Joshua Parfitt
A BRITISH expat has rescued a litter of day-old kittens found in a car engine by a bewildered mechanic on the Costa Blanca.
Sarah Mowers-Paye, 48, picked up the litter from the side of the road in Javea after seeing a viral appeal on social media last week.
The cats were first discovered inside a car engine by a mechanic 20 kilometres away from Javea, in Benissa, who then dumped the kittens in box on the roadside after locating the mother near where the Mercedes was taken.
“The mother has sadly rejected them, and was hiding in our shower just hissing and spitting at us,” Sarah told the Olive Press.
She said three of the four kittens found in the engine have since died, and the remaining male, Idris, has burns on his side, ear and tail.
The mother has now been neutered and released back onto the streets, as she was too ‘wild’ to be kept in the house.
Sarah said she plans to put Idris up for adoption, but since black cats are considered ‘unlucky’ in Spain it will be hard to find a new owner.
“Cats will often run to hide under cars if scared, but I’ve never heard of one putting her litter inside an engine,” John Harris, 75, treasurer of Javea Feral Cats, told the Olive Press.
Harris’ charity has neutered close to 3,500 cats since it was set up in 2009, which they put on the street as there ‘is nowhere to take them in Javea’.
He said none of the cats were actually ‘wild’ having instead been abandoned by irresponsible owners, and they now live in an estimated 35 street cat ‘colonies’ all over the town.
He said education was key to stopping the abandonment of cats onto Spanish streets.
