Follow Friday: Carolina Fajar Has A Pet Love (and a Love for Pets)

Jakata Globe, Katrin Figge, May 03, 2014

Photo courtesy of Carolina Fajar.

Stray animals live a harsh life in Indonesia — something Carolina Fajar knows all too well. The founder of Let’s Adopt! Indonesia, a Jakarta-based community rescuing street animals and try to find them a new home either in Indonesia and abroad, has dedicated her time to this good cause for many years.

“Although recently more people have become aware of animal welfare, the majority of Indonesians still have no clue about how to become a responsible pet owner,” Carol says. “Many people cage or tie up their cats and dogs, keep wildlife as pets, and don’t know the first thing about the animals they keep. Some dump their pets irresponsibly for the most unbelievable reasons.

“We believe that most of the time this isn’t because they are exceptionally cruel, but because they simply have no knowledge of animal welfare,” she adds.

Carol says that when it comes to adopting an animal, many potential candidates make a spur-of-the-moment decision rather than carefully reflecting if they really want to have a pet and shoulder the responsibility that an adoption entails.

“There are many cases where people want to adopt cats or dogs but have no idea about the characteristics of the breed,” she explains, adding that local mixed breeds are often spurned because Indonesians prefer to show off a pedigree animal as a status symbol.

Since its inception in 2011, Let’s Adopt! Indonesia — a branch of Let’s Adopt Global, which started in 2008 in Turkey — has worked relentlessly to protect the animals on Indonesia’s streets.

One way to spread the word quickly is through social media.

“Our main focus is Facebook,” Carol says. “We also use Twitter, @LetsAdoptInd, and Instagram, although the impact is not as big as Facebook.”

According to Carol, social media has helped them gain exposure and connect to other animal rights activists, potential pet owners and dog and cat lovers. The various platforms also make it easier to keep in touch with the other branches of Let’s Adopt Global. Carol even goes as far as saying that their work wouldn’t be efficient at all if it wasn’t for social media.

The group updates its Facebook and Twitter accounts regularly; on Facebook, it shares stories about rescued animals, complete with a set of photos and conditions for adopting an animal. The rules may seem strict — but Carol wants to make sure that the animals, who have often led a miserable life before being rescued, will get a loving home with owners who will take good care of them.

Facebook users can simply share the photos and stories on their own wall, while on Twitter they often retweet, making sure that the news can reach as many people as possible in a relatively short amount of time.

One of the animals that recently found a new home through Let’s Adopt! Indonesia and with the help of social media is Leo.

“This kitten was rescued in Jakarta, with one eye popped out because of chlamydia,” Carol says. “Let’s Adopt Global helped us promote his case. Many people from all over the world donated to finance Leo’s operation, and a nice lady from Florida, USA, contacted us to adopt him.”

To get Leo all the way from Indonesia to the United States, Carol and her team had to activate their social media network, and in the end were successful in making the long trip for the small kitten as comfortable as possible.

“We found a flight volunteer to send him to the US, and someone else volunteered to pick him up from the airport in Los Angeles and keep him for the night, as his new mom was on the way to get him,” Carol says. “And we found them all through Facebook!”

Another animal rescued by Let’s Adopt! Indonesia, Dior, a Shih Tzu who had lost an eye, found a new home in Germany, also thanks to social media.

“That is unbelievable. We get to meet so many helpful people through Facebook,” says Carol, who takes care of six dogs and one tortoise at her home.

Carol and her team, as well as several volunteers, take turns managing the social media accounts for Let’s Adopt! Indonesia. While Carol also has personal Facebook and Twitter accounts, she likes to keep her personal life separate from Let’s Adopt! — because even though social media has greatly benefitted her work, she is aware of its many pitfalls.

“We have to be careful because it is very easy for people to find out who you are through social media,” she says. “There are many creepy people out there.”

Follow Friday is a series of profiles on the people who make up Indonesia’s ever-growing Twitterverse. Follow at your own risk.