Romeo didn’t inherit his father’s excellent looks. Instead, he was born with a facial abnormality that made him stand out from the others.

Even if they had, few people would have noticed. The kitten was living on the streets of southern Spain as a stray, and he was likely to depart the world as discreetly as he had entered it.

Until Laura Llácer discovered him. Llácer was simply passing through as the director and co-founder of Santuario Compasión Animal. When she saw Romeo on the street, she couldn’t pass him up, unlike so many others.

All of Romeo’s siblings and sisters had already found homes, but Romeo was “too ugly” for anybody to take him home, according to Llácer.

“We were surprised that people did not see that this was someone special,” she tells The Dodo.

Llácer was so moved by this kitten who was left to face the world on his own because of the way he looked, she decided to give him the best home of all.

So Romeo found a very different kind of place to live – among the other rescued animals who call the sanctuary in southeastern Spain home.

Romeo is never alone nowadays. She’s his “best buddy,” according to Llácer.

And he’ll have a lot more companions, including cows, ducks, turkeys, and, yes, plush bunnies.

“Romeo is quite loving and behaves in a unique way,” Llácer adds. “He’s still a cat, but there’s something endearing about his behavior that represents his charming oddity.”

“Of sure, he has a deformity, but that distinguishes him. That distinguishes him.”