My Visit to Shelter Melati

I had read these dogs' stories, seen their pictures, thought about ways to help them, and shared their biography, but I had never met any of them. No matter their size, their breed, they all ended up in this place; where they hope they won't stay for long. This encouraged me to visit an animal shelter to meet those abandoned that crave lots of love and attention. They may not be able to speak like us, but their hopeful eyes communicate their desire to be loved.

I chose to visit Shelter Melati because I had met the founder, Bu Ismawanty Mima, several times during weekly dog lovers’ meet up at The Breeze, BSD City, Tangerang. I also interviewed her so that I can share the stories about how she founded and managed her shelter. I hope that by sharing the knowledge, more people may know about animal shelters and could help by donating, adopting, fostering, etc.

After making an appointment, we decided on the last days of December (I forgot precisely when, as it's been a long time) and off I went to Pondok Cabe, Pamulang, Tangerang Selatan, a place really, really far from home. I’m not allowed to tell the address of the shelter to deter those who want to abandon their dogs there (if you want to visit you can direct message Bu Isma for an appointment through her instagram @ismawantymima or her facebook ).

Bu Isma found and rescued the abandoned dogs mostly through reports from various people. She would receive calls and messages from various sources, and will save those with certain circumstances (such as a dog in critical condition, a lost dog, etc). She cannot save all the dogs because her shelter is already overpopulated.

We were welcomed by the kennel boys there, and greeted tremendously by excited barks. A lot of the dogs jumped in their cages, their tails wagging. My first impression of the shelter was that it was pretty neat. It’s actually quite spacious. There was a building presumably for workers to rest. It was surrounded by many open spaces and house cages of the dogs.

In front of one of the house cage, there were two smaller cages. They held a medium sized dog with a bowl of dog food that scattered around in the cage. In front of the other house cage there was a brown husky called Molly with ropes tied around the lock of the cage. Even though the ropes had been tied tightly, she still could escape by biting and chewing at the ropes. She does it everytime guests come to visit, as she wants to play with them. Huskies are masters of escaping.

The house cages and the two dogs in front of it

Some of the dogs in one of the house cages.

In front of the building, there is a medium sized yard with trees. There were several cages there with dogs that hadn't been vaccinated so they couldn't join the others yet.

I met a lot of dogs at the shelter. One of them was a pitbull named Lady. Pitbulls are known for their fierce temperament, but Lady here is a really sweet dog. At first, I was a bit afraid to pet her, but after letting her sniff my hand, she seemed fine and so I petted her.

Next to Lady's cage is a gate leading deeper into the shelter. Several dogs were individually caged on the yard and on the porch of the main building. I've got nothing to say about the interior of the building because there was nothing in there. I went straight to the back of the building, passing several fenced areas filled with dogs. I had to quickly follow Bu Isma though, so I didn't have time to go to each area. The first thing I saw in the backyard was this husky called Asa being bathed:

He was really excited and kept on asking to play, but I couldn't stay there for long because there were others that I hadn't met yet.

Down from where Asa was being bathed, there was a wooden cage on stilts full of huskies and a golden. The last time I asked Bu Isma there were around 12 huskies. It had been a while though since then, and she had rescued some more these past months of 2018. 

It was a really joyous moment for me, hugging and patting each of them. There was especially this one golden that kept on asking for pats even when the huskies had calmed down. 

On both sides of the wooden cage on stilts there were house cages filled with more dogs. Some were put together while others are caged individually.

The dog here is caged individually.

When we left the backyard to return to our car, most of the dogs became silent with sad and questioning eyes. "You're not bringing us back home?"

I know that the photos of the dogs here aren't really clear, but I hope that the photos show that not all dogs in shelters are sick and old, as they had been cared for by Bu Isma until they return to their healthy self. Many of the dogs here are still relatively young. It is also not a sad place. Yes, they feel heartbroken when they were abandoned, but they will always show a happy and grateful smile to those who take care of them, and a little visit from you will definitely brighten their day up! 

   

Bu Isma's interview will follow next week.