When people think about animal welfare in Bali, they often picture the island’s free roaming dogs sleeping outside temples, wandering village streets or resting on beaches. What they usually do not see is the issue that has shaped dog policy on the island for more than a decade. Rabies.
Dogs are not being collected on a mass scale. There is no nationwide programme aimed at removing free roaming dogs from public spaces. Authorities continue to promote vaccination and population management rather than large-scale confinement or culling. But Bali remains firmly on our watchlist because of what could happen if the pressure increases.
Rabies first emerged in Bali in 2008 and has remained one of the island’s most significant animal and public health challenges ever since. Despite years of work by local authorities, veterinary organisations and international partners, the disease has not been fully eliminated. Recent reports continue to describe active rabies transmission, ongoing vaccination campaigns and continuing concerns about dog bites across the island.
In 2025, Bali authorities reported more than 49,000 bite incidents from animals capable of transmitting rabies and 12 human deaths associated with the disease. Other reports describe an average of more than 180 bite incidents per day.
These figures create political pressure.
When bite numbers rise and public concern grows, governments are often pushed to show visible results quickly. Humane population management programmes require patience. Vaccination and sterilisation campaigns take time. Public fear rarely does.
That is where Bali becomes interesting.
The island has already experienced debates over how dog populations should be managed. International organisations including the Food and Agriculture Organization and veterinary experts have repeatedly supported mass dog vaccination as the most effective route to rabies control. Bali continues to invest heavily in vaccination campaigns, surveillance and community-based disease prevention. The provincial goal remains the elimination of rabies through sustained vaccination coverage rather than widespread dog removal.
In 2025 and 2026, vaccination drives continued across the island, including door to door campaigns and efforts to increase vaccination coverage among free-roaming dogs. Authorities have also been working with international partners to better understand Bali’s owned and free-roaming dog populations as part of long-term rabies control planning.
The direction of travel currently remains focused on disease control through vaccination rather than removing dogs from public life. However, the underlying pressures have not disappeared.
Rabies remains present. Free-roaming dogs remain common. Bite incidents remain a major public concern. Tourism adds another layer of scrutiny because outbreaks can quickly become international news. Government travel advice from several countries continues to warn visitors about rabies risks associated with street dogs in Bali.
History shows that when public health concerns collide with free-roaming dog populations, policy can change very quickly. That is why Bali belongs on the Dog Desk Watchlist. Not because dogs are currently facing the kind of systemic threat seen in crisis zones. But because the conditions exist for that situation to change if vaccination programmes lose momentum, rabies cases rise significantly, or pressure grows for faster and more visible interventions.
For now, Bali remains a place where humane management is still the stated objective. The question is whether that commitment can withstand the pressures that have challenged so many other countries before it.