Upon arrival in Bali, it’s hard not to notice an abundance of dogs roaming the streets. The island’s dog population is in the hundreds of thousands, and actually grew by over 10% during the pandemic – money from tourism funds many of the programs for sterilization.
There are several reasons cited for the island’s high dog population – lots of available food to scavenge (restaurant trash and offerings), owners failing to sterilize/letting their own dogs roam freely, and lack of accessible veterinary care among others. Dogs also have a remarkable ability to get “street smart” and avoid capture by sterilization/vaccination workers.
We won’t sugar-coat is – some dogs can get a bit snappy or bark at you, some have mange or other skin conditions, and rabies is an issue on the island; however most of our experience was friendly animals who didn’t want anything to do with you besides an occasional sniff. Also, a large portion of dogs on the street actually have collars, and don’t seem to be “strays” at all – just freely roaming.
That said – we saw dogs everywhere. Obviously, on the street:
But also inside restaurants:
Hanging out at temples:
And even on the beach!
Most dogs were standoffish, but we got to pet a few:
And some were kind enough to lay down in front of cool street art backgrounds:
Finally – Bali’s dogs even made it into the decor at this bar:
With this knowledge you’ll likely notice more dogs around/in the background of our other posts from Bali, as we didn’t really go anywhere without seeing some. This isn’t exactly on the island’s travel brochure, but consider yourself aware now – be prepared for more than a few close dog encounters if you ever visit Bali!
