Right to live: A volunteer releasing a recently neutered stray cat in Jakarta. — AP
Hitam, a lively black-and-white stray cat, has been spayed and returned to the loving arms of Alvin, a parking attendant in a bustling street in Indonesia’s capital.
“I feed her rice and fish every day,” Alvin said.
The nimble feline is part of an estimated whopping 700,000 stray cats that roam Jakarta. Trap-neuter-return programmes, or TNR, have been spearheaded by community-based groups including Let’s Adopt Indonesia that advocate humane methods to control the cat population.
Every weekend, volunteers like 28-year-old Vanya Afreenzha work tirelessly to trap as many stray cats as possible.
Armed with cat food, long pole nets and plastic carriers, they roam parks, train stations and public areas where cats can be easily spotted. They then drop them off at a clinic in southern Jakarta to be neutered by qualified veterinarians.
During a recent excursion, volunteers trapped 80 cats, including Hitam, and got them spayed or neutered.
A stray cat climbing a table at a food court outside Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta. — AP
Among them was a notoriously aggressive female cat that Afreenzha nicknamed Aing Maung, which means “I am a tiger” in Sundanese.
Carolina Fajar, the head of operations at Let’s Adopt Indonesia, says neutering or spaying cats reduces aggression and disruptive behaviour.
“So how can we handle this without having to get rid of them? Through neutering which lowers their hormonal levels, allowing them to coexist peacefully,” she said.
Despite the occasional scratch and resistance from some locals who doubt the effectiveness of TNR, volunteers like Afreenzha remain committed to the cause. She finds solace in helping cats live healthier lives and aiding those abandoned by their owners.
She says spaying and neutering helps the cats live better so “they don’t have to keep giving birth on the streets”. — AP
