Claudine Frederik, Contributor, Jakarta Unlike the average veterinarian, Junaidi, who lives in Bogor, does not sit waiting in a practitioners' room for sick animals. He travels to his patients and that takes him to remote corners of West Java where vets are hard to find. In most isolated places there are none at all. "I have been doing this for over 18 years," he said. "I had a hard time when I started my career in this way. It was not easy as I had to knock on doors to offer my service." Junaidi compared his beginning to the job of a door-to-door salesman. His first steps on the rough path of his career did not bring immediate results. He was unknown then to the people he approached. He focused on places and sites that had very few or no vet at all. One of those areas which has become a regular visiting place for him is Arco Sawangan. One has to make a trip by minivan or by motorcycle taxi to reach the place, as it lays hidden away from the Parung main road to Bogor. Isolated as it is, many of the homes keep dogs and also cats. It is said that the dogs are kept to discourage robbers. In such places security is often taken care of by the inhabitants themselves, since no patrolling police cars pass by, with just a night watchman who strolls around the area after midnight. "I have covered a lot of mileage over the years. My time is mostly spent in minivans, buses and on motorcycle taxis." That is perhaps the reason why Junaidi has the image of a sportsman rather than of a veterinarian. Only once did I see him in traditional white doctor's garb. And that was when he had to put an old and sickly dog to sleep. It took more than an hour to put the dog out of his suffering. First the animal was injected with a strong sedative. To determine whether the sedative had made him unconscious, Junaidi checked out the animal's tongue. If the tongue hangs outside the animal's mouth he is no longer conscious. Then the real job started. A huge syringe was filled with the deadly substance which had been prepared earlier. The needle was pushed into the artery leading to the heart. It took several syringes before the animal's heart stopped beating altogether. After every syringe was emptied Junaidi listened with his stethoscope to the failing heartbeat of the dog. When there was no more heartbeat he pronounced the dog dead. Then he asked if the dog should be wrapped up before burial. It was a clear indication of his concern for animals, dead or alive. Once he attended to a skinny cat who was infested with lice which lived under the animal's skin. The cat's owner was not financially well off and Junaidi was generous enough to let her pay when she could. He said he had a penchant for roosters when he was still in high school. This led to the subject of avian flu, in which Indonesia leads the world in terms of casualties. On the question of what he thought of the present preventive measures to stop the spread of bird flu, he said: "According to my personal opinion mass slaughter of contaminated chickens and other birds will not suffice, because we are fighting a virus which is not just airborne but also cleaves to things and human beings. This means that we have to stop importing goods from other Asian countries where the flu originally started. It also means that we have to close the ports for incoming visitors from those countries. Imagine how such measures would affect our economy. Things would practically come to a standstill." So, what would be the most effective preventive method to stop the flu forever? "In my opinion all the chickens and birds who live close to housing estates, villages and cities should be vaccinated. And this is a very tall order. Not only would it entail the mass recruitment of people and huge amounts of bird flu vaccines, but as I said before, this is just my personal opinion." Asked if he knew of any animal association involved in defending animal rights, Junaidi said he had heard of none. However, he said IPB university in Bogor had an animal hospital that was open to the public. There are also temporary homes for cats who have to be taken care of when their masters go away on vacation. These homes charge daily fees for boarding the pets. When I suggested the absence of such associations meant people in general cared little for animals, Junaidi strongly objected. "No. That is not true. I know for a fact that even poor village people who can hardly afford to keep a pet still come to me for help when their pet falls ill. People in this country do really care for animals." Doctor Junaidi hails from Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, staying on in West Java after graduating from IPB university in Bogor. Source : http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20070624.N02&irec=23
| 
