Fonny Kusumo Dewi, Risking One’s Life for Animals

KOMPAS/STEFANUS OSA TRIYATNA

Fonny Kusumo Dewi

Fonny Kusumo Dewi risked her life many times to save cats and dogs lost on the highway. Initially working independently, the animal rescuer is now igniting the love for animals in other people as well.

Not long ago, Fonny rescued a dog in the Senayan area of Jakarta. The petite woman ran toward the dog on the edge of the motorway and carried it into her car. Limping with an injured leg, the dog had been at risk of being hit by a car on the toll road.

"This is Jack, the dog I saved on the highway a few weeks ago. Its left leg was broken. I named it Jack," said Fonny, 50, showing us a white dog with brown hues at her home in the Cengkareng area of West Jakarta on Monday (4/6/2019).

Besides Jack, Fonny also saved Dupe from an empty house in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta. At the time, Dupe was not alone. There was another, smaller dog, thought to be its offspring. Dupe hid behind a tree, while the pup could easily be approached and carried. Eventually, Dupe followed the small dog. Only about a month after being treated at home, the small dog disappeared.

Then there is Boncil, rescued by Fonny in January from a busy road in Puri Indah. After being rescued, Boncil was immediately photographed and the photo disseminated through the Instagram account of Rumah Kita Indonesia (RKI), an animal welfare foundation. That way, if someone lost Boncil, they could contact her.

What Fonny did seemed simple, but to save dogs from roads — especially toll roads — takes a lot of courage. Fonny said she tried to rescue a wandering dog from a green area in the middle of the Slipi 2 toll road, right at KM 11 on Sept. 25, 2018. Together with a team from RKI, she had to go back and forth 10 times on the toll road from Slipi to Semanggi to find the dog lost on the highway.

According to Fonny, such rescue operations are very risky and difficult, because dogs that want to be saved can, in their distress, run to the side of the highway and get hit by a car. Unable to rescue every dog and cat, which Fonny calls anabul (child of fur), she also regularly gives food and drink to dogs and cats under highway overpasses. She shares that task with fellow lovers of anabul.

"When feeding those \'toll road kids\', I was initially nervous to cross the toll road to reach the median strip," said the self-employed animal rescuer.

Fonny estimates that many of the dogs roaming toll roads were deliberately dumped by their owners. Another possibility is that the dogs get lost or run away from their owners\' homes.

Under suspicion

Fonny has to deal with numerous obstacles when saving animals on the roads. For example, she is considered to be violating traffic rules and risking harm to herself and motorists by walking on the road. She has also been suspected of drug trafficking.

Fortunately, the spot where she puts out food and drink for wild dogs and cats is close to a police station, so it would be far-fetched to assume she was selling drugs there.

Eventually, the police and toll road officials finally understood what Fonny was doing. They now actually support Fonny\'s activities, often informing her about dogs or cats that need to be saved on the highway.

"The problem of saving animals never runs out. After being saved, we need to think about how they are cared for and adopted by people who

truly love animals. I am sad when I hear that a dog that’s finally been taken to a shelter is given poor daily care or is even used as a commodity at a restaurant without proper treatment," Fonny said.

According to Fonny, almost all animal shelters have the same problem. Many animals can be saved, but few can be adopted. People who wanted to adopt usually set certain criteria. For instance, they only want to adopt a certain type of dog or cat with a certain level of health. "People who don\'t understand the situation, always yell, ‘how can they say they are animal lovers and rescuers but are not willing to rescue’. The netizens don\'t realize the challenges faced after the rescue," Fonny said.

Later Fonny learned that foreign donations were available for saving animals. However, the requirements are strict. The animals that can be saved and treated are dogs that really have a chance to survive. If animals are deformed or seriously ill, they are usually subject to euthanasia. Shelters in Indonesia don’t have the heart to do that and choose not to accept foreign donations.

Since childhood

Fonny loves animals, especially dogs and cats, since her childhood. Every time she sees a cat or dog hit by a vehicle, Fonny was moved to pick it up and take it home. If the animal is injured, Fonny will cure it.

When she was a teenager, Fonny spent all her savings to save a small dog that had been hit by a vehicle, breaking one of its legs. "I have to take this little one to the doctor. This dog needs surgery costing Rp 200,000. In the old days, that felt like a lot of money. I took money from my piggybank, which I used to save the pocket money from my dad," Fonny said.

In 1998, Fonny and her family moved from the city of Semarang. She brought her beloved 10-year-old Kintamani dog. But two years later, the dog vanished from her house.

Since she didn\'t have a dog, Fonny felt compelled to become an anabul savior. Incidentally, while driving a car on the outer ring road of Puri

Indah (West Jakarta), she saw a sick little dog on the side of the road. She felt sorry and stopped the vehicle. Then, she took the dog and brought it home to treat it.

"I know, the life of this anabul will not be long. I just want to ensure that, if a dog dies, at least it dies in a peaceful state, not hungry or threatened. In principle, I want to make the animal happy, even though the time is very short," Fonny said.

According to Fonny, the animals being saved must feel someone loves them, especially during the moment of their death. Only three days under her treatment, the puppy died.

The drive to become the savior of anabul was getting stronger since she left her job and became a wushu instructor in 2004. "I find it easier to share time for the anabul that need help," Fonny said.

Now, the Slipi toll road seems to be her second home. Her activity is at the same time considered education. "We, humans, who are given a higher degree of life should be able to help the animals. The animals can\'t talk about their suffering. While humans can talk about their suffering to fellow humans, animals’ dependence on humans is very high," she said.

Fonny Kusumo Dewi

Born: Semarang, Central Java, Nov. 21, 1969

Husband: Souw Supriadi S

Children: Thalia Lovita, Theo Laksana, Thexon Lanata

Education:

- SMF Theresiana, Semarang (1985-1988)

- Universitas Terbuka, Open University (1993-1995)