Letting go not always easy: Pet vendors<\/p>\n
By Poltak Hotradero<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The common principle in business is \"Don't get
\nattached emotionally to what you sell.\" Sure it is easy, if what
\nyou sell are vegetables or furniture, but in the case of street
\npet traders it's not an easy thing to do.<\/p>\n
Just listen to Herman Hutagalung, a 31-year-old street pet
\ntrader in Jl. Cimahi, Menteng, Central Jakarta, explain how to
\navoid being sentimental in business. \"My principle is: to love is
\nto let go,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He admitted that at first it is not easy to remain unattached
\nto the pets he sells. \"But after few times I realized the pets
\nwould have a better life with the new owner than they have with
\nme,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Herman is one of several street pet traders operating on Jl.
\nCimahi. He has been selling pets for about 10 years. \"At first I
\nwas very ashamed of what I do. I always told my neighbors that
\nI'm just an ordinary street trader,\" said Herman.<\/p>\n
Having to make a living to support his wife and daughter, he
\ngradually realized that being ashamed of his livelihood would not
\nget him anywhere in the business.<\/p>\n
Coming from a big family of 13 brothers and sisters, he never
\nenvisioned that his bread-and-butter would be selling pets.<\/p>\n
He finished school at STM 1 Jakarta (Technical High School)
\nafter spending his childhood in Medan, North Sumatra.<\/p>\n
\"After finishing my schooling, I worked in a cardboard factory
\nin Rawa Buaya Cengkareng district in West Jakarta for several
\nmonths,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The job wasn't what he expected. \"The managers were too stingy
\nand paid their workers only Rp 1,050 (US$0.47) per day. I
\ncouldn't stand to live on such a low wage so I quit,\" he said.<\/p>\n
After spending some time working at a plantation and on a ship
\nin Sumatra and Kalimantan, he went back to Jakarta and began life
\nas a street pet trader.<\/p>\n
\"Being a street pet trader isn't easy. My biggest threat comes
\nfrom the city's law and order officers, who sometimes come and
\nask for `protection fees' of Rp 5,000 to Rp 10,000,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Big events like the Non-Aligned Movement forum two years ago
\nand the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting last year spelt
\ndisaster for Herman. The law and order officers didn't come for
\n\"protection fees\" but to seize any street traders' merchandise,
\nincluding Herman's pets, to make Jakarta clean and tidy.<\/p>\n
Once seized, there was no way to get the pets back, said
\nHerman. \"They said they took my pets to the temporary animal
\nshelter in Ragunan Zoo, but I never saw them there. Maybe they
\nsold them themselves,\" he said. He said that he once lost 18
\npuppies just in one raid conducted by the officers.<\/p>\n
\"The head of Menteng District is also our enemy. He was quoted
\nby newspapers as saying that our pets carry rabies. That's not
\ntrue. My pets even don't have any fleas, how come he said they
\ncarry rabies?\" he asked.<\/p>\n
Taking care of pets is the key to his business. \"Puppies tend
\nto get sick easily. In one week, about one puppy will get sick
\nand sometimes die. That's why my profit margin is so narrow,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Their illnesses are usually stress or diarrhea. I give them
\nmedicines for humans in small dosages to cure them. Sometimes
\nthey get better, but on other occasions they get worse and die,\"
\nHerman said.<\/p>\n
Besides the health of his pets, their food also consumes a lot
\nof Herman's money. \"Sometimes the quality of their food is equal
\nto what I eat,\" Herman said, adding that he gives his pets rice
\nmixed with boiled chicken innards or bandeng fish.<\/p>\n
How does he get the puppies?<\/p>\n
Herman said that a trader from a dog breeder in Ciloto or
\nPadalarang in West Java comes and offers puppies to sell. Most of
\nthem are crossbreeds of German Shepherds, Dobermans, Miniature
\nPinschers, or Pekingese. For a German Shepherd puppy, they ask
\nfor Rp 150,000 (US$68.18), which Herman will later sell for Rp
\n200,000. Pekingese are offered at Rp 75,000 and Miniature
\nPinschers at Rp 40,000.<\/p>\n
Another way to obtain dogs or cats is to buy them from pet
\nowners. \"But I try to ask them for the lowest price because I
\ndon't want to buy stolen dogs or cats,\" Herman said.<\/p>\n
Is there any other pet that Herman sells? \"Yes, sometimes I
\nsell Angora cats, but the supplies are very limited. I also used
\nto sell Siamang monkeys about two years ago, but I stopped
\nselling the monkey after the government put siamang on the
\nendangered species list,\" he said. He admitted that selling the
\nmonkeys for Rp 200,000 gave him a hefty profit, \"But I can't take
\nthe risk of being put out of business because of selling an
\nendangered animal.\"<\/p>\n
His monthly profit usually reaches Rp 100,000 to Rp 200,000,
\nas long as there are no raids by the law and order officers. \"But
\nif a raid is launched, all my merchandise vanishes, and I have to
\nget money by pawning anything I have to start the business
\nagain,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Will selling pets become his last job?<\/p>\n
\"I'm dreaming of opening a pet shop of my own, complete with
\nanimal care facilities. I'm going to fulfill my dream one day,\"
\nHerman said.<\/p>\n
And of course Herman will have to let his pets go one by one.
\nEven if he loves each of them. Because they will have a better
\nlife.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/letting-go-not-always-easy-pet-vendors-1447893297",
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