OUR VISION & MISSION:
We aim to fund-raise and disburse funds to groups rehabilitating sick/injured animals (mainly dogs) that have been abandoned, mistreated or homeless including groups that perform free sterilizations for street dogs, around the World.
Our activities will be primarily focused on the rehabilitation of sick/injured animals that have been abandoned, mistreated or homeless including the sterilization of street dogs and dogs belonging to low income owners.
Our service is to fund various animal welfare groups around the world who are working to reduce the suffering of animals by providing short term or long term care to animals that are mistreated, abandoned or homeless. This includes emergency and ongoing medical care and running on the ground sterilization programs, to reduce the amount of dogs living on the streets without homes.
Community benefit is to low income dog owners and homeless animals in various locations around the world.
Why is Rob’s Dogs needed ? Most animal welfare groups work hands on with animals day in and day out, often they do not have time to worry about fundraising, marketing or administration. We aim to lighten their load by providing the financial and administrative support so that they can focus on their primary purpose of helping animals. We feel focus should also be given to sterilization programs as PETA estimates that one un-sterilized female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 dogs in just six years. If we break the cycle of breeding with sterilization then less dogs are being born on the street to life of potential abuse and neglect.
Duration of our project while Rob’s estate is a limited amount of funds we plan to fundraise independently to enable us to continue our work on an ongoing basis.
OUR STORY:
Rob’s Dogs started unofficially way back in 2013 when Rob’s widow visited Bali & was deeply disturbed by the neglect and abuse of street dogs there.
In early 2014 Rebecca moved to Bali to volunteer with an animal rescue/sanctuary based there.
It was during her time in Bali that Rebecca realized that the root of all the problems was unwanted dogs – if we could sterilize more dogs, then less dogs would be born to suffer lives of neglect on the streets.
Rebecca focused most of her efforts during this time on BARCs sterilization program.
She stayed with BARC until mid 2016, when she moved with her rescue dog to the small island of Koh Samui in Thailand.
On Koh Samui she met up with a Russian Vet & her boyfriend who had started their own small group Pariah Dog Koh Samui, their main focus was the rehabilitation of sick/injured abandoned/homeless dogs, with a big focus on sterilizing!
Rebecca joined them and got some hands on experience in actually performing various veterinary procedures including amputations and sterilizations.
We have decided to formalize the work that Rebecca has been doing with her time & the money left from Rob’s estate by creating Rob’s Dogs.
Rob’s Dogs will fund-raise and disburse funds to groups working to rehabilitate abandoned, sick/injured animals that are either mistreated/abused or abandoned/homeless, including emergency medical care and performing free sterilizations for street dogs around the world.
OUR WORK
Rehabilitation
Rob’s Dogs only works with groups who operate under a “No Kill” policy.
How Rob’s Dogs supports groups that undertake rehabilitation:
- Providing initial and ongoing medical treatment for animals that are mistreated or homeless.
- Providing safe and loving accommodation for animals during their rehabilitation, sometimes includes lifetime care for unadoptable animals or animals unable to be rehomed for whatever reasons.
Sterilization Programs
Did you know that just one pair of unsterilized Dogs and their offspring can create 67,000 Dogs in just six years!
The most impactful way to reduce this is to sterilize where possible.
Rob’s Dogs undertakes regular donations to various groups running sterilization of street dogs in order to help stop overpopulation of unwanted street dogs around the world.
At the moment we are only able to pay for an average of 4 dogs per month, we are hoping that establish Rob’s Dogs as an official Australian charity will enable us to gather more donations.
Sterilization of low income owned pets and street dogs can:
- Stop the cycle of unwanted litters.
- Aid in halting the suffering of thousands of animals who are very often thrown away or left to starve.
- Provide important health impacts to local communities as many pet owners cannot afford to sterilize their own pets and street dogs.
Animal Welfare
Here at Rob’s Dogs we don’t see a difference between a Dog and Pig. Both are beautiful smart creatures that make great companions.
For us it doesn’t stop at just rescuing and rehabilitating dogs, we also aim to relieve the suffering of all animals.
This includes educating the broader community on issues of animals welfare including:
- Animal testing for cosmetics, medicines etc
- The horrors of factory farming
- Animals mistreated and abused in the entertainment industry
At Rob’s Dogs we believe all animals lives matter and are committed to promoting lifestyle and diet changes to reflect a broader more compassionate existence for all humans.
Zero Waste & Upcycling
Rob’s Dogs is committed to the zero waste movement, and making our environmental impact as low as possible.
The Benefits of zero waste:
- Reduces our climate impact
- Conserves resources and minimizes pollution
- Promotes social equity and builds community
- Supports a local circular economy and creates jobs
The Benefits of Upcycling:
- Conserves the environment by reducing the amount of waste in landfills
- Conserves resources
- Reduces the costs of production
- Supports local industries
- Encourages creativity and innovation
What we do:
- Clean beaches in our local area, recycling and upcycling as much of the “rubbish” as is possible
- Participation in recycling programs
- Supporting upcycling projects and products
- Commitment to add a zero waste/upcycled section to our online store
Saving The Bali Heritage Dog
On my first trip to Bali I was overwhelmed by the amount of dogs roaming the streets and sitting at the gates of family compounds. I thought they were so beautiful with their wide varieties of coloring & their delightful upright ears. It wasn’t until I moved to Bali to work with the street dogs that I discovered just how special Bali dogs are
The way the Bali dog is treated you would assume it’s a mutt or a mongrel, when the truth is that the Bali dog is in fact a specific and special breed all of its own. Researchers at the University of California Davis believe that the Bali Dog, with its unique and valuable gene pool may be the oldest dog on earth.
Between 2000 and 2003, Dr. Niels Pederson from the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at University of California Davis led a team that tested the DNA of 3,500 indigenous dogs from all over Bali. Bali has two unique indigenous dogs, the Bali Dog and the highland Kintamani which have been living on the island virtually unaltered for at least 5,000 years. Genetic research shows that the ancestry of the Bali Dog can be traced back about 15,000 years.
According to Dr. Pederson, Bali’s dogs are the richest pool of genetic diversity of all the dogs on the world. ‘The true pure canine breed is the indigenous Bali Dog,’ said Dr. Pedersen. ‘Its lineage goes all the way back to the first proto-dogs that evolved from the wolves. Their genes are highly valuable for further research, as they are a window on the ancestral dog.’
While the world mostly focuses on the extinction of high profile species like the orangutan, elephant, tiger etc, the beautiful Bali Dog remains unspoken about in conservation circles.
According to the Indonesian government there are “too many” Bali dogs and the routinely undertake elimination programs. Add to this that the Bali dog DNA is being diluted by interbreeding with imported western style dogs. Unfortunately the Bali dog is not yet a formally recognized breed, and because its considered common on the island of Bali locals prefer to have “breed dogs” which they consider to be a status symbol. Of course most of these dogs are imported illegally, bred in horrendous puppy mills and then thrown away like garbage once they become sick or too old to breed.
Bali dogs come in a wide variety of colors, ear types and tail types, but regardless of this diversity in appearance they all retain the same pure DNA pool. Bali dogs make wonderful companions, they are naturally a very clean dog with many owners reporting that they are easily house trained from a very young age. They are highly adaptable to different climates, with Bali dogs now being re-homed all over the world, Including, Australia, America, Canada & Europe.
The Bali dog’s genetic diversity means it is less likely to suffer from certain diseases and genetic disorders that are so prevalent in “breed” dogs. If looked after well the breed can live to well over 16 years. The Bali dog is rarely aggressive and will only bite if provoked or cornered. Bali dogs are high jumpers and can clear walls over 3 meters high. They like to be up high and survey their territory. While they are roaming the streets of Bali they may seem feral but most Bali dogs are “owned” or have families or people who care for them.
Bali dogs are great guard dogs, with very specific barks for different kinds of warnings – his bark for “snake” is different to his bark for “scorpion” or “Intruder (of the human variety)”. Bali dogs are smart, have a great sense of humor and big personalities.
At Rob’s Dogs we are working to preserve the precious Bali heritage dog by lobbying to have the breed recognized as an official breed. Population control through sterilization not elimination. Facilitation of overseas adoptions and re-homing & education of Balinese community on how special their Bali dog is.
Sources:
https://bmcgenet.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2156-6-6
Anecdotal evidence collected during my 2.5 years of living in Bali working with Bali heritage dogs.