I come from the San Francisco area in California. When I lived
in my other life I used to have marketing jobs. I started
in the toy industry and later was one of the people who started
Victoria’s Secret back in 1982. From there I moved into
the software industry, then desktop publishing in the 90’s
so I could be more mobile in my jobs and spend more time with
my kids.
You obviously have a love of animals. Do you have a background
in veterinary medicine?
I do have a lot of respect for animals. I have had animals
from Quarter horses to barn cats and pet rats, but have never
rescued animals before other than an occasional orphan.
Are you a dog owner yourself?
Yes I have some great Bali dogs. My first two were twins and
died about a month apart last year. They were the first two
dogs I rescued in Bali. Since then, I have been involved
the rescue of literally thousands from illness, disease and
suffering since the inception of Yudisthira Bali Street Dog
Foundation and the start of my partnership with Dr. Putu Listriani
in September 1998.
Why is your work important?
Because it addresses the deplorable conditions faced by the
disadvantaged dogs of Bali. This year between the Street Program
and our mobile Field Clinic, Yudisthira will treat over 13,000
dogs and will spay and neuter another 6,000. Yudisthira cares
about the welfare of the dogs, improving the level of veterinary
medicine, and increases peoples’ knowledge and understanding
of animal welfare.
Yudisthira’s work is also important because it serves
as a mechanism by which people can express support and sympathy
for the welfare of Bali’s dogs. The work is beneficial
to the community and business – through the work of
Yudisthira the street dog population is managed and kept in
a healthier condition. The program provides 21 jobs, 11 of
which are veterinarian jobs that do not compete with private
practice vets. Students at Udayana must complete their practical
studies with Yudisthira, in which new doctoral internships
are offered.
Yudisthira has cobbled together Bali’s first veterinary
lab open to the public and private practice vets. As in the
West, pet owners can now ask that testing be carried out on
their animals. This is especially good news for expats who
had been frustrated with the level of veterinary medicine
and diagnosis offered here. They can help by encouraging their
vets to get animals tested and be willing to pay for it! Veterinary
medicine is far cheaper in Bali than in Western countries.
What are the most common misconceptions about the work you
do?
Yudisthira is, or should be, a shelter. Shelters built to
take care of just a handful of dogs can cost literally millions
of dollars. Bali dogs do not do well in confinement and more
often than not hurt themselves in their attempts to escape,
get sick and depressed, or go crazy and get aggressive.
Western tourists think the Balinese don’t care about
the animals, but nothing could be further from the truth.
But with just $2 a day to live on, if the Balinese have
any extra money in the house they would spend it on the family
necessities. They don’t like the dogs looking mangy
and sick. Though they have always been this way, the condition
of the dogs was never considered until western people imposed
Western tourist needs on Bali’s communities. The
Balinese didn’t know that these dogs can be fixed. Not
all Bali street dogs are stray, many are actually community
dogs. They have a place where they can stay, they have a neighborhood
routine and the members of the community know who each dog
is.
What advice do you have to give dog owners who want to spay/neuter
their animals?
Get your puppies vaccinated and then spayed and neutered within
the first 4 months. It is safe, and cheaper than just about
anywhere else in the world. Early age neutering is easy for
a pup to recover from. Waiting for a bitch to have her first
heat before spaying is another misconception. The first heat
99.9% of the time results in pregnancy. Male dogs of course
also make up a big part of the Bali’s dog population
problem. One male can impregnate hundreds of dogs! If you
castrate your male he will fight less and stay closer to home
and therefore be a better guard dog.
Do you do all the work yourself or do you have volunteers
or paid staff?
My tasks and responsibilities have changed over the years.
Whereas before I was catching dogs and cleaning cages, I now
worry about where the next dollar will come from to keep the
whole ship afloat. The staff is all paid. They work
so hard - they are the heartbeat of the foundation! All income
for Yudisthira comes from donations.
How do the animals wind up having to be given away in the
first place?
Most of the puppies people find homeless have been thrown
away or dumped. The street program picks puppies as
they come across them. We don’t take puppies from the
outside as a rule. We aren’t a dumping ground. If a
Westerner finds a puppy and calls us to pick it up, Yudisthira
has the unfortunate job of telling them that we don’t
take puppies, but we will happily treat it for free while
the Westerner fosters it. Most westerners don’t take
us up on the offer, they want us to assume the full responsibility.
Yudisthira just can’t take every puppy, but they can
help anyone who will foster a puppy.
What would you like to see happen as regards the dog population
of Bali or the well-being of pets in Bali?
I really worry that all of the breed dogs in Bali will ruin
the DNA of the Bali dogs by mixed breeding. We are starting
to see it. It has been discovered that Bali dogs and Kintamani
dogs have unique genes not found in any other canine species.
Yudisthira has been researching this for years with UC Davis
in the USA. The Balinese people really have a precious species.
I hope this is realized before it is too late and the breed
is diluted!
For anyone interested in being considered for Siapa, please
contact : pakbill2003@yahoo.com
Copyright@2004 Al Hickey
You can read all past articles of Siapa
at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
