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Davina Veronica: For the love of animals
Courtesy of DavinaFrom being an animal lover, model and actress Davina Veronica has become one of the most vocal animal rights activists in the country
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Courtesy of Davina
From being an animal lover, model and actress Davina Veronica has become one of the most vocal animal rights activists in the country.
Davina believes that saving animals is her calling in life.
She is the CEO of Garda Satwa Indonesia (GSI), an organization fighting for the rights of domestic animals, which she founded with a group of friends in 2011.
GSI recently initiated a Stop Dog Food campaign in the country. Working together with the Jakarta Animal Aid Network and Animal Friends Jogja, GSI created an online petition on change.org to fight against dog meat consumption in Indonesia.
The petition, Davina explains, is part of a global campaign in various dog-eating countries around the world. Indonesia's petition targets President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama to stop the brutality of eating dog meat, she adds.
'We are fully aware that we need support from the government to stop all this,' Davina told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.
The petition has gathered almost 87,000 signatures and to recognize that success, change.org put Davina on a list of 2015's seven most influential female figures for social change.
Born in Jakarta 36 years ago, little Davina was always close to animals, especially dogs. She got her first dog before she was 10. 'His name was Jipi, a local breed. He was with me until he died,' she said.
Davina explains she never buys her pets and always gets them through adoption or shelters.
At the moment, she doesn't just have one but five dogs at her house. They are Milda, Mowgli, Jowi, Reno and Jena.
They are very special to Davina. She considers all of them to be like her children. They are very close to her ' so close that they even share her bed.
'When I don't have any appointment or jobs outside, I prefer to stay at home and spend my time with them. I have a strong emotional bond with my children.'
'Every morning, I always take them outside to walk around the neighborhood,' she said.
But Davina admits that her morning routine with the kids is now being done with extra caution. She doesn't want an incident from two years ago to be repeated, when Jowi was brutally taken from her arms during their afternoon walk.
'I was so shocked, I could not stop crying,' she said, recalling the horrifying moment.
Luckily, eight hours later, Davina got Jowi back thanks to friends who shared the incident on social media.
'I was so lucky. It is one in a thousand cases that a dog can come back to its owner after it goes missing,' she said.
Since the incident, Davina is extra careful when taking her furry kids outside.
'I will stop every time I see something suspicious. It is no longer looking out for vicious dogs, but this time for vicious owners,' she said, laughing.
Davina admits that when it comes to dogs, she can be a little bit extreme.
'My friends noticed this when I lost Jowi; they reminded me to not be overly attached to my pets because one day, they are going to die,' she said.
'They also said, jokingly, that all my ex-boyfriends would be brokenhearted looking at how I reacted when I lost Jowi, crying non-stop,' she added, smirking.
Apart from her time in the organization and with her kids, Davina says she still occasionally accepts modeling jobs.
Davina was one of Indonesia's top models in the late 1990s. Her career in modeling took off after she won modeling competitions organized by local teen magazines. After that, she starred in various video clips and TV commercials. She also jumped into the film industry and played parts in the 2009 drama Ruma Maida and several romantic flicks like Lovely Luna (2004) and Punk in Love (2009).
Davina admits she is still doing modeling jobs to support her role as an animal activist.
'I still need exposure to help me raise awareness in animal and environmental programs,' she said.
Apart from animal activism, Davina is also active as an environmental campaigner.
For her dedication and commitment, she has been listed as an honorary supporter of the World Wide Fund (WWF). For her role, Davina always takes part in WWF's programs, especially in conservation areas in Indonesia.
She just got back from Danau Sentarum National Park in West Kalimantan to promote WWF programs to local people.
From her experience, she says that her biggest challenge both as an animal and environmental activist is to inform and educate people.
'It is difficult because these people don't have the same frame of mind and knowledge as we do. Some of them even don't know what global warming is,' she said.
She confessed that dealing with people could be the hardest task but it did not keep her from what she has been called to do in life.
'Animals and nature are my passion. I will fight and defend them for the rest of my life. I am here for them. I am their warrior,' she said.
