The implementation of the national Animal Welfare Act of 2023 was the subject of a meeting between the regional Ministry for the Environment and the municipalities of the Balearic Islands. Attention was given to monitoring the growing number of feral cats and their sterilisation. The Mallorcan veterinary surgeon and animal welfare advocate Miquela Cintes deals with the issue daily.

The veterinary surgeon opened a small practice in the village in the centre of the island in 2018 and, in the same year, founded the animal welfare organisation "Amics d’en Roc i na Bet". It is one of the associations that typically finance and carry out the neutering of stray cats. Municipalities are also contributing to funding since this year, according to Cintes. Nevertheless, the organisations still rely on public subsidies.

"Thanks to the volunteers, the cats are cared for", Miquela Cintes.

In Porreres, Cintes’s hometown and place of work, there are seven cat colonies officially recognised by the town hall. Authorised volunteers appointed by the local council are responsible for feeding and caring for the cats. They notify the animal welfare organisation of newly arrived cats so that they can be neutered and treated against fleas and ticks.