Yeah, people here are also worried about the cafe being closed down over a cat scratching someone.
I think that the main difference between a shelter and a cafe is that a visit to cafe is fashionable and fun, while going to shelter can be traumatizing and that's why many people who love the idea of petting cats at the cafe are not really into helping out at pet shelters.
The cafe gets cats from the shelter, though - not from other people (at least right now, I guess they wouldn't mind taking in a single cat from an owner if they had a good reason).
I think that the cat cafe idea is sort of selfish. It does more good for people than cats.
