Animal Chronicles
Bali's Street Dogs
by John Thompson
In a legend every child in Bali learns, a beloved king, Yudisthira, had reached his time to withdraw from human affairs. As he walked the long and difficult road toward the Celestial City of the Immortals, a ragged little dog joined him. The two found companionship in each other.
Upon reaching the gates of the heavenly city, Yudisthira was welcomed and invited to enter and receive his reward for being a good king. But animals, the gatekeeper explained, were not allowed.
King and dog gazed into each other’s eyes, then the dog turned to make the journey back. “Wait,” Yudisthira cried. “You have been my faithful companion. If you cannot come with me, I will stay with you.”
“Yudisthira,” the dog said as he transformed into the God Dharma, “you are indeed compassionate, and you shall enter heaven and be eternally blessed.”
And because of that story, an American visitor and a Balinese veterinarian named their partnership to help animals the Yudisthira Bali Street Dog Foundation.
It began in 1998 when Sherry Grant, a former marketing executive for Victoria’s Secret, encountered Bali’s street dogs while on vacation. Nearly one million of these hungry, mangy, sick and sometimes injured dogs swarm around restaurants, garbage and tourists. It is incongruous with the near-perfect beauty of this Indonesian island.
Sherry began taking individual dogs to Dr. Putu Listriani for treatment and spay/neutering. Dr. Listriani, it turned out, was already spending some of her own small income on medicines for street dogs. Sherry spontaneously decided to change the life she knew in order to find a way to support Dr. Listriani’s efforts.
Today, Yudisthira still focuses on urgent health issues and spay/neuter to control the population. But now they have 30 employees and three vehicles roaming the cities and villages looking for animals to help. And they sterilize upwards of 40 dogs per day.
At the same time, Sherry says, they teach people about animals’ needs. “We found early on that people had never even considered giving their dogs fresh food and water. When we later return to the same village, people are proud of how they’ve learned to care for their animals and are thrilled that their dogs are now growing hair.” And as people see the dog population drop, villagers express appreciation that they no longer have to wonder what to do with unwanted puppies.
Yudisthira’s “Kindness Clubs” engage fifth graders in six monthly lessons about local animals and their unique welfare issues. There are workbooks, critical thinking problems and singing. The Kindness Clubs reach about 3,000 students every year. “All of these things are little steps toward changing the attitudes of people toward animals,” Sherry says.
Veterinary education in Indonesia is rudimentary, but the several vets employed by Yudisthira are improving their skills as they work with visiting doctors from abroad. Today, the university on Bali requires that veterinary students do an internship at Yudisthira. “Before, many young doctors never even handled a dog in their course work,” Sherry says.
Does she ever get discouraged? “I do, but then I look back and am amazed at the progress we have made.” She measures success by the fact that government agencies are now consulting with Yudisthira about creating spay/neuter programs, and Yudisthira teams are going to other parts of Asia to replicate the programs begun on Bali. It’s Asians teaching Asians. The International Fund for Animals says that “Yudisthira is a model of effectiveness and compassion for other organizations in developing nations to replicate.”
Larry Carson, of the MHS behavior and training department, has been visiting Bali regularly for more than 25 years. He remembers when packs of sick, mangy, starving dogs were the norm. “It was difficult to understand, in this very spiritual place, until I understood the concept of karma, which the Balinese believe in. They believe that every creature must fulfill its destiny,” says Larry. “But, on my recent trip to Bali, I saw a smaller and healthier dog population and a greater respect for the animals who live there. The Bali Street Dog Foundation has been responsible for that change. It deserves the support of every animal lover so it can continue it’s important work.”
For more information about the Yudisthira Bali Street Dog Foundation, please go to www.yamp.com/balidogs.
