Bale Bengong

Text: Rony Zakaria

It was the third time I had visited Bali, an island well-known for its exoticism and sense of mystery. There were a lot of changes since my first visit, years ago. The beaches were far more quiet, the tourist spots less crowded and, in the night, only a few travellers at restaurants and cafés - all uncommon sights before the Bali bombings of October 2002.

But still, there are things that are unchanged, like the thousands of pura (temples) in every corner of Bali or the beautiful sunset every day at Kuta. But I was far more concerned with the huge number of dogs everywhere, another thing that has also remained unchanged. You can see dogs almost everywhere,on the streets, on the beaches, even inside the puras.The dogs in Bali live a free-form life without owners.

Besides feral dogs, there are also partially stray dogs that do have owners but are not treated or considered as pets. Many of these dogs are only fed with leftovers and do not get proper care or medicine. Most Balinese can’t afford to go to a veterinarian to have their dogs sterilised.

According to a study by a team from the University of California, there are approximately 800,000 dogs living in these conditions. Right now, efforts to control the dog population are being carried out by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and concerned individuals. The government’s role (through the Department of Health of Bali Province) is quite limited and it has not allocated any money to handle the problem. Baca selengkapnya »