Pets affected by foreigners' departures

Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Abandoned pets at the animal shelter are among those feeling the repercussions of anti-American sentiment here as many of the shelter's donors have left the country.

The Foundation for the Protection and Care of Animals at Ragunan, South Jakarta, is being forced to stretch its budget for the animals because it is feeling the pinch without the assistance of foreign donors.

"We are forced to limit the acceptance of abandoned animals, because receiving new ones would only burden our expenses even more," a staff member at the animal care center, Aneta Widiyawati, said on Monday.

There are currently 100 stray dogs and dozens of abandoned cats at the center. The foundation used to accept approximately 20 dogs and cats each month, as well as look after a number of animals temporarily put in its care by their owners.

The animals are fed rice and minced beef twice a day and there is also the cost of "extoparasite" medication which is rather costly, Aneta explained.

The foundation used to have 10 regular foreign donors besides an Indonesian donor who provided funds for 15 abandoned dogs a month.

Since the foreign donors left last month, the foundation stopped importing the medication and has begun to manually pluck flees from the animals.

"Flees are on the increase now because of the weather, and once an animal gets them, they spread quickly to the others ... we used to regularly fumigate the area during the flee season, but we must also cut back on that," Aneta added.

Temporary care is another business run by the foundation to help keep the shelter running, where owners pay Rp 25,000 a day to board their pets.

Agus Widodo visited the center with his family dog, Plato.

"We're going to have a wedding reception at home and everyone's busy, that's why I've brought Plato here. He'll be staying for a week," he told The Jakarta Post.

This is the second time Agus has used the foundation's services.

"My dog is spoiled at home, so he got stressed out when we left him here the first time, but he was given antistress medication by the foundation's veterinarian," he said.

Even though many foreigners have left the capital because of anti-American sentiment, the center has not seen an increase in the number of animals temporary put there.

Half of the animals at the center are adopted while others remain at the shelter and depend on donations for their care.

However, not many dogs were adopted during the last three months, meaning a higher maintenance burden for the animal shelter.

Some dogs have been at the center for more than seven years, Aneta said, while others stayed until they died of old age. Over the years some were also put to sleep because of illness.

Sadly, some ill and unwanted animals are taken to a veterinarian school for students to practice.

"If they are cured they are brought back here, but if not, they are put to sleep," she said.

In an effort to bring in more capital to the cash-strapped animal foundation, stray animals currently at the shelter are now required to share a cage. The foundation says there will not be enough enclosures for the upcoming Idul Fitri and Christmas holidays when people usually bring in their pets for temporary care.

"Last year, we had around 180 animals in temporary care during the holidays," Anita said, adding that the foundation has 160 enclosures.

Another business at the foundation is pet burial and cremation.

However, as the foundation has run out of space for pet burials, the burial service has been temporarily halted.

Cremations are still organized, according to Anita, saying that approximately 20 animals are cremated at the foundation each month. The service costs between Rp 40,000 and Rp 60,000, depending on the animal's size.