n posted a video of the feline in question that has already garnered more than 910,000 views.

Text overlaid on the clip said, “Not the Toby Carvery cat.” The footage showed a flyer barring the cat from a branch of Toby Carvery, a British restaurant chain.

The flyer, which included an image of the cat, said: “Dear guests, if you see Barney the cat at the door, please do not let him in. Thank you.” The clip later showed what appeared to be a restaurant worker carrying Barney out of the venue.

The poster wrote in the video’s caption, “Free my man barney, he just wanted some roasties.”

Newsweek has contacted @negatr0n via TikTok and the Toby Carvery restaurant chain via Instagram and X, formerly Twitter, for comment. This video has not been independently verified.

It’s unknown whether Barney has a permanent home, but he may be a community cat—a broad term for felines that live outdoors and don’t have a clear owner, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Some community cats have lived outside for generations, while others have adapted to living outdoors after being lost or abandoned.

“Their behavior can range from extremely fearful of people to friendly and open to human interaction,” the charity said on its website. They also tend to rely on people for food and may live in groups or “colonies” around a common food source.

Community cats may be spotted outside a neighbor’s home, around the dumpsters behind a local restaurant or grocery store, or in a commercial lot.

“An estimated 10 to 12 percent of the American public feed community cats, but many lack the information or help they need to take the crucial next step: sterilizing and vaccinating the cats,” the charity said, adding that “as a result, community cats produce about 80 percent of the kittens born in the U.S. each year.”

It’s unknown why Barney is barred from the Toby Carvery venue, but the chain’s website said a restaurant may decide to bar a guest for the “safety of our other guests and staff.”

The website said: “It is important to us that our pubs and restaurants provide a safe, social and welcoming environment for all our guests. From time to time our pub teams may have to make a decision to bar an individual guest for the safety of our other guests and staff.

“These decisions are made at the manager’s discretion, at a local level and we support their right as responsible license holders to make such decisions. Consequently all decisions are final and cannot be appealed centrally via our Retail Support Centre.”

‘Justice for Barney’

Barney has received an outpouring of support from users on TikTok, who have demanded “justice” for the barred feline.

“Let Barney in,” one user wrote, while another said, “Let him stay.”

“JUSTICE FOR BARNEY,” a commenter added.

Another said, “He just wants a roast and a pint.”

“Barney on a wanted poster is too strong,” a user commented, while another wrote: “The collective awwwws. what did Barney do to deserve this hate.”

Another commenter added: “That’s it, I’m boycotting Toby Carvery until Barney is allowed in, and fed 3 meals a day + treats. I’ll come back when photographic evidence of chonky Barney is provided.”

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our “Pet of the Week” lineup.