September 2026

Dear readers,

This time I am not going to start with an animal rescue in the sense of: an injured or abused animal, be it a dog, a cat, a duck or a peacock, urgently needs help.

Every day people contact us asking for advice or help for an animal. In most cases the people seeking help call us and are desperate, helpless and overwhelmed on the phone, yet relieved to finally have someone on the line who understands their language and doesn't hang up straight away when they tell us: "I've found a cat on the street." We hear that sentence several times a day, and every known animal welfare worker here on the island of Mallorca has the same experience. Quite often these calls reach us at night or at the weekend. Initial veterinary care then becomes harder, but still doable if you are willing to help an animal and put up with a few inconveniences. If it isn't clear whether there is any risk of infection for the animals we have already rescued, a visit to the vet is simply a must. Space-wise we don't have the option of separating every rescued animal and waiting to see whether diseases break out; there are simply too many emergencies at the moment. So EVERY animal has to go to the vet first. Only then can we be sure there is no risk of possible infection.

Most people, however, don't want to hear that we ask them to catch the animal in need themselves, take it to the vet themselves, share the vet costs, bring the animal to our shelter Finca Noah 2.0, let alone leave a donation for the animal so that the further vet bills, care, medication etc. are covered. Very often we hear: "You're the animal welfare people, come and pick up the animal right now, or else …"

Yes, you read that right, we get threatened too, a gun to the chest, so to speak.

Just so you understand: every day we have almost 300 animals to care for, a farm, a finca, a shelter to maintain, and after our recent move we are rebuilding the stables. We do all of this alongside our jobs, because animal welfare is only a hobby. So we lack the time to personally collect every animal that is reported to us. If it's in our area we can organise it, but driving right across the island is something we simply can't always manage. Especially not every day.

That's why we really depend on cooperation, which unfortunately doesn't always meet with understanding. People certainly don't lack excuses for why they can't help any further beyond calling animal welfare.

We are truly grateful when there are people who want to help an injured animal. After all, there are also people who simply look away and carry on with their holiday.

A request to everyone who one day finds an animal in distress: don't just call animal welfare and think that's the job done. Every animal welfare worker who takes in injured animals, cares for them, nurses them back to health and makes sure the animals have a good, carefree life needs support.

In the August newsletter I told you about Lorena and her friends. We got to know her through her call for help to rescue a wild pig.

Lorena is a person with a big heart and so much empathy for the poor souls, something we have very rarely experienced here in Mallorca from Spaniards or Mallorcans. So it was quite easy for us to offer her our help and experience.

Lorena has already been to Finca Noah 2.0 several times at the weekend to help us and the animals. That isn't a given either; after all, she has an hour's drive, which for most people here is like a journey around the world.

Two weeks ago Farah had Lorena on the phone again, completely distraught. As I said, she has a big heart and is always at the end of her tether straight away when she finds an animal wandering around helplessly. Somehow endearing, but we always have to help her first before we can help the animal.

Lorena's uncle found a female rabbit on the motorway in Palma de Mallorca. The rabbit was sitting all alone on the verge. It's beyond us how a rabbit finds its way there. The uncle caught the rabbit immediately and brought it to safety. They drove the rabbit to the vet to make sure it had no injuries. Since we had meanwhile already agreed to take the rabbit in, she was vaccinated straight away.

The examination brought a surprise. No, not just one. The ultrasound image showed 4 little babies. As these can be born within a few hours, the rabbit had to move in with us the very same day. For Lorena and her uncle it went without saying that they would bring us the rabbit, so we could use the time to prepare her new home. She immediately started tucking into the fresh vegetables. Who knows how long she had been on the road, how many days she had gone without water and food.

The next morning we were all a little excited. We carefully took a peek into the little house: four tiny naked somethings were scurrying about inside. We hadn't expected such a quick birth. Mum hadn't even had time to build a nest, which she normally makes from her own fur, the undercoat.

So that the 4 little ones are well and lie warm and soft, we got nesting wool. Mum actually takes care of the rest herself. The little ones are growing and thriving; by now you can also see what fur colour each of them has. They all take after their mum. The little teeth are already there, and that after only one week. Every now and then they dare to venture out of their nest and look around full of curiosity.

We don't even want to think about what would have happened if Lorena's uncle hadn't acted immediately. The verge of a motorway is definitely not a safe place to give birth to 4 baby rabbits. All 5 would surely not have survived. You don't want to know what we wish upon whoever presumably abandoned the rabbit there …

A little fighter

In July I told you about the little tomcat Findus.

A pitch-black tomcat who walked into our trap during a trapping operation in a hoarder household where more than 60 cats had been living. From the very first moment I knew: he is something special. He only had one eye left, nobody knows why. He was a feral cat and avoided closeness to humans. Findus got the freedom he needed and was a happy outdoor cat.

But then he fell ill. A severe inflammation in his eye and nose. The vet's diagnosis almost broke my heart. He has the incurable calicivirus in his eye and nose. Findus had to endure lengthy medical treatment. Since Findus is a feral cat, giving him medication regularly is a bit of a challenge, but urgently necessary. We decided against the vet's option and did not have Findus put to sleep. The vet couldn't save the eye; it had to be surgically removed, so Findus was now blind. From that day on I noticed that he used his other senses more strongly. He didn't lose his joyful nature, quite the opposite. The daily ritual, the medication, became easier and easier, because Findus had realised that a human hand can also be something nice. He lost his daylight, but he gained something completely different, beautiful and lovable. I could touch him, stroke him and even take him on my lap. Over time he even enjoyed having his belly tickled and his beautiful fur combed. Despite his blindness he played with the ball. He loved grooming his cat friend Stellina. He became a real heartbreaker. We felt we had made the right decision.

Whenever I was with him and talked to him, he looked at me. Not with his eyes, but with his heart. He had to fight a lot in his short life. For one year I was allowed to be at his side and comfort him, stand by him after every vet visit, put his treat into his mouth, because he could no longer see or smell it. Findus passed away peacefully, quite unexpectedly. I was also allowed to accompany him on his final journey. I whispered in his ear that we would look after his friend Stellina. Findus, I miss you terribly. I hope that from wherever you are now, you'll watch Stellina zooming around in the wheelchair we ordered for her.

Farewell, dear Findus.

Thank you for patiently reading my lines.
Nadine De Tomi from the Animal Police team