Capacity for Care: The Overlooked Responsibility in Indonesian Animal Shelters
By: Drh. Mikeu Paujiah
Behind the good intentions of many animal shelter founders in Indonesia lies a fundamental mistake with long-term consequences:
They take in too many animals without calculating the actual capacity for care they can handle.
In international terms, this is known as Determining Capacity for Care (C4C) — an essential principle in shelter management that is often neglected.
What is Capacity for Care (C4C)?
According to the ASV Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters, capacity for care is defined as:
“The maximum number of animals that can be humanely cared for in a shelter based on the available resources — including staff, space, time, and medical services — while ensuring the physical and mental well-being of the animals.”
It’s not about how much love we have, but how far our actual capacity allows us to provide proper care.
Common Problems in Indonesian Shelters: Good Intentions, Poor Management
Many shelters in Indonesia are established out of compassion for stray and abandoned animals. Unfortunately, many shelter owners:
– Take in dozens or even hundreds of animals in very limited spaces.
– Lack sufficient medical staff.
– Cannot provide adequate food on a daily basis.
– Fail to vaccinate or sterilize the animals.
– Struggle to maintain cleanliness regularly.
– Neglect behavioral and psychological stress in animals.
As a result, animals that were supposed to be “rescued” end up living in a new form of systemic neglect.
1. Consequences of Ignoring Capacity for Care:
2. Overcrowding → rapid disease transmission.
3. Food and water shortage → malnutrition and dehydration.
4. Chronic stress → aggressive or apathetic behavior.
5. High mortality rate → especially among young and sick animals.
6. Volunteer burnout → too many animals, too few caretakers.
7. Loss of public trust → fewer adoptions and stopped donations.
8. Overbudgeting → financial collapse due to increasing costs with every new intake.
Ultimately, a shelter meant to bring hope becomes a place of renewed suffering.
A Constructive Critique for Shelters in Indonesia
The author deeply respects everyone who establishes a shelter — it is indeed a noble act. However, when you keep taking in animals endlessly without calculating capacity, you are not rescuing; you are creating another problem.
“Love must come with limits and calculation. Compassion without management equals hidden neglect.”
If you cannot expand your space, staff, or funding, do not take in new animals yet.
Focus on caring for the ones you already have, then build sustainable systems: adoption, education, sterilization, and fostering.
Do not let shelters turn into inhumane mass holding centers.
Let them be places of recovery with dignity — structured, measurable, and compassionate.
Because saving one animal well is far more noble than taking in a hundred without being able to care for them.
Reference:
- The Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV). (2010). Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters. https://www.sheltervet.org/assets/docs/shelter-standards-oct2011-wforward.pdf
- RSPCA Australia. (2018). Guidelines for the Operation of Animal Shelters.
https://www.rspca.org.au
