Adopt a cat in Melilla

Shelters and rescues in Melilla

Phone before you go: many only open by appointment and do not always have cats (in spring and summer, with the litters, they usually have many more). Those marked “Cats only” work exclusively with cats.

Locations come from OpenStreetMap, © its contributors, under the ODbL licence · downloaded on 23 September 2026. We have removed the pounds and shelters that only take in dogs, and the linked websites lead, where there is one, to their cat section. Phone numbers and websites that OSM does not have are taken from each organisation’s own website or from its town council’s, so if anything has changed, go by what their website says. Is one missing or is something wrong? “Suggest a correction” fixes it on the map, and it will show up here in the next update.

Rescues in Melilla

We have not checked any cat association here by hand yet. The search sites below do include the ones in the area.

Search sites: start here

They bring together the listings of hundreds of rescues. Each link takes you straight to the cat section, where you can filter by province, age and sex. The sites are in Spanish, but your browser’s translate option copes well with the listings.

MiwukiThe longest-running adoption search site in Spain, with cats listed by province and town. Bambú DifundeCats for adoption from rescues all over the country, with a page for each province. Save One AnimalA national platform that brings together the listings of over a thousand organisations, with a filter for cats. Dejan HuellaDetailed profiles of cats and dogs, with a section for each region. Kiwoko AdoptaSearch across nearly five hundred partner rescues, many of them cat-only associations. MundimascotaAdoption listings for cats and kittens, by province. WallamascotasA noticeboard of cats for adoption from private owners and associations.

Before you adopt: what the law requires in Melilla

Spain’s animal welfare law, Law 7/2023, sets the common minimum for the whole country; each region also has its own law and register, and each town council its own bylaws.

The national law requires every cat to be identified with a microchip and neutered before six months of age, except those registered as breeding animals with a registered breeder (art. 26). It bans the sale of cats in pet shops: only registered breeders may sell them (art. 27), and it does not allow a pet to be left unsupervised for more than three days in a row. Public centres must hand animals over for adoption identified, with a contract, and neutered or with a commitment to have it done (art. 23). In Melilla, the city has its own regulations on animal health (2022) and on the register system (2024), and the microchip is recorded in the identification system of the College of Veterinarians (SIAMEL). They require electronic identification of companion animals. Cat colonies. A TNR method for feral cats and an Official Register of Urban Cat Colonies. If the cat you adopt comes from a rescue, they or your vet will usually take care of transferring the microchip registration into your name. What each Spanish region requires (Spanish) →

Other sources

Third-party directories, in case you want to compare (in Spanish). These do take you away from Michipedia.

Other regions