Authorities in Banyuwangi, East Java, on Friday culled 13 of 40 dogs smuggled in from rabies-plagued Bali, despite a strong protest by animal rights activists.
"We were forced to exterminate the 13 dogs although they didn't show any rabies-like symptoms, because we have instructions to cull all dogs originating from Bali, which has been declared a rabies pandemic area," said Banyuwangi agriculture quarantine agency head Imam Agung Samekto.
He claimed only 13 dogs had to be culled, as one of the 40 dogs had died during the journey from Bali, while 25 others had died at the quarantine office and one was kept alive for administrative purposes. "We suspect those that died earlier were severely distressed, because they certainly didn't die of rabies," Agung said.
Based on observations by The Jakarta Post, the culling was quick and efficient. The dogs were given lethal injections to the heart.
After ensuring the dogs were dead, quarantine officials then dumped the carcasses in a pit and torched them.
The culling process was closed to the public, after activists from ProFauna Indonesia protested a day earlier at the agency's plan to cull the dogs regardless of whether they had rabies.
"We'd informed the public that the extermination must be carried out to prevent the spread of rabies from Bali to Java," Agung insisted.
Quarantine officers seized the dogs at Tanjung Wangi Port in Ketapang in the early hours of Nov. 17, soon after their ferry from Gilimanuk Port in Bali had docked.
The Ketapang marine transport operator's manager, Saharudin Kotto, said the sound of barking from inside a truck had raised port officials' suspicions.
Upon inspection, officers found dozens of dogs locked up in two large iron cages inside the Surabaya-licensed truck.
"The dogs were in poor health and looked very dirty; one had already died," Saharudin said. The dogs' owner, Supriyanto, said he bought the dogs in Bali for Rp 10,000 to Rp 15,000 each and planned to sell them to poultry farms as guard dogs.
Police, however, said it was likely the dogs would be sold for their meat, citing the lack of proper documentation.
Supriyanto is currently being held by Tanjung Wangi Port Police on smuggling charges, for which he could face a three-year jail sentence and a fine of up to Rp 150 million.
This is the first case of dogs being smuggled into Tanjung Wangi Port from Bali since the Agriculture Ministry issued a decree banning the transport of dogs, cats and monkeys out of Bali.
Police are still looking into the possibility that workers at Gilimanuk Port aided in the smuggling attempt.
Tanjung Wangi Port Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Jumadi said the case would be probed further.
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