Dear Editor:
First, I want to say a huge thank you to the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association and our incredible veterinary community for all the support in getting over 600 pounds of medications and supplies to Ukraine these past two years. Thanks to K9 Global Rescue (k9globalrescue.org), every single pound of it made it to the front lines.
After selling my practice, VESCONE (Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center of New England) in Waltham, I started volunteering in Asia. In 2016, I began working in Myanmar, a country facing overwhelming challenges: a civil war, widespread poverty, and one of the highest rabies death rates in the world. What started as a volunteer experience quickly turned into a calling. In 2021, I founded Let’s Save the Strays International (letssavethestrays.org), a nonprofit dedicated to TNVR — Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return — in communities where stray dogs are left to suffer, and rabies still kills thousands of people (mostly children) every year.
Myanmar is now at the center of our work. It is on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) list of the top 15 countries most in need of humanitarian aid. Thousands of children die of rabies every year, and public health infrastructure is nearly nonexistent. In the midst of all this, the stray animal population continues to grow, and the threat of rabies looms large.
More than 250,000 stray dogs live in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. Fewer than 20% are vaccinated against rabies. In 2024, the only hospital offering post-exposure vaccines in Yangon received over 16,000 requests. Through Let’s Save the Strays International, we offer an alternative. Our veterinary teams — all local professionals — work side by side with community members, street feeders, and volunteers to humanely trap, sterilize, vaccinate and return dogs to their territories. We treat more than 600 animals every month. Our work not only saves animal lives; it prevents human deaths, stops the spread of disease, and builds lasting partnerships based on trust.
Please consider attending our event on September 13. For more details, visit www.letssavethestrays.org.
Amy Shroff, VMD
Coolidge Road
