JUSTICE FOR DOGS IN BALI!

BAN PUBLIC ACCESS TO PURCHASE POISON!  

Bahasa Indonesia

You can call it a rude awakening or a wakeup call—but the truth is, what happened to the lovely beach dogs in Berawa, Canggu recently reminds all of us that culling of dogs still exists on the lovely Island of Bali.

It should be noted that similar cases happened in other parts of Bali. Possible motives behind this horrific abuse could either want to end rabies, satisfying dog meat demands, or a simple hatred toward dogs. Either way, between 2013 and 2015 alone, there were around 50,000-70,000 dogs being killed just for dog meat. These numbers might go even higher if other motives are included in the past decade.

Another “popular opinion” that some use to justify culling of dogs is the belief that doing so will eliminate rabies. It is ironic considering the dogs that were killed in Berawa were all vaccinated and sterilized. What people seem to forget is that killing dogs will not eliminate rabies since the major problem is people dumping dogs on the streets and beaches in the first place.

Only mass vaccination and sterilization programs can eliminate rabies, control the dog population and thus protect the community from the risk of rabies and unwanted dogs in the long term. Murdering innocent dogs will never, ever be the solution.

Poisoning killed the harmless beach dogs in the Berawa area. In Bali, the toxic substance uses variations from potassium cyanide to rat poison. What is concerning is the fact that the rat poison is still easily accessible since the initial intention is to do pest control. This poison is available in the farm store and online shops. It’s almost as if getting rat poison is as easy as getting a Thylenol. Laying out poison can be a great threat to public health (children, who are playing at the beach for example) and are very harmful to tourism (something that Bali authorities are now trying to revive since the pandemic happened).

If a large enough dose enters the body, poison can cause severe damage to the cells, tissues, and/or organs. This can lead to sudden and painful death if not treated quickly. The reactions include:

Destroyed blood cells, which can cause internal bleeding
Attacking the central nerves, which can injure the brain and heart
The lungs, liver, or kidneys shut down

What still remains are our collective concerns as a community toward this—and, again, it’s time to take a stand. We need to use this momentum to petition the government to ban public access to all types of poison as a way to mass-murder animals by any excuse. It is inhumane for the animals, horrible to witness, and harmful to the environment. By banning public access to poison and issuing a regulation that punishes the perpetrator, we hope that this poisoning case could be ended, all around Bali, once and for all.

We need to put this case out there–raise awareness, etc. Sign and share the petition so that the government officials could start structuring the regulation to ban public access to any type of poison and fix animal welfare regulations in Indonesia.

Furthermore we are asking the community through the Pecalangs to oversee the possibility of poisoning.