I was going to leave a map for Nikki to find the clinic at my hotel’s reception but the staff have gotten to know me quite well now (Good Morning Ga-bi, how are you today?) and they said they would give Nikki a lift to the clinic where I could meet her later today. I have received offers of help like this a couple of times this trip with no expectation of payment and I am amazed at the generosity of the locals in Ubud.
I copied photos of the four worst dogs I found to a thumb drive and took it into the BAWA office this morning so that they could show them to Ketut – I believe when he sees which dogs he will recognise where we were. I was surprised to hear that the two starving dogs I found would most likely survive but the one with the broken leg and another I photographed with a huge tumour on her tummy would most likely be put down. I thought it would be the other way around!
I spent the better part of the day in the ambulance with Wira (Dr Made Wiraharja) and Komang again visiting different areas – a callout from a local, another callout from one of the BAWA staff, places recommended by Janice where she’d seen hungry dogs and follow up treatments of previous patients.
The first dog we went to see was a call out in Pejeng for an open wound on its back (I asked Dr Wira if it was from being hit by a car or falling down a ditch but he said the dog had been hit by someone). The wound was possibly 10-15 cm long and maybe 5cm wide. I couldn’t see how deep because the dog tucked tail and ran when he saw Wira, Komang and another BAWA staff member bring out the nets. We chased him through the rice paddies (I followed the chase with my camera but from a distance so I didn’t get in the way) but the dog was too quick and would have to be picked up again the following day. Because BAWA have been in the area before spay/neutering, the dogs recognise the van and set up barking and are harder to catch as they know what’s coming!
Also in Pejeng we visited a 3 week old puppy at his owner’s home. The home was a beautiful compound with each building finished with its own wood carved door and white tiled veranda. Flies had laid eggs on the edge of one of the puppy’s ears and the maggots had eaten into the area just before his ear canal. The maggots were killed by dripping in a pesticide medication but couldn’t be removed because the puppy was in too much pain. He was too young to be given anaesthetic as it could have killed him. So he was given antibiotics and would be treated again the next day. I thought perhaps the infection being so close to his brain would kill him but Wira said he would most likely survive.
Padang Bay is a landing area for a ferry bringing tourists to visit Blue Lagoon which is renowned for its snorkelling and diving. Many hawkers collect there waiting to sell their wares to the tourists coming off the ferry. They didn’t bother me too much as they saw I was with the BAWA van and when one lady asked me “you buy?” I told her not today I’m working and she left me alone. Padang Bay normally has quite a few dogs along the beach and carpark. It was pretty hot today so we only found about 4 dogs, all suffering from scabies (mange) and treated with medicine hidden in rice and dog biscuits. I was still in “dog-spotting” mode from my trips with Ketut and was able to pick out a couple of dogs I saw under cars for the boys to feed/treat. Europeans and Balinese alike recognise the van and come up and ask about what BAWA do. The Europeans want to know what they can do to help and the Balinese look for assistance with their pets. One man, I think he was from America, was keeping a wary distance but wanted to know if the dog I was photographing was wild – I smiled and told him, no, it’s only a stray. The Europeans are so scared of the dogs.
We headed into Goa Lawah, the temple with the big bat cave and stopped at a warung on the side of the road for lunch – satay fish (fish paste on skewers made from coconut husk), fish soup (broth with dark meat fish pieces), coconut beans, chilli mixed vegetables kind of like sautéed cabbage (too hot for me), toasted peanuts and rice. So far I feel ok! Robin, the nurse who vaccinates all the BAWA staff for rabies happened to be at the warung we stopped at and recognised Wira and said hello. She also reminded him that he was overdue for his last vaccination! Rabies boosters are required every month to keep the antibodies up. It’s the only vaccination I’ve heard of that doesn’t create permanent antibodies. After lunch we checked the carpark and beach for dogs, found a couple with scabies and fed another couple, but on the whole they weren’t too bad, just hungry and itchy.
While I was on the beach at Goa Lawah, Nikki rang to say she was at the clinic. I wasn’t able to get back for another couple of hours so we agreed to meet up later tonight to say goodbye before I leave tomorrow.
Up into Klungkung Regency to Klotuk temple/beach where the black beach of volcanic sand is scoured by locals for little round pebbles that are used for paving decoration. Most dogs you can show the food dish and they will come right up and almost eat out of your hand but again BAWA had been here before spay/neutering and the dogs remembered them and were very skittish. We had to walk well away from the food before they would return to it and eat. I prefer to photograph them from their level which means squatting or crouching down, but the dogs find this threatening and they skitch away. So I got into the habit of holding my camera about knee level and firing off a couple of shots (in the hope of something in focus) and that didn’t seem to bother them at all. A local came and asked for worming treatment for her dog which looked more like a bali dog cross Pomeranian. Wira is happy to treat dogs for free if the owner is very poor or the dog is very sick but he said if they are not poor he asks them to pay for the medicine.
We headed back to the BAWA office near my hotel about 2.30pm and said my goodbyes to Wira and Komang. These guys were so helpful, polite and comfortable to work with. They have an obvious soft spot for the dogs and it shows in the tender handling of puppies, the calming noises for skittish dogs, the pats and scratches for the dogs looking for a tiny bit of human touch and the fact that Wira has two dogs of his own at home and Komang has eight! We traded addresses, shook hands and said goodbye til next time.
I headed back to the hotel to finish up my diary entry for today when Nidya from BAWA came knocking on the door asking me to come back to the BAWA office to talk with Janice for a while. I was there for an hour or so, learning about her jewellery business (her biggest market is the US) which is what funds the BAWA program. We walked her dogs, she has nine all together but we only took the four that were at the office today for a walk. She told me all about her dreams of getting a good education program into the primary schools to teach the kids about caring for companion animals. Teaching this generation will provide a much healthier and friendlier future for the Bali dogs. Nidya had also printed off photos of the worst dogs I had provided on my thumb drive this morning and we are going to ask Ketut tomorrow if he can remember where he saw them and if he could take us back there.
I had dinner at my favourite restaurant (with free internet!) and then headed out to meet up with Nikki at a cafe and listen to a reggae band. I feel I have made a really good friend in Nikki – I will actually miss her when I leave Bali! She’s a little Dutch pocket dynamo full of life and smiles! We have hooked up on facebook and will be able to keep in better contact when she gets back home at the end of April.
I walked the 15 minutes back to my hotel at midnight. Nikki had said be careful going past monkey forest and I thought she meant coz the monkeys might jump out at me in the dark – now that would have scared me witless! But no, she meant to be careful of the dogs. Hardly any people about – more dogs than people for a change! None of them even barked at me, one or two trotted with me for 50m or so, first to see if I had any food and then I think (well I’d like to think) just for the company. I guess I’ve learnt not to do anything threatening and they didn’t pick up any fear from me. As far as a single white western vet nurse volunteer being safe in Bali, Ubud is as safe as houses.
Tomorrow Ketut is taking me to his family’s businesses, wood carving and jewellery, and hopefully I can find some presents to take home for hubby and the kids.
