It’s fairly obvious that Jakarta is a far-from-friendly place for stray animals.

While it’s agonizing to see the fate of many strays in the capital, they are also a nuisance for the community.

Luckily, a few good souls have built shelters dedicated to helping these poor beings.

However, without support and understanding from the public of what a shelter is all about, they won’t be able to make any significant changes to the stray animal situation or even help those animals truly in need.

As a temporary home for strays until they can be adopted, most shelters operate with minimum funds. Faced with the everyday misconceptions that a shelter is a place to dispose of pets, some shelters have to take firm action and refuse the animal, as if they do accept, they are faced with substantial costs for the animal’s upkeep.

One of the oldest animal shelters in Jakarta, Pondok Pengayom Satwa (PPS) in Ragunan, South Jakarta, is also one of the only organizations that offers services such as shelter, adoption, boarding, pet clinic, treatment, pet transport and even cremation or burial services for deceased pets, as a way to finance their operational costs.

While PPS policy is to limit the number of animals in their shelter to a maximum of 100 cats and dogs at a time, Pejaten Shelter currently has over 500 dogs and cats in its care, and is operating with minimum funding.

Opened in 2009, Pejaten Shelter was the first facility in Jakarta open for public visits and, of course, for adoption.

Doctor Susana Somali, the founder of Pejaten Shelter, started the sanctuary by happenstance.

An avid animal lover herself, she had to find a larger space and build enclosures for all the strays she rescued when her own house became too small to accommodate them all. “I think it’s my destiny. I never intended to have a shelter, it just happened,” she recalls.

For Vidia Schulz, the creator of Rumah Singgah HOS in Parung, Bogor, it all started when she volunteered at Pejaten Shelter in 2009, adopted six dogs and soon realized that she had to open her own shelter to support existing ones that were already way over capacity.

When Rumah Singgah HOS finally opened in 2012, it implemented strict procedures of vaccinations and sterilizations for all newly arrived dogs so as not to transmit any diseases to those already inside the shelter, and to prevent new litters being born. The shelter also offered fostering and adoption programs to earn a little money to fund its operations.

“Unfortunately, most adopters prefer pure breeds to mixed or local breed animals, and even though they might find one to adopt, very often they are not willing to spend money for it. Finding adopters is definitely our biggest challenge in running the shelter,” said Vidia, who is currently caring for 21 dogs, mostly sick or old, at her home.

Another part of Pejaten shelter’s main zone for dogs that can accommodate up to 100 dogs.(Angelique Hidayat Wybier)

Given that all shelters are self-funded, donation support is vital. Donations can be made through bank transfer or directly to the shelters, and donors can decide if they want to donate for sterilization, food or vaccines by including a short message in the transfer.

At the same time, any other kind of donation, especially food, is also very much appreciated.

It’s a very tricky situation for the shelters to be mistaken as a place to dispose of unwanted pets. Nearly every day, they find dogs and cats dumped on their doorstep.

“Pet owners should understand that when they decide to have pets, they have to stay committed until the end, they can’t just dispose of their pet whenever they want. It’s a very frustrating situation,” said Dr. Lily from PPS. “Without understanding from pet owners about the importance of spaying and neutering, and unless they stop treating pets as commodities, stray animal problems are a battle that cannot be won.”

Man’s best friend: <)