“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.“

~ Mahatma Gandhi

About mali

In 2019, I rescued a dog of my own, a beautiful three-legged dog who had been abandoned near a place I was pet sitting in Bali, with her stitches still in from her operation. We searched the entire island of Bali for the owners and the vets who performed the intricate surgery on her leg (and did a superb job). We could not believe someone would abandon her after this expensive surgery. Alas, after a lengthy search, the owners did not want to be found, and the vets would not admit to the surgery, despite the fact that we were able to find her vet, who had fairly recently performed her sterilisation due to his signature tattoo in her ear. He admitted, yes, that was his tattoo, but said he did not recall her, which is difficult to believe when she is such a striking-looking dog. We believe this was said in order to protect the owners, who had abandoned her, from being identified.

After a fairly thorough search and with time passing, we (myself and the Bali dog charities involved in trying to locate her vets and owners) deduced that she was now unwanted due to no longer being “pretty” (to them) after losing one leg. I fostered her during this time and fell in love with her. I adopted her and decided to live between Australia and Bali and continue to house-sit in order to do this. Months later, the C-word happened (covid), and a few more months after that, I had to return to Australia for lengthy lockdowns. This ended my ability to support myself with my remote work, as many people had to close their businesses during this time, and house sits I had lined up in advance for many years became non-existent for obvious reasons.

I have kept my girl, Mali, safe in a wonderful small family-run kennel in Bali and hope to be reunited with her one day. We have now been separated for more than four years. The cost of her kennel fees means I have not been able to afford to visit her during this time, but I have a number of friends who have visited her for me over the years. I get regular photos and videos of her from the lovely Nyoman, who runs the kennel, and I pay extra for her regular beach walks so she continues to have a good life. Continuing to house and pet-sit now will allow me to keep paying for her to be safe and happy and save enough to get back to her, at least to visit.

The cost to get her to NZ or Australia is just so far out of reach. Mali will be 6 this year, and hopefully, we will be together again somehow in the future, or I will find a suitable loving home for her somewhere easier in the world to get her to. Australia and NZ both have the toughest biosecurity laws in the world due to unique flora and fauna. It’s not impossible to get her here, but it’s ridiculously expensive and would mean she would have to live in another country for six months after leaving Indonesia in order to be permitted to come here. But she is safe and happy right now, and that’s all that matters.