Fur real? Indonesia’s ‘first cat’ gets presidential security detail
A video of Bobby Kertanegara being showered with attention at an event has sparked an online debate over the feline’s special treatment
Indonesia’s “first cat” Bobby Kertanegara is entitled to receive state facilities, a minister has said in response to criticisms after a video of President Prabowo Subianto’s pet being given special treatment went viral.
Deputy State Secretary Juri Ardiantoro said that, as Bobby was considered part of the president’s property, the feline was therefore entitled to his security detail.
“It’s not just the president, but the president’s property is also the responsibility of the state to be maintained,” Juri said on Thursday, as quoted by Tempo news magazine.
Citing examples of other presidential properties, such as Prabowo’s house, the former chair of the General Elections Commission then asked a rhetorical question: “Now I want to ask, who does Bobby belong to? Can the state guard him? Of course, it can. Why should there be a protest?”
Juri was responding to a video of Bobby attending the Cat Lovers Social Day 2025 event in Jakarta on Saturday. The video circulating on social media shows Bobby being pushed in a pet stroller and escorted by several police officers onto the stage.
A user on the X social media platform uploaded the video on Tuesday with the caption: “Pathetic. Getting paid with the sweat of the people just to escort a cat? Have we gone so astray as a nation that practices like this can still persist in 2025?”
The video sparked a debate, with social media users divided over the resources allocated for Prabowo’s cat at the event. Some considered the treatment was excessive but one user defended the attention showered upon Bobby, saying: “It’s better to escort Bobby than to escort officials who are useless for the country. Bobby at least helps street cats and can make people smile.”
Made Supriatma, a researcher at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Yusof Ishak Institute, said using public funds to give Bobby special treatment was “totally unjustified”.
“The cat is not the mother of the nation,” he told Tempo on Wednesday, noting that no other state leaders’ pets received such special treatment.
Indonesians would be upset if a cat received better treatment than them, he said. “Unless we want to treat cats as citizens. If that happens, we are truly in a personal cult system, where the president’s cat and the president are treated the same way.”
Some users want answers on the daily living costs for Bobby in a country where they say many people are jobless and cannot afford to pay for food.
In early April, the World Bank reported that more than 60.3 per cent of Indonesia’s population – equivalent to around 171.8 million people – was living below the poverty line last year.
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‘First pets’ have often been given special treatment by other presidents and prime ministers or their staff around the world.
Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol came under fire when lawmakers spotted a shallow pool inside the presidential residence during an inspection and suspected it had been built for the presidential couple’s pets.
Larry at 10 Downing Street in London is a world-famous cat with the official title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. He does not belong to any one British prime minister but is cared for by staff at the prime minister’s residence. During French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the UK last week, he praised Larry’s “wonderful” social media presence, leading British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to say that Larry “is the most popular person in Downing Street”.
As for Bobby, the short-haired tabby has already made his presence felt in a diplomatic setting and charmed some world leaders.
When Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flew to Jakarta in May for his first Asian state visit since his re-election, he brought a scarf with the words “Australia loves Indonesia” for Bobby. He was even seen feeding Bobby during a formal dinner at the Merdeka Palace on his final night, according the Kompas news website.
Bobby, a street cat whom Prabowo adopted about nine years ago, has his own social media accounts, with close to 1 million followers on Instagram.
