An angel to animals

Source: The Jakarta Post - February 05, 2006

Most people know Angelina Sondakh as a former Miss Indonesia and a legislator from Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, but far fewer are aware of her activities as a conservationist, or of her love for animals.

Angel, as she is better known, is originally from Manado in North Sulawesi. During the past few years she has led a campaign to help protect the tarsius -- the world's smallest monkey found only in North Sulawesi -- and the equally rare but more well-known orangutan. In 2002, Angel presented a paper, Save The Last Wild Orangutan, during a symposium at the United States' Harvard University in Massachusetts.

Her conservation efforts were recognized by the U.S.-based Orang Utan Republic (OUR) Education Initiative, which appointed her as its orangutan ambassador, a position she has held since July last year. Her love of all critters great and small is rooted in her long interaction with various pets since she was a child. "My father and my mother are veterinarians. They often take care of animals," she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Similarly, Angel's home is a virtual menagerie, with ducks, chickens, birds and four dogs -- a little pomerian, a dalmatian, a Siberian husky and a Siberian husky cross. "I used to sleep with the dalmatian when it was still a puppy. This has made the dog dependent on me. Every time I go out of town, the dog gets sick," she said.

When she's away working, Angel makes sure she hires a babysitter to take care of her animals. The dogs also have regular checkups and get vitamins to keep them healthy.

Angel makes sure spends at least three days a week walking her dogs around her housing complex. "When I was a kid, I cried for a week because my father accidentally hit my dog on the driveway. After that, my mother told me to keep some emotional distance from my pets," she said, stroking her dogs and laughing. -- JP/Kurniawan Hari