Onka's second chance - Animal welfare Costa Blanca

Warmth, the gentle purring of my mum, the closeness of my siblings - these are my earliest memories. But then came the day when everything changed: Suddenly all I felt was cold and loneliness. At just two months old, I found myself in a cardboard box, abandoned on a street corner, my fate left to the elements. I am Onka, and my story is just one of many here on the Costa Blanca, where countless cats are abandoned every year.

Life on the road quickly taught me its hard rules. To avoid the huge, noisy metal boxes on wheels. To search for something to eat in rubbish bins with a growling stomach. Finding a safe place to sleep every night. In the streets, numerous cat colonies fight for survival every day. Without the dedicated volunteers who regularly bring food and water, many of us wouldn't stand a chance.
As a small kitten, I was particularly vulnerable. Parasites and hunger plagued me, every day became a battle. Then I noticed a woman who kept appearing in the same place and leaving food. I watched her suspiciously from a distance. After a few days, she arrived with a strange box - what I didn't realise at the time was that this box would become the turning point in my life.

Dedicated volunteers from animal welfare organisations look after street cats like me. They catch us, have us neutered and then usually take us back to our familiar surroundings, where they continue to look after us. Or they try to rehome us, like at Aldea Felina, an animal shelter exclusively for cats. Over 110 of my fellow cats live here and are waiting for a new home. The new Spanish animal welfare laws prohibit the euthanasia of healthy animals. Sandra, one of the helpers at the shelter, took me to the vet. For the first time, I received caring attention.