Valent the poodle has become the center of a discussion about mistreatment of pets in Indonesia after she was allegedly found locked in her owner’s car at two mall parking lots in two successive days.
Renowned radio host Tommy Prabowo was the first to bring the public’s attention to Valent’s alleged mistreatment through a series of viral social media posts. According to Tommy, he drove to Grand Indonesia mall in Central Jakarta on Friday and parked his car in the parking lot at around 4:40 pm. He then heard barking coming from the car next to his, and found that it had a white poodle inside. The car’s doors were locked and the windows slightly open for air.
dengan data ini, makanya saya selalu state, bahwa Valent ada dalam mobil bahkan jauh sebelom pukul 16.26 (yang pada akhirnya baru dikeluarkan pukul 00.43) ini video Instastory pertama yang gak sengaja akan panjang malamnya.. dalam hati saya, ada yang salah #SelamatkanValent pic.twitter.com/mzSOkwWBDJ
— Tommy Prabowo (@tommyprabowo) December 2, 2017
When Tommy returned to his car just after 10 pm, the poodle was still inside the neighboring car. Tommy then found a security guard who said that its owner hadn’t come to feed or check on the poodle the whole time. Tommy wrote that he would have smashed the car’s window to let the dog out if it weren’t for the security guard preventing him.
Tommy decided to wait by the car and gave the dog water through the window opening. The owner did eventually came back to her car at around 12:45 am. When confronted by Tommy, she said she had just gotten out of watching a movie and angrily told him that she knew her dog best and she did not appreciate him meddling in how she treats her dog.
dengerin betapa defensifnya pemilik Valent, yang bikin lemes bukan masalah nungguinnya, TAPI VALENT BERADA DITANGAN YANG SALAH! #SelamatkanValent pic.twitter.com/BI0N00mPQ5
— Tommy Prabowo (@tommyprabowo) December 2, 2017
“This dog hasn’t eaten or drank anything in 8 hours,” Tommy can be heard saying in the clip above, to which the owner replied, “She’s used to it!”
The poodle, whose name was ascertained from the owner to be Valent, then left the mall with its owner. Tommy’s Tweets, which were hashtagged #SelamatkanValent (#SaveValent) then became viral, which led to another netizen to report her finding that the poodle was yet again locked in her owner’s car in the parking lot of Gandaria City mall in South Jakarta the next day.
(For legal reasons, we’re not including that post here as it features a photo showing the owner’s car’s license plate number — something that the owner has allegedly threatened to sue the poster for.)
But the owner may find herself in legal trouble after Tommy’s posts came to the attention of Garda Satwa Indonesia. The animal rights group wrote on Instagram that they could report the owner to the authorities for animal abuse under Law no 41/2014 on Animal Welfare, which is punishable by 1-6 months imprisonment and a fine of IDR1 million – IDR5 million (US$73.91 – US$369.55).
