P

eople say that dogs are a man’s best friend, but given the large population of stray dogs, and cats, in the capital, some may beg to differ.

For years, the Jakarta administration and various animal welfare groups have taken in thousands of stray domestic animals from the streets to control the animal population in a fight that is seemingly unwinnable.

Data shared with the The Jakarta Post show that in 2016, the city administration rescued 2,595 cats and 873 dogs from the streets before taking them to shelters and sterilizing them as part of their Jakarta “depopulation” program.

However, the Jakarta Marine, Agriculture and Food Security Agency’s poultry head, Sri Hartati, said recently that the number of rescues was far fewer than the total number of stray cats and dogs roaming the streets.

“Most rescues occurred because of tipoffs from Jakarta residents, so there are still a lot out there. Our manpower is limited as well,” Sri told the Post recently.

At a shelter located in Ragunan, South Jakarta, the animals are vaccinated and sterilized for adoption. The policy was implemented as part of the Jakarta administration’s effort since 2004 to achieve its goal of a rabies-free city.

Based on the agency’s report, 33,305 animals were vaccinated by the city administration in 2016. Sri said besides cats and dogs, the team had vaccinated monkeys and horses in Jakarta.

However, the wide gap between the number of rescued animals and the number of adopted animals has created another problem: shelters that are overcapacity. In 2015, the Jakarta administration had planned to build new shelters, citing “insufficient capacity” as the main reason behind the plan. However, to date the plan has yet to be realized.

“While the current shelters are enough for the animals we have rescued, a larger shelter would enable us to save more [animals],” Sri said.

Animal welfare groups believe raising awareness is the best way to deal with the issue. The Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) has maintained that the responsibility of taking care of the animals lies not only with animal welfare groups or the administration, but with all residents.

JAAN co-founder Karin Franken said the stray animal problem mostly started because of owners who abandoned their pets.

In providing temporary homes for stray animals, JAAN, similar to the problems faced by the city administration’s shelters, has dealt with overcapacity and the misconception in society that animal shelters are a place to get rid of unwanted pets. Franken said because of overcapacity, she sometimes had to refuse the pets.

“I want to provide a decent quality of life to the pets living in my shelter, but it cannot be done if we take in too many of them,” she said.

Established in February 2008, JAAN has sterilized more than 6,000 stray cats and dogs and rescued over 1,300 of them.

“Before getting a pet, people need to know what kind of pet suits them and understand that getting one is a long-term commitment. Sadly, this is not what happens here,” Franken said.