As I write, there is a wild noise on our street. Kong kong kong... woof woof woof. My two dogs are barking and scaring the living daylights out of a tourist passing by our house. They have backed the poor man into a corner and he looks like some sort of panic-stricken cartoon character with sweat pouring from his brow, body shaking and yelling all sorts of unpleasant superlatives (including something about his mother?).
I had planned to write about 2009 and the year that was: the highlights and low-lights. I was thinking of Julia, Xavier and the chant of Eat, Pray, Love along with the recent political shenanigans in Indonesia but, alas, my thoughts are disturbed by the chorus of frenetic barking nearby. For now in Bali it is "life in the time of rabies".
My pet dogs, Oscar and Felix, are the world's most active guard dogs: super efficient enemy detectors who even bark at me, dammit, their owner!
They are Bali dogs of the most handsome kind, the islands indigenous breed that are known for their sharp intelligence and keen security techniques that can prevent any invasion.
They do not discriminate and will bark at any outsider. Even the scavengers from neighbouring islands who come to our house looking for plastic bottles and assorted garbage get a healthy dose of vocal ammunition that no armed police man can stop. Cousins of the Australian dingo, they will fearlessly defend their Bali compound and once upon a time, were known to be tough survivors with cast-iron constitutions.
In that great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, Yudhistira, one of the five brothers, was accompanied by a dog to the pearly gates and it was only when he insisted that the faithful Fido join him in heaven, that he was allowed entry.
Nowadays, the poor old Bali dog is under attack, or, rather, "colonial rule". The island is being invaded by upper-class breeds of dogs. A mighty bark and keen in-built defence system is not enough to help the Bali breed survive for they are being outnumbered by the likes of Shih Tzus, Labradors, German shepherds, Dalmatians and cute Poodles.
And from Seminyak to Singaraja, a "dog-a-cide" is taking place; genocide of the canines. Bali dogs are being slaughtered as a misguided defence against rabies.
It's a little like the communist coup of the sixties, when thousands lost their lives in an island-wide massacre. According to the state, communism was another type of virus and the killing of communist sympathizers was a way of sanitizing the island. The target, this time, is the Bali dog.
Even Ajeg Bali, an island-wide movement to preserve the cultural identity of Bali against outside influences, stops at the anjing Bali. Middle-class Balinese are buying imported hybrid pooches in preference to the dog that has always faithfully protected, even sacrificed itself, to maintain the cosmic order of its compound. Ajeg Bali discourse stops right there and, in a strange reversal of values, the canine member of Balinese culture has become the victim "for whom the bells toll".
According to Indian scriptures, we are now in the time of "Kali Yuga". Hindus believe that Kali Yuga or the Dark Age, as it is known, is the last of the world's four stages. It is considered a period of disaster and destruction when human civilization descends to the lowest form of morality; when the planet runs amok and the world is turned upside down.
Kali Yuga is said to be when men dress as women, the entire island of Java is surrounded by the "iron snake" or railway system, children become smarter than their parents (heaven forbid) and humans clean animal waste.
In the previous, more enlightened, era dogs were the poop-collectors, scavenging on human waste but now, in a curious turn of events, it is the mere mortals who are now the collectors, diligently following their precious pups with scooper and plastic bag.
Dogs were part of a valuable recycling system that helped dispose of human refuge but try telling that to "Benji" or the lovely "Lassi".
It is a well-known fact that some Balinese dine on dog meat. Known affectionately as urban goat or kambing kota, dog meat is prized for its meaty flavor and its ability to cure asthma. Who knows? But would Irish setter satay have the same therapeutic properties as Bali dog meat?
While Bali dogs are champion barkers, it is said that folk who munch on too much dog meat are likely to be a tad loud and talkative afterwards. "Would you stop talking. Have you been eating urban goat again?"
It is also no secret that in Bali, a special species of Balinese dog called cicing blang bungkem, black dog with a black tongue, is used for ritual purposes such as mecaru. With the island-wide slaughter of Bali dogs, will there be any pups left to grace the sacrificial offerings? Can you imagine the unholy worldwide uproar if a little Doberman was used instead? The WWF and animal rights folk from all corners of the globe would proclaim a state of emergency.
Clearly it is canine-racism or marginalization of the indigenous. The more you think about rabies in Bali, the more it opens a can of worms, not meaty bites. For who are the carriers of rabies anyway?
It is, rather, like gloBALIzation where fat Washington Apples are now used for offerings or New Zealand lamb and Australian beef is the meat of choice for the sake of international hygiene standards.
Let's face it. The island has remained rabies-free since time immemorial. The influx of continental breeds has brought with it rabies, for these are the hosts of the disease. And when there are only a handful of Bali dogs left there will be a further outcry.
I can hear it now. "Save the Bali Dog". And a thousand new foundations will be set up to preserve this near-extinct breed or maybe we would find them barking their heads off in boutique zoos around the world.
By the way, did you ever hear the story about the poor old Tasmanian tiger, one of the most fabled animals in the world?
Once considered vermin, the Tassie government initiated an island-wide campaign to reduce numbers and...oops....they killed the lot and it is now extinct!
So what's the conclusion and can we be intelligent about this dilemma when the odds are against us. If we are now in the time of Kali Yuga and our kids are supposed to be smarter than us, maybe we should look to them for a solution.
And I know what my mob at home would say! What's that song... We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day...
So may the New Year not only be a great year for humanity but for the Balinese doggie as well. Here's cheers or woof woof to a new "dogma" on the island of Bali.
@copyright Janet DeNeefe 2009
