I thought I had prepared myself mentally for the sights I might see on this trip to Bali. After all, I’ll be photographing sick and malnourished dogs and perhaps some hurt or killed from car accidents. I prepared myself emotionally – and packed a big box of tissues.
But I got an email this morning from the Bali Street Dog Fund about the rabies outbreak in Bali and I shudder to think what I will find when I get there -
“Dear Supporter,
Thank you for your continued support of The Bali Street Dog Fund.
As many of you now know, rabies was confirmed in Bali in November 2008. We are deeply concerned about the ineffectiveness of the government’s current program to control this disease. Although the Balinese government has initiated education, vaccination and elimination programs to control rabies; they are still limiting the distribution of rabies vaccines and are poisoning healthy, owned dogs using strychnine (a poison known to cause agonizing deaths and deemed inhumane). The government has also encouraged the Balinese to kill street dogs randomly and this has resulted in a dramatic increase in cruelty cases. There are still no animal welfare laws in Indonesia.
We have been trying to convince the government that they need to follow World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines which outline that at least 70% of the total dog and cat population must be vaccinated against rabies in order to control this disease. Financially, it is more economical to pre-vaccinate the population of dogs and cats against rabies than it is to provide post-exposure vaccines and treatment to human bite victims. Furthermore, all scientific evidence has shown that reducing the population of dogs through culling programs has no impact on controlling the spread of rabies and therefore is ineffective.
We need international support to convince the Government of Bali that the use of strychnine is inhumane and that mass culling of dogs will have no impact on disease control.
We need your help to get the message across to the Indonesian government that Australians will not visit a holiday destination where animals are treated so badly. Please help us by sending a letter to the Indonesian Consul General in NSW. The addresses of other relevant Consulates are attached. A sample letter can be downloaded from our website:-
http://www.balistreetdogs.org.au
You can also sign an online letter to the Balinese governor, asking him to end the cull and adopt a humane approach to rabies prevention that will protect both animals and people.
http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=24&ea.campaign.id=2768
We need your contribution in order to instigate change and to improve the welfare of animals in Bali.”
30 September 2008
Bali Animal Welfare Association
I had been working to build a part-time photography business for a few years now and the commercialism aspect of it had started to put a dampener on what I really wanted to do. What did I really want to do? I didn’t know!
There are so many aspects of photography that can lead you on several adventurous trails before you finally find what “fits” and I was still yet to find mine.
In September this year I took yet another holiday to Bali and as with every other visit, I was disheartened by the condition of the dogs I saw on the streets. And that was when it struck me! Could I hold an exhibition to help raise money and awareness for these dogs? Bali is like a second home to the people of Perth, it’s rare that you meet someone that hasn’t been, and those that have been, almost always have a sad story to tell about a dog they tried to help. Photography is an incredibly emotional medium and a very simple way of telling a story. How hard could it be to put together an exhibition?
Life changing moments are as scary as they are empowering. Even though thoughts like “What difference can I make? I’m only one person. I’m just a mum.” were going through my head, my heart was saying “This is exactly what I’ve wanted to do all my life!” and thankfully I allowed my stubborn streak to ignore that big niggling voice of doubt.
After I decided to use my powers for good – use my photography to help animal welfare – it took me some time to check out the different groups that were helping the street dogs in Bali via the internet. I wanted to find a group that looked like they would have some longevity in their commitment to the dogs, who believed in working with the community and who had a good reputation. I also wanted to find a group who had the same type of conservation ideals that I do, like rescue, rehabilitation and release.
It took some looking but I found a group with a whole lot of passion to boot, the Bali Animal Welfare Association in Ubud, run by American ex-pat Janice Girardi. She welcomed my interest in BAWA, organised a place for me to stay and allowed me to photograph the clinic she runs in Ubud.
You know the saying “life begins at 40”? Well for me, “life begins at BAWA”.
