Animal center sees robust business

Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Business is bustling at the Ragunan animal care center here, as many Jakartans settle their pets before leaving the city for Idul Fitri or Christmas holidays.

The government-subsidized animal center, located in Ragunan, South Jakarta near the Ragunan Zoo, is experiencing more than a 400 percent increase in revenue for December, according to Aneta Widiyawati, an animal welfare staff member.

On the day before Lebaran or Idul Fitri, there were 89 dogs and 23 cats brought by their owner for temporary care, for about 10 to 15 days, while they would be off for the holidays.

As for the Christmas holidays, an additional of 61 dogs and 37 cats of various pedigree were brought to the center, which is under the Foundation for the Protection and Care of Animals.

The cost ranges from Rp 15,000 (US$1.5) to 40,000 ($4) per animal, per day.

Until the end of December, the foundation's revenue is Rp 43 million, compared with the Rp 10 million per month on average, Aneta told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

"This will be our savings to compensate for operational costs on the slower days," she said, adding that they received around the same figure last December.

"The holiday season has always been our hope to rev up our financial condition."

The largest expenditure for the foundation is the fumigation fee, and the cost of antiparasite medication, which must be imported from Australia or Malaysia.

Flees, according to Aneta, are a constant problem for the foundation, especially during the rainy season. Worse, when the weather frequently changes, fumigation becomes ineffective.

"The pesticides that were just sprayed would dissolve in the rain water, so we must repeat the fumigation."

There are now about 110 abandoned dogs, and dozens of stray cats at the foundation, and most of them have to give up space or share their enclosure with the paying occupants.

Most of them have little chance to be adopted, as most people would prefer to adopt puppies and not grown dogs.

Therefore, the stray animals become a burden to the cash strapped foundation, whose foreign donors had left the country following September's terror attacks in the U.S.

"Just a week before Lebaran, six puppies were adopted; some of the strayed animals has been here even before I was employed by the foundation," Aneta remarked.