Pet shelters packed with dogs and cats

Suherdjoko and Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Semarang

There will be no holiday for most veterinarians and pet keepers this year, as pet kennels in large cities like Jakarta and Semarang are full.

"My kennel-cum-clinic in Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD), Tangerang, is already full so I have to recommend that people take their pets to my colleagues' or friends' houses," veterinarian Siti Zaenab told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Siti said her clinic could only accommodate 12 dogs and eight cats, while her house could house a maximum of five pets.

All of the pet owners, she said, were leaving town for the holidays.

"Some of them put their pets here for a week, others put them here for a few months," she said.

The city's animal shelter Pondok Pengayom Satwa in Ragunan, South Jakarta, was also fully booked.

"Fifty percent of the pens here are still empty, but they have been booked up for a month. I think most of the pets are coming tomorrow," a staffer at the kennel told the Post on Thursday.

The shelter has 104 enclosures for dogs, some of them already filled with stray dogs.

Griya Satwa Lestari, a kennel on Jl. Singasari Raya in Semarang, has also had to refuse new customers.

"The 27-pen kennel is full and our staff is swamped," veterinarian Anna Ekawati said.

"We've had to refuse six to eight customers a day in the last couple weeks," Maya, a kennel employee, added.

The kennels cost between Rp 35,000 to Rp 40,000 per day for cats, depending on the food requirements and whether the cat desires an air-conditioned room or not.

For dogs, Griya Satwa Lestari costs Rp 30,000 a day for small ones and Rp 50,000 for large ones. BSD Clinic in Tangerang charges Rp 40,000 to Rp 65,000 for dogs per day.

Facilities and services provided at the kennels range from feeding and grooming to taking the pets for a stroll in the afternoons and regular paw cleaning.

"At first, most of the dogs and cats usually experience slight stress due to the change in the environment," Siti added. "So the keepers and the vets have to be patient when caring for them. We have to sit and wait for them to adjust to the new environment ... even to sing a song to them before dinner."

For further information and reservations, pet owners can reach BSD Clinic at phone number 538-2483 and Pondok Pengayom Satwa Ragunan at 781-9617.