Bali Tourism News

Bali dogs’ plight prompts exhibit

December 9th, 2008

Fundraiser supports adoption center in country

By Amy Bounds (Contact)

Boulder photographer Robert Troup was visiting Bali when a small dog shelter snared his attention.

A self described “dog fanatic” who owns three border collies, he said he was won over by the sweet faces of dogs rescued from a harsh life on the streets.

“There are so many issues and problems in the world, but this kind of struck my heart,” he said. “These people are doing such good work. For a little amount of money, you can really make a difference.”
He took portraits of the shelter dogs and teamed up with Pennyweights Jewelry Store owner Geoff Sigg to raise money for the Bali Adoption Rehabilitation Center near the town of Ubud. Eleven of his street dog portraits are on display at the Pearl Street store, where there’s a collection box for donations.

Sigg also has pledged to donate a percentage of his sales through Christmas to the cause.

“We’re trying to get the word out for a good cause,” Sigg said.

Sigg and Troup were visiting Bali on one of Sigg’s jewelry buying trips when they discovered the shelter, started by Australian painter Linda Buller.

An estimated 500,000 dogs live on the streets in Bali, an Indonesian island. Because dog abandonment is common — and spaying and neutering isn’t — controlling the homeless dog population has proved difficult.

“They’re just all over theplace, scrapping in garbage cans or dead on the side of the road,” Troup said. “It’s a pretty overwhelming presence.”

Almost all of the dogs suffer from various ailments, including skin parasites, internal parasites, parvo virus, distemper, malnutrition, maggot infestation and broken limbs.

Bali residents occasionally will alert the shelter to a stack of crates in the road — typically containing dogs to be shipped to another Indonesian island as food, Troup said.

The Bali Adoption Rehabilitation Center provides medical care, food “and just some love” for the dogs on a shoestring budget, Troup said. Along with strays from the streets, the shelter workers also occasionally rescue dogs in crates stacked in the roads that otherwise are destined to become food on other islands.

Once the rescued dogs are healthy, they’re offered for adoption.

“They’re such sweet creatures,” Troup said.

Source: www.dailycamera.com/news/

Entry Filed under: Bali Tourism News