There is a story in the famous Mahabharata epic. After the Bharatayuda War ends the Pandavas crowns Parikshit as the new King of Hastina. Yudhishthira and his wife Draupadi along with Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva decide to go to the Himalayas. Along the way, Yudhishthira meets a dog and then they come to heaven.

Prior to reaching the summit, one by one dies. Starting from Draupadi, Sahadeva to Nakula meet their fate. Arjuna, the most qualified knight, cannot escape from death and neither can Bima. Now, only Yudhishthira can do it accompanied by his dog. Shortly after arrival at the doors of heaven, Lord Indra has first picked up. However, Lord Indra refuses his dog to go to heaven. Yudhishthira insists that the faithful dog must go with him. They are arguing, but eventually the loyal dog transforms into the Lord Dharma. Ultimately they go to heaven together. That’s the end of the story.

Anywhere in the world, dog is known to be the most loyal and friendly pets. Currently in Bali, when an outbreak of rabies spreads out in some places, the government has also intervened. It starts from providing anti-rabies vaccine (VAR), counseling about the hazards of rabies to the action for the elimination of the roaming stray dogs.

Last action becomes a dilemma and draws public reaction, particularly the animal lovers. Government eliminates some wild dogs. This follows the increasingly widespread rabies and shortage of anti-rabies vaccines. As a result, this provokes a strong reaction among dog lovers and they accuse the government of being discriminative and cruel. On the one hand, the government argues that it is done for the action of eliminating rabies.

On the other hand, we must admit that in fact there are many stray dogs roaming around the houses, markets, city parks and in other public spaces. We want the public to know and understand that raising dogs must also take care of them. Fed them periodically and give them vaccine. All this time, in the mindset of our society, raising dogs is letting the dogs roam around do not feed much less give health care. This paradigm must be changed. Affection for the dogs is caring for them. They are not only serving as a house guard or a friend or we just show that we care for them. Similarly, we do not want any violence in treating dogs.

Love our pets. Dogs are loyal friends and also need attention. Moreover, for Balinese people dog has its own mythology. In the context of breaking the chain of rabies, we must participate actively. Not just mutually blame, but establish a new mindset about how to actually treat the dogs. Dogs are human friend and they have much inspired our life. It is just like the story on Yudhishthira that ultimately goes along with his dog to go to heaven.