We at Spotlight are delighted to hear that warm-hearted Catalan DJ Coyu will be donating a percentage of the profits from his very appropriately named ‘Kitties Wanna Dance' night held every Wednesday at Booom, Ibiza to much-loved local charity Care 4 Cats Ibiza. The money will be used directly to care for and protect the island's colonies of stray, feral or abandoned cats.
The collaboration came to our attention after the recent rescue of a tragically burned cat in the Cala d'Hort area by Eve Gonzalez, Director of Ocean Drive. This sociable cat was well-known in the area, often calling by local residents and cafés for scraps of food. A couple of weeks ago, he was seen with truly horrific burns by animal-lover Eve. Distressed at being unable to catch him and help, Eve attempted to get help from the authorities but was unable to find anyone to assist her or the gravely suffering cat. Care 4 Cats however, came to the rescue. Determined to help, their volunteers trapped him and took him to the vet to see if he could be saved.
After a massive Facebook campaign, shared by DJ Coyu, donations from a concerned public came pouring in. Thanks to his action, Care 4 Cats' determined work and the generosity of the public, the injured animal survived. An online appeal was launched to find this bravest of cats a name and after a public consultation, it was decided that his name would be Phoenix, rising from the ashes as he did. He has now been adopted by one very kind-hearted Rainbow Moon and Phoenix is expected to make a full recovery, so thankfully on this occasion, there's a happy ending.
Famous on the island for utilising ‘every cent' of their entirely voluntary resources, 100% of the cash raised by the campaign will help towards the cost of sterilisation and veterinary care for sick or injured felines. Despite the enormous achievement of having neutered over 13,500 cats in the last 11 years, Care 4 Cats explain that there is still much more work to do to continue improving the health and reducing the size of the island's many cat colonies.
“There has been an explosion of hundreds of abandoned kittens this year,” explained volunteer Esther, “all need to be neutered, which Care 4 Cats arranges and pays for, plus they're all looking for homes, bless their little paws!”
So what was the connection with DJ Coyu, we wanted to know? Turns out that Coyu's label, Suara, helps street cats in Barcelona. He himself is known as ‘The Big Cat' and the label itself actually has a tag-line that reads “it's all about music...and cats!' Oookay!
Cat - Coyu connection thus firmly established, we asked about DJ Chapter aka Scott Gray (who is red H.O.T. right now on the island - for the quality of his artwork as well as his brilliantly funky DJ sets). We'd heard that Chapter had designed an über-cool new tee-shirt for the charity. Was it true and if so where do we join the queue to get one?!
Indeed it was true. Already gracing the backs of the coolest Ibiza ‘cats' and hipsters and no doubt soon to become this season's hot Ibiza fashion item, it's currently available from Babylon Beach boutique, Clandestino in Playa d'en Bossa and Laurelitos in Jesús. What's more, Chapter has also donated one of his much-coveted, limited edition prints, due to be auctioned at Atzaro on August 28th at the Care 4 Cats international art auction (more about that soon!)
The pop-gothic design of the tee-shirt with its mystical cat face and signature paisley swirls is a very cool representation of the Ibiza-cat relationship. Brightly coloured and vibrant, we want one!
Explaining his interest in the charity, Scott said "Care 4 Cats Ibiza is one of those charities that doesn't get the kind of exposure other well-known organisations get, however its work is incredibly important to the island and well worth supporting."
Chapter's art is to be found gracing the walls of some of the planet's coolest individuals (Fatboy Slim for one). He's also responsible for much of the stunning artwork used to promote Wax Da Jam, Ibiza's very own Nightmares on Wax party held every Thursday at Las Dalias. This is quite aside from his exhibitions at Urban Spaces, Ibiza and London's West Bank gallery.
There's currently a cat adoption scheme in place ladies and gents, so if you would like to find out more about Care 4 Cats, or volunteer either time, energy or resources to assist them in their splendid work, please check out their website or Facebook page for more info.
They're currently working on making their new, funky Chapter designed tee-shirt available to buy online so as soon as it becomes available, we'll let you know. In the meantime, a massive thank you to Care 4 Cats, Chapter and DJ Coyu for their great work. A big Ibiza Spotlight salute!
WORDS | Jane Charilaou PHOTO | Cat Milton IMAGE | Scott Gray
