BAWA — Bali Animal Welfare Association

The Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA) was founded in 2007 by Janice Girardi to improve the lives of Bali's street dogs and other animals. It operates from Lodtunduh, near Ubud in Gianyar, as an Indonesian foundation (yayasan), and depends entirely on donations.

BAWA's best-known service is its 24/7 hotline and animal ambulance, which responds to injured, sick and abused animals across the island. Its teams provide emergency veterinary care, rehabilitation and rehoming, mainly through a network of foster homes rather than a large traditional shelter. It also runs street-feeding rounds, free sterilisation and vaccination, disaster relief, and education programmes in schools and communities.

After rabies reached Bali in 2008, BAWA ran a pilot mass-vaccination programme that vaccinated tens of thousands of dogs and sharply reduced cases in the area it covered, before the programme was handed over to the provincial government in 2011. It continues to campaign for humane rabies control through vaccination rather than culling, and against the dog meat trade, chaining and backyard breeding.

Visitors to Bali can support BAWA by adopting, fostering or volunteering, and donations can be made directly through its website.