Bali Street Dogs are like Street Food?

  Both are made from predominantly local ingredients with a few foreign influences thrown in.  They have been around for quite a while and are a part of local culture.  They are fast and can be quite unpredictable and are certainly not to every ones taste.  They are attractive and dangerous and have historically done their best business on the street.  They are durable, cheap to run and easy to maintain. They are very recognizable, quintessentially Balinese and ruggedly real.  They have lasted until now and for those who have sampled and found them to be satisfying, there is a distinct tendency to continue the association.

So, if you remove street food from and off the street and force it to perform its primary function inside, will it adapt, can it change and will it survive?  Is it better or worse, or is it just the same, will it flourish or will it die?  Many street stalls have moved to off street shops, have become restaurants and been richer for it.  Others have been unable to handle the change and have died off or moved to areas where they can continue business as usual.

Bali Street Dogs are facing a similar situation and are increasingly being forced to move off the streets.  This is not an occurrence that should or shouldn’t happen.  It is not a better or worse debate and it is not a good or bad thing.  It just is a reality and it will surely continue to occur due to encroaching modernity.  Will they adapt and change, will they move further out and on, can they continue to survive or will they die?

But Bali Street Dogs are not street food, they are consumed in more hidden off street establishments, so it is nefarious to try and link them in regards to their value.  Food is still wanted and food is still needed, they are not.  All they really have in common is that they come from the same environment and to date they share the same environment.

Bali Street Dogs are as adaptable as street food, are able to change with the times and can survive in a new and unfamiliar landscape.  But it is not an easy ask for a dog that is genetically blueprinted to roam at will.  To take them off the streets, place them behind walls, limit their free roaming activities to routine leash walks and train them to be well mannered. 

That’s the future for Bali Street Dogs who remain in urban areas that are rapidly modernizing.  

      

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