Bali Street Dogs

Indonesia is home to hundreds of stray dogs that are struggling to stay alive. David Verrall follows rescue groups on a relentless mission to end the suffering of Bali’s dogs. Linda Buller, Aussie artist, doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and animal lover, makes her home in a valley at the back of Ubud, the fashionable retreat for westerners in Bali, Indonesia. Stumbling down a dirt track to her house, the scent of frangipani wafting overhead, we are greeted by a pack of incessantly smiling, barking Bali dogs, a crossbreed of Asian Dingo, Kelpie and Blue Healer. A young brown Dobermann stands with his feet against the fence rail, his yellow eyes peering over the solid steel gate. “Hello love,” greets Buller through the noise, as she opens the gate that screeches on its rusty hinges. Puppies and dogs swarm around our feet as we enter her small handmade studio house overhung with trees and huge stands of bamboo. A small river bubbles in the valley beneath us. Bali Adoption Rehabilitation Centre “Ten years ago, I started picking up Bali street dogs,” Bulla tells me. “The first was a bitch, struggling to stay alive on the streets here. I called her Wang. I brought her here and gave her a chair and a pillow and a blanket. It made her smile. There were no vets or help and she was too depleted; she died three weeks later. “Hinduism regards dogs in Bali as an unfortunate reincarnation from their previous life, with little more respect than a tree or a rock. Their karma holds them totally responsible for their life. With a population of about one dog to five humans, they are only valued as food or something saleable.” etting dogs free “Did you bring a car?” Buller interrupts. ”We have to go, as my workers are with the dogs we found yesterday. They have been waiting for us all morning.” We load dried food, wire cutters and claw hammers, before setting off on the road up the mountain to Kintamani. As we climb the jungle road, we eventually stop alongside a pile of 50 wooden boxes holding live dogs. “We received a call yesterday from Serina, an English girl living in the area, telling us about this dog shipment. Normally they are very well hidden, but not these lucky dogs,” Buller says. A few forlorn, exhausted dogs strain out from some partially broken boxes, all stacked on top of each other. “We heard they were on their way to Java as live dog meat for crocodiles, or who knows, maybe restaurants selling RW [pronounced “air way”] for sate and soup,” she says. “Together, we had to wait overnight for permission from the police to free them. There is an ownership dispute, but the couriers didn’t have the appropriate papers.” Increasing concern Cool air rises around us as we cross shadowy river valleys beneath the jungle’s leafy branches. “The Jakarta Post, the national newspaper, wrote tacitly the other day about how people are starting to care about local dogs, mostly as a result of our actions here in Ubud!” Buller says, as we veer sharply off the windy road into the Rehab Centre. “Otherwise, the only attention we get is from the ex-patriot community, who are familiar with the value dogs can bring into a human’s life. The locals customarily don’t read those papers.” Squeals of delight come from the dogs inside the refuge as we arrive. Men are busy concrete rendering individual kennels, designed to isolate disease, while puppies stare delightfully up at us from their “rooms”, treading in their water bowls. Buller gives a few assertive instructions to the men working there and warmly says to me, ”These young men working for the dogs are so egoless.” Two young Balinese men are shepherding and isolating the dogs into various play areas in the yard. They are busy maintaining water access and giving individual attention to dogs recently vaccinated and injected for mange and other sicknesses. It is a crèche for dogs, until they are healthy enough to be adopted out. Local justice There are no laws for the protection of dogs in Bali and their wellbeing is dependent on increased public awareness. “Yesterday, local Balinese caught some dog baiters and beat them before giving them to the police,” says Buller with delight. “This sort of action was unheard of in the past, and the police hold the robbers, often finding them responsible for other offences to do with private property or motorcycle theft. The offenders are then repatriated to their homes again, even back to Java.” A small van arrives with three new cabinets purchased with enthusiastic donations to the refuge. The young Balinese men discuss the assembly instructions as we talk. “All I want is for visitors to Bali to come to my refuge and pat one of my dogs. I am encouraging local government to instigate animal-protection laws here, which are currently non-existent,” Buller says. “It has taken 20 years for this dream to become a reality. We have attracted vets from around the world to help here and are receiving some limited funding from a few enthusiastic supporters.”