Belief and Sentience

​As creators of this website we have been asked on many occasions how we reconcile respecting Balinese beliefs with our awareness of sentience. Especially when it involves cruelty and general mistreatment inflicted on Bali Dogs.

Simply put, there is no reconciling, no justification and no defending any act that inflicts pain.  Cruelty is universal and Bali is certainly more than able in delivering its very own local brand.  Respecting a belief system that does not demonstrate awareness of sentience is nigh on impossible. 

What we do is acknowledge that there is a relationship between Balinese people and their indigenous canine.  It does not look or feel like pet ownership in the Western cultural context, but there is a relationship.  Just because something doesn't look or feel like the familiar its not OK to dismiss its existence.   The Westernised pet ownership framework cannot and should not hold itself up as being the ideal. 

As long term appreciators of dogs and the contribution they have made to our lives we are eternally curious about what a dog looks like through a different cultural lens.  We are interested in how different beliefs and values influence and shape the human/canine relationship.  In Bali we have found a relationship that is ancient and bound in complex reciprocal utility and entrenched within the Islands unique belief system.

Beliefs are very real; they bring order to chaos, they are concrete cultural anchors, passed from generation to generation.  They help us to navigate our world.    

From words, statements and stories, our societal structures are formed.  These structures have to be respected even if they conflict with our own beliefs.  Acknowledgement of these structures, without judgement, is the first step towards understanding, communicating and then negotiating human behaviour change. 

To do otherwise is like asking us to speak a foreign language without lessons.  We can learn to survive among native speakers, but we will not be able to converse deeply and appreciate those subtle nuances so vital to understanding issues that matter. 

​By understanding the nuances of the dog/human relationship in Bali, by appreciating its history and by grasping its complexities we have an opportunity to converse and influence change.