Coyu loves cats so much he's got a foundation that helps re-home those on the street

“My life is all about cats and music. My girlfriend is a feline veterinarian and we have five cats at home. Plus I have a charity foundation for street cats in Barcelona called the Suara Foundation. It’s connected to our store downtown. We have two floors: one where we sell fashion, and then the cat house upstairs. All proceeds from the store go to help the cats.

The foundation started eight years ago. The store opened in 2013 – online at first – and it was a success, so we decided to create our own place to sell our fashion and somewhere people could see our cats in person, not just on social media. All our cats are from the streets of Barcelona. We collaborate with different associations but we choose the cats that are more difficult to get adopted. Our aim is to give them a better life. We don’t take kittens, as that’s what most people want to adopt. We prefer to give an opportunity to an old cat. We try to help the cats with fewer opportunities.

All our cats are named after DJs, like Dixon and Maceo Plex, tINI and The Black Madonna, and some of the DJs they are named after, such as Amelie Lens and Patrice Bäumel, have been very helpful and donated money to help us, and they’ve retweeted pictures of the cats which has helped them find new homes. Amelie Lens has been to the foundation and fallen in love with the cats in the cat house. When she was playing in Barcelona she said she’d love to spend time here before her set. She came and bought some of our T-shirts and bags in the afternoon. She’s a proper cat lover! Actually, she’s not a cat lover, she’s a crazy cat person. She even has an Instagram for her cats!

I was actually more of a dog person before, then I met my girlfriend 15 years ago and she was into cats. It was something very new and it changed my life. I found my soulmate and now I feel very connected to cats. I love how they interact with people. With most humans, I can be good friends, but sometimes a cat can hate you, or they can be super-cool.

I live in an apartment that’s 80 to 90 square metres, and having five cats in there is a lot! It can be hard; cats can be territorial and they sometimes don’t like to spend time with others. After a long tour on the road, to spend time with them is lovely. My oldest cat loves to sleep with me. We have a very special bond and she’s a special cat to me. When we adopted her, she was extremely shy and was very anti-social. But she decided to be more open. When I am not home now, she’s sad!”

Find out more and donate to the Suara Foundation

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