JONATHAN spends roughly five to seven million rupiah (RM1,140 to RM1,600) a month to feed and groom his four dogs: two golden retrievers, an Akita and a rescued Karelo-Finnish Laika.
The cost is simply part of the commitment.
But for many people grappling with rising living costs and economic uncertainty, it is exactly why owning a dog has become a luxury.
Canine companionship was once a simple source of joy for pet lovers in Jakarta.
Now, it empties wallets, wears down patience and crowds shelters as owners, foster caregivers and shelter workers juggle rising costs and limited space.
They also confront the unsettling truth that giving up a dog can be just as hard as taking one in.
“Adopting a dog is not an impulse. It’s a 10- to 15-year lifestyle commitment that demands time, love and money,” pet influencer Jonathan Roganda Timothy, who lives in South Tangerang, Banten, said.
“People may disagree, but you need a budget and a plan before bringing a pet home.”
With Jakarta’s minimum wage set at 5.7 million rupiah (RM1,300), owning a pet has become a luxury as fuel and food prices continue to climb. Job losses and hiring freezes across the country have only made that reality harder.
The struggle is not exclusive to Indonesia.
Even in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, soaring living costs have pushed pet owners towards the same painful choice: giving up their dogs and cats simply to keep food on the table.
The pressure is evident at shelters, where abandoned dogs continue to arrive as workers seek new homes for them.
Dody Hardiansyah, a staffer at Pejaten Shelter in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, said many owners neglected their dogs’ basic needs, allowed unplanned breeding and eventually surrendered the puppies when they became overwhelmed with the mounting costs.
Sterilisation and vaccination were essential, he stressed, yet many people continued to breed dogs without thinking ahead.
“People start with one or two dogs, no sterilisation. Then they breed – up to eight puppies per litter, minimum three to five.
“Suddenly the food budget explodes,” said Dody.
“The real struggle is to educate owners, and sterilisation doesn’t come cheap, either,” he said.
After seven years working at the shelter, Dody still feels his job is a calling rather than a career.
“I just love animals, any kind,” he said.
But love does not pay veterinary bills.
Between 2023 and the end of 2024, the shelter spent more than two billion rupiah at several different clinics to maintain the health of animals in their care.
The adoption rate also shows widely varying circumstances among animals.
Some dogs find loving homes. Others spend years waiting, unaware that their owners have moved on. Too many are simply abandoned on roads to die.
Not every abandoned dog remains abandoned, however, and some find their way into homes like Dwika Putra’s.
After getting a dog of his own four years ago, he began fostering and rehoming dogs.
“I wouldn’t call myself an activist,” said Dwika, 37.
He was never a dog enthusiast but gradually came to appreciate each dog’s unique personality and imperfections, a development he credits his wife, a lifelong dog lover.
The couple now has two adopted dogs, Hazelnut, or Hazel for short, and Peanut.
“The first dog wasn’t abandoned. Her owners just couldn’t handle more than one, so they gave her up as a puppy.
“The second one was dumped and went through three different homes before we got her,” said Dwika, who has never regretted adopting the two sweet brown dogs. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
