From there it sort of snowballed… If you have ever been to Bali you probably saw the countless sick dogs on the streets and eventually things got a little out of hand and I just took in more and more sick dogs!
Once the (stray) dogs we pick up leave the clinic we take them home and rehabilitate them. Which means work on their fears, integrate them into our pack and show them how it is to live in a home. After that we try to find them the loving homes and families they deserve.
Eventually over time my privat home was filled with dogs, cats and tiny puppies but even though my sister and I were living with over 40 animals we still found more and more in need of love and care. We can’t say no, so we needed a better (housing) solution.
For them but also for us (and our sanity)! 😂
A puppy house!
Through generous donations from you guys we managed to secure enough money for the first Bali Paws puppy house! A place where all our rescues can go for rehabilitation and experience love and care before we find them their forever homes.
Years later and we are still here! Doing what we are doing. We grew bigger, added more members to the team and found the perfect puppy house. All of this thanks to you and your support. Without you this would not be possible.
We are endlessly grateful for your help and please don’t hesitate to message us whenever you come to the island!
As many of you might know, Suki is not a man of many words. When I asked him to write something about himself and why he decided to live with the puppies in the puppy house he wrote this:
I love dogs.
Suki
I guess that sums it up pretty well, have to give him that 😅
The first to join the puppy house was Bimbim! When looking for people for the puppy house it is so important that they really understand our mission and love the dogs undeniably. We knew Bimbim would be a great fit from the beginning. From hugging distemper pups to organizing the puppy house finances, we would be lost without him!
We asked Bimbim to share his story about how he came to be part of the Bali Paws team:
‘It’s strange to think I wake up everyday surrounded by wagging tails and share nearly every aspect of my life with dogs. This is strange to me because never in a million years, I thought I could play with dogs.
I grew up outside of Bali in a town where dogs (almost) don’t exist. Unfamiliarity led me to fear. I was really afraid and froze everytime I saw them. But, deep inside I know I love dogs so much.
I’ll be really honest living back at home I was faking my smile for over two years. I had a battle going on inside myself/head and no one knew, not my family or my friends. I even had suicidal thoughts many times. But at the same time, I am afraid to die. Something was missing from my life but I just wasn’t sure what.
It must have been around 4 or 5 years ago when we first met Zoli. We had so many dogs in our house back then that me and my sister eventually reached the point where we had to go for walks 4 times daily to make sure everyone goes out. Back then it felt like all we did was walking dogs. So we decided that we needed help! But not just any help, we needed somebody who could take our „main squad girls“ for walkies. Easy you think?
Well, let’s say the first guy who applied for the job left after 10 minutes, the second guy said “goodbye” pretty much right after saying “hello” and the third guy… his name was Zoli. He rocked up 40 minutes late, dread locks until his knees, a Bob-Marley-shirt-slogan and a cigarette in his mouth. He told us a weird story about his Vespa that randomly broke down while on the road but he couldn’t message us because his phone also ran out of battery. I remember looking at him thinking “yeah… sure Mate! that’s not going to work out!” I even thought of sending him home straight away but since I was about to take the dogs out anyways we had nothing to lose if he accompanied us.
Before I opened the door to introduce him to our dogs I told him that the girls are not necessarily the nicest pups around and that they might bark the sh*** out of him, won’t walk if anyone other than me holds the leash and might snap if he tries to touch them. “That’s alright! I love dogs” and I fake smiled thinking “yeah… wait till you see them!” I let the dogs out and they ran towards that guy who was sitting on the floor, still smoking his cigarette and started giving him KISSES. What?! He casually took one of the leashes and before I had the chance to say something he hooked it to grumpy Kitana’s harness and started walking with her. Yes, she actually walked with him. All the way.
My sister and I were almost in shock how well that went so we asked him to come back the next day and join us on a walk again.
He came… almost one hour late. Again, his Vespa broke down but also again, the girls showered him with kisses and followed him on our walk. A few days in, he was still late every single time (the excuses were either his Vespa had a flat tire or he didn’t hear his alarm) but despite that he was able to take them ALL for a walk to the beach and arrive at ours without losing one of them. Despite his questionable sense of punctuality, he was hired! The dogs adored Zoli and that was the most important thing. Grumpy Kitana started waiting in front of the door, waiting for the noise of a Vespa exhaust every morning. But she wasn’t alone. The other girls sat with her and started waggling their entire body once the sound came closer and closer.
Ever since Zoli became not only the Girls best friend but also our friend. He is there whenever the dogs or we need him. Him and his wife Bianca helped us with so many rescue missions in the middle of the night, he searched for Dobby for 9 days from morning to evening, he sat by Kitana’s side the entire night when she was fighting for her life in the clinic, we cried together over Lilo’s sudden death, he rushed Kiki to the clinic when she ate poison and he was the last person Kiara was waiting for before her little heart stopped beating.
Besides walking my girls at home, Zoli also has a full time job in the puppy house, is our dog trainer and trains each dog individual. He does leash training, trains them to sit them on the bike, basic commands and whatever they are struggling with.
We are so lucky that this dread locked guy who eventually got himself an alarm clock came into not only the dogs but our lives.
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