By Amy Shroff
On March 28, central Myanmar experienced a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. While the human toll is staggering, another crisis is unfolding in silence: the suffering of animals—both stray and owned—left behind to fend for themselves in the aftermath. With communications down and access to accurate information limited due to Myanmar’s ongoing civil conflict, local officials struggled to tend to the injured and dying. They have no time and resources to care for the homeless animals.
Let’s Save The Strays International’s (LSTSI) all-Burmese team on the ground immediately turned their damaged clinic into an outdoor field hospital, treating injured animals, distributing food and clean water and continuing critical rabies vaccination and sterilization efforts. These services are not only lifesaving for the animals—they are vital to protecting public health in a region where rabies remains a deadly threat. Veterinarian and Wayland resident Dr. Amy Shroff, is the founder of LSTSI which is leading the only organized animal relief effort currently operating in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city and the epicenter of the earthquake’s devastation. LSTSI is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit based in the U.S. that focuses on bringing veterinary care to the most marginalized and desperate parts of the world—places where animals, and the people who love them, are often overlooked. The organization’s model—working exclusively with local professionals—ensures sustainable, culturally aware and cost-effective impact.
“Compassion doesn’t stop at borders,” according to Dr. Shroff, former owner of Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center. “We’re committed to going where no one else goes—to care for the animals and people the world seems to have forgotten.” This compassion is also exhibited by local middle school student, Shrey Bhatia, a sixth-grader from Wellesley, who recently launched a fundraiser through ScrubaDub Car
Wash to support LSTSI’s earthquake relief efforts. His campaign has inspired neighbors across Wayland and the surrounding towns to take action, donating funds to help purchase medicine, food and supplies to sustain the lifesaving work being done overseas.
To support Shrey’s fundraiser, visit: https://www.scrubadub.com/fr/campaign/letssavethestraysinternational
To learn more about Let’s Save The Strays International or to support their work, visit: www.letssavethestrays.org. Let’s save the strays
