Puteri’s Companions – Bello

Bello is a mixed breed of Balinese Kintamani and Timorese dog who lives around Port Kupang. No one knows neither Bello’s family members nor the human family where he might have been previously adopted. There have been attempts to bring Bello to an animal lover organisation in the city but none of these attempts have been successful. Bello seems to enjoy living by himself. He builds his own nest under the shady Angsana tree. Fate brought Bello to encounter Puteri in Kupang. Bello told Puteri that his mother, Astika, was from Bali. Astika had told Bello that she landed on Kupang through boarding a ship which travelled to all ports in West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, and Bali provinces. One night, Astika and Bello were walking on the street near the port, when a dogcatcher put Astika in a van and took her away. Bello managed to escape the dogcatcher. He decided to live around the port, in hopes that Astika would come back and they would be united again. Bello fears that the dogcatcher did not bring Astika to an organisation for stray dogs and that instead he might be supplying dog meat to restaurants. Some restaurants offer ‘exotic food’ (made from dog meat) on their menus. The encounter between Puteri and Bello leads to long conversations around dog as food, traditional beliefs, and the possibilities of developing a resistance movement among local dogs.