Adopsi: Using tech to find homeless dogs their ‘forever’ homes
Femke owes her life to Bobby Fernando.
She’s not the only one.
Femke is a medium-sized mixed-breed dog who was only hours away from being eaten. She was one of several Bobby rescued last year from slaughterhouse markets around Indonesia. He found Femke when he was investigating an “extra” market in Tomohon, North Sulawesi – “extra” because the vendors not only sell regular meat, but also that of snakes, bats, cats and dogs.
“The dogs and the cats, they’re alive,” Bobby said. “They do not sell them as meat, but still alive. It’s crazy because [customers] need to pick which dog or which cat they want and then [vendors] will kill them 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 all,” he said. “We just picked dogs we wanted to rescue and it feels so wrong because we want to save all, but we cannot do that.”
The two dogs Bobby and his companions rescued that time and two others they rescued the previous year – buying them without telling the vendors they weren’t headed for a cooking pot – were only a few of the animals he helped save over the past few years from abandonment, abuse and neglect. However, rescue is only the first step. Increasingly important are his efforts to find these animals permanent homes.
In 2015 the staff of Oninyon Software Solution, a company Bobby 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 Adopsi because I’ve been volunteering [at an animal shelter in Yogyakarta]. I know that most people with rescue places have the same difficulty. There are a lot of stray and rescued animals, but it’s very hard to find suitable adopters.”
To solve that problem, he said, he came up with the idea for the Adopsi app, which allows people seeking homes for dogs and cats to publish information about them for those wanting to adopt. Since then Adopsi has provided a bridge between potential homes and animal rescuers that has placed almost 400 dogs and cats from Jakarta, West Java, Yogyakarta and Bali.
“Basically, I’m just providing a free service and I hope you’re doing good things with it,” Bobby said. “The adoptees upload photos and the animal information. Have they been sterilized? Vaccinated or not? Male or female? Why are these animals here? Rescued or abandoned? […] Some of these animals have [medical] problems. They can put all the information there.”
Many of the animals offered for adoption, he explained, are in the hands of private individuals who found them in distress but were unable to care for them. Some of the dogs and cats on Adopsi are residents of Animal Friends Jogja – the only rescue center currently involved – where Bobby began working with needy animals in 2011.
“I did volunteer work until now,” he explained. “I did walking and dog training. Basically, I was involved in all the programs because I was a volunteer at that time for doing anything and everything. We did campaigns, like stopping the dog-meat trade.”
Animal Friends Jogja is where Femke waits. The center, located south of the city in a quiet area between two rivers, is the temporary home of many other rescues: dozens of dogs and even more cats. Plus, in July a pig and a monkey were also in residence. Among the dogs was Bobo, a young long-legged Doberman cross who was a stray on Karimunjawa.
“Bobo was one of the dogs who came down from the higher land 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 been living at the center since 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, or Bobo, or any of the other listed dogs or 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 clarified that Adopsi’s staff are not involved in the final step, leaving that up to the person or center that put the animal up for adoption. Adopsi facilitates the transfer and makes sure certain standards are met, like ensuring that the pets are not being offered for money.
Although Bobby started Adopsi as a class assignment, it has become his main business – albeit one that costs about Rp 50 million per month to run and brings in no revenue. That expense – which mostly goes to salaries – is covered by what Bobby’s other business, Oninyon, earns. Bobby admits it is 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 a stressful person 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 is trying to entice them back. Also, at present Adopsi only works in Indonesia, meaning animals cannot be placed abroad. Bobby said he hopes 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. I want to get more insight and feedback from the 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.”
An edited version of this story originally appeared in the October 8, 2019 edition of The Jakarta Post and online at thejakartapost.com.
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