Femke, a medium-sized, mixed-breed stray dog, owes her life to Bobby and she is not the only one.

At one point in Femke’s life, she was only hours away from being eaten before Bobby rescued her last year from a dog slaughterhouse, often found in many dog-eating regions in Indonesia.

Bobby found Femke while he was investigating an “extra” market in Tomohon, North Sulawesi. The word “extra” means that vendors do not only sell regular meat but also that of snakes, bats and even cats and dogs.

“The dogs and the cats, they’re being sold alive,” Bobby said.

“It’s crazy because [customers] need to pick which dog or which cat they want and then they [the vendors] will kill the dog or cat in front of everyone.”

The animals, Bobby explained, were killed by one or more blows to the head and then their carcasses were burned to remove the fur.

“We rescued two dogs because we can’t save them all,” he said. “We just picked dogs we wanted to rescue and it felt so wrong because we wanted to save them all, but we could not do that.”

Rescuing stray dogs from being eaten is only the first step; increasingly important are Bobby’s efforts to find them permanent homes.

In 2015, the staff of Oninyon Software Solution, a company Bobby had set up a few years earlier, took part in a course to learn how to create programs for the Android mobile platform.

“At the end of the course, we needed to make one product, one app,” he explained.

“I came up with the idea of [a mobile app called] Adopsi because I had been volunteering [at an animal shelter in Yogyakarta]. I know that most rescuers have the same problem; there are a lot of stray and rescued animals, but it’s very hard to find suitable adopters,” he added.

The app allows people seeking homes for dogs and cats to publish information about them for those wanting to adopt. So far, Adopsi has provided a bridge between potential homes and animal rescuers, finding a forever home for almost 400 dogs and cats in Jakarta, West Java, Yogyakarta and Bali.

“Basically, I’m providing a free service and I hope you’re doing good things with it,” Bobby said.

Many of the animals up for adoption, Bobby explained, had been found in dire situations by people who were unable to care for them.

Others are residents of the Animal Friends Jogja shelter, the only rescue center currently involved with the app and where Bobby began working with animals in 2011.

“I’m still doing volunteer work,” he said. “I walk and train the dogs. Basically, I was involved in all the programs because I was a volunteer doing anything and everything. We did campaigns, like stopping the dog-meat trade.”

Animal Friends Jogja is where Femke is currently waiting for a forever home.

The center, located south of Yogyakarta in a quiet area between two rivers, is the temporary home of many other rescues — dozens of dogs and even more cats. In July, a pig and a monkey were also in residence.

Among the dogs is Bobo, a young long-legged Doberman cross who was a stray on Karimunjawa in Central Java.

“Bobo was one of the dogs who had come down from the highlands of the island to the shore,” he explained. “They are under threat from the locals because they don’t like dogs.”

A “mini lab with golden retriever hair” named Uzima and a limping dog called Ulbul have also been living at the center because their owner had to leave Yogyakarta without them.

“Sadly, until now, these beautiful dogs are still not adopted.”

To use the Adopsi program, anyone interested in adopting Femke, Bobo or any of the other listed dogs and cats must first download and register on the app, browse the available animals for a match, fill out an application and then wait for a decision.

Bobby said that Adopsi’s staff members are not involved in the final step, leaving that up to the person or center that placed the animals up for adoption. Adopsi facilitates the adoption and makes sure certain standards are met, like ensuring that the pets are not being offered for money.

Adopsi has become Bobby’s main business — albeit one that costs about Rp 50 million (US$3,528) per month to run and brings in no revenue. Its expenses — which mostly go to staff salaries — is covered by what Bobby’s other business, Oninyon, earns. Bobby conceded that it was an unusual financial arrangement.

“I think I’m crazy, but the thing is, I believe I need to share my passion,” he explained.

“I need to do this. If I’m not doing Adopsi, I might end up stressed out or something.”

Bobby has plans to expand Adopsi, both the supply and demand side, but progress is slow.

While the app had three rescue centers participating at one time, the two in Jakarta pulled out when their management changed. Bobby said he was trying to entice them back.

Also, at present Adopsi, only works in Indonesia, meaning animals cannot be placed abroad. Bobby said he hoped to change that.

“I think that’s a very good idea, but in the first release of the app, we just want to test the product — test Adopsi in the Indonesian market first,” he said.

“I want to get more insight and feedback from users and from the locals, so I know what’s good and what’s bad. I get a lot of feedback from people and they’re not ready for the international market, either.”

— Photos by Michael Friis Johansen.

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