Controversial efforts to reduce the number of stray cats in Jakarta

ABC NEWS (Australia)

In Indonesia, stray cats rule the streets. The capital Jakarta has an estimated one million mostly feral felines roaming around. Now some vets and volunteers are trying to bring the numbers under control but it's proving a little controversial.

Transcript

00:00Saturday morning and the cat catchers are on the hunt.

00:07Luring strays with food, some are easy to trap, others not so much.

00:14I don't own any cats.

00:18People just come here and dump tiny kittens and I take care of them and feed them.

00:22There are now 15 of them.

00:25Jakarta's government estimates there are 860,000 cats in the central part of the city,

00:30about one for every 10 people.

00:33But add in the surrounding districts in this metropolis

00:36and you're looking at well over a million and a half cats.

00:40It's all over in Indonesia.

00:42It's not only a problem in Jakarta but it's also a problem in every big city in Indonesia.

00:50Vivi Sebayang runs an organisation that sterilises stray cats.

00:55She works with vets who share her concerns about overpopulation

01:00and perform operations in their spare time.

01:03This sort of spaying surgery exists here in a bit of a grey zone.

01:08It's not that it's illegal, it's just that it's a bit controversial.

01:12Vivi's organisation provides this service at a much cheaper rate than vet clinics.

01:18Some veterinarians accuse her team of undercutting their profits

01:22and say the operations aren't up to standard.

01:25It's a claim she disputes.

01:27It's become a grey area, that's why it feels like undercover

01:33but for me it's the best way to solve the problem.

01:40Government authorities sometimes also hold cat spaying events

01:45but solving Jakarta's cat problem is a slow crawl, one operation at a time.

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