Bali is also known as the Island of the Gods because of its beauty and rich culture, and Bali is a province in Indonesia which already known worldwide.
If you visit Bali often, you know that there are many wonderful things in Bali, right?
Bali has nicknamed the island with the largest dog population in Indonesia.
You must be very familiar with the many dogs roaming freely in Bali. This is because almost every house in Bali has a dog to serve as a guard dog.
The Bali dog is heralded as a symbol of heritage by local activists and rescuers alike.
A commonly cited study by a team at the University of California, Davis is highlighted in order to illustrate the genetic variations found in the Bali dog as a result of what is likely the existence of a diverse population that remained geographically isolated, dating back to 12,000 years ago, according to a research article titled “Genetic Variation Analysis of the Bali Street Dog Using Microsatellites” published in BMC Genetics 6.
The associated importance of the species has resulted in its renaming as the “Bali Heritage Dog”.
Nonetheless, the exact nature of this heritage remains unexplored.
There are various depictions of dogs in traditional Indonesian art that date beyond the period of this publication as can be seen within the collections of the Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA).
However, the extent to which they accurately represent the sociocultural dynamics in which these animals lived with the Balinese is debatable.
The Hindu epic Mahabharata has been invoked as an explanation of the cultural acceptance of masses of free-roaming dogs and their integral place in Balinese communities.
The story follows King Yudhistira and the ill-kept dog that faithfully follows him to the gates of heaven where the dog is refused entry as a result of being considered spiritually unclean. Therefore, the king refuses to enter without the dog, which at this point transforms into the God Dharma, typically representing justice and righteousness. King Yudhistira is commended for his loyalty to the dog, thereby reinforcing the deep spiritual bond between the Balinese and the Bali Dog. It may be regarded as an imposition of Western norms and values when taking into consideration our own emphasis on enclosed areas, leashed walks, and continuous baths for pets.
Bali dogs may be semiferal and difficult to train; however, an act of kindness toward them will most definitely be rewarded with an unrivaled faithfulness akin to the bond illustrated by the Hindu epic.
Ever since the 1930s, when the disease appeared on neighboring islands, the arrival of outside dogs to Bali was forbidden.
But in 2004 the law was revoked and foreign dogs started to come in.
The government responded to rabies with a massive campaign to eliminate all the dogs in an effort to conquer the disease.
