TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Indonesian housewife tackles homelessness for 250 feral cats

  (Reuters)
Parung, West Java
Tue, December 24, 2019

Share This Article

Change Size

Indonesian housewife tackles homelessness for 250 feral cats Dita Agusta, 45, owner of a cat shelter called Rumah Kucing Parung, feeds her cats in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia December 23, 2019. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)

O

n the outskirts of suburban Jakarta, housewife Dita Agusta lives with more than 250 cats she has taken in off the streets, creating a shelter for the animals she hopes will one day be adopted.

"It is hard to see abandoned cats on the streets," Agusta, 45, told Reuters. She had wanted to rescue cats since she was a child and saw stray cats running wild around her neighborhood.

When she and her husband, Mohamad Lutfi, a catfish farmer, moved four years ago from Bekasi city in West Java to a bigger house in Parung in the same province, south of Jakarta, she was able to take action and began taking in cats.

Now the couple spends at least one million rupiah ($72) a day to cover the cost of food, medicines and litter for the 250 cats they keep. They also employ a pool of five workers to clean the entire house twice a day to make sure the shelter is hygienic.

Read also: Jakarta's cat lovers go extra mile to care for strays

She says she does not take in healthy-looking cats, only ones that need help, and expects disabled cats to stay in her shelter forever.

She also regularly walks throughout her neighborhood putting down food for every cat she encounters.

In her home, all 250 cats are neutered to contain the population. They are also groomed to ensure they don't create health risks for the surrounding community. 

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.