The Three-Legged Bali Dog

Many of you Bali travellers who have been going to the island for a while will still remember the days when dogs roamed the streets of the Kuta strip scavenging for scarps of food and demolishing offerings laid out in front of shops and houses.

For some obscure reason these dogs disappeared in the 90s. I was in Java at that time and I can remember in Bandung, West Java, a child was bit by a rabid dog and died of Rabies. Following that incident the government took no chances and handed out the death warrant on all dogs in Java. I can only assume then that this also occurred in Bali although I never heard of it.

Of course the dogs of Bali (sounds like a film title!) are still prevalent in gangs and houses in the tourist areas and in the villages around the island. In fact back in the 80s and 90s and earlier dogs were kind of a Bali institution.

There was a fabulous article in the Bali Discovery about a three-legged Bali dog. Rather than continue telling you about it I have included it for your perusal:

Did you hear the one about the three-legged Bali Street Dog that Acts as the Hostess at an Australian pub named in her honour?

Right. We too were doubtful of this story's veracity until we recently came across an article in The Border Mail confirming that indeed "Nessa" the three-legged Bali dog actually does exist and works a regular shift at "The Three Legged Dog" bar and restaurant - Albury’s newest watering hole named in her honour.

The tale of the tail and its owner begins on Bali's Jimbaran beach where two Australian holiday makers Matt Dillon of Nowra and Jacinta Mackay of Albury were enjoying a beachside meal. Jacinta's enjoyment of her meal was disturbed by the sight of a malnourished, dehydrated and discarded four week old Bali street dog limping through the sand on only three legs where she was almost managing to survive on table scraps.

Taking pity on the pup Jacintha cradled the pup on her lap. Recalling the meeting Jacintha said "She was just the most beautiful girl and was so placid. You could tell there was not a mean bone in her body."

While fellow Australians were busy shopping in local stores Matt and Jacintha had "made their purchase" and spent the remainder of their Bali holiday arranging medical care and the "immigration" of Nessa to her new home - Australia.

Discovering that three-legged dogs do not travel well or cheaply Matt and Jacinta managed to spend some AU$8,000 shipping their dog home to her new home including a month's quarantine in Singapore and a five months quarantine in a Sydney kennel.

That expense and experience now behind them Nessa's now very much at home in the twin cities of Albury-Wodonga, towns of 90,000 people straddling the Murray River on the border between Victoria and New South Wales.

On to a good thing and repeating a trick well-learned in Bali, Nessa's known to happily climb into any welcoming lap at her bar and restaurant - "The Three Legged Dog."