Dr Ilona Otter
Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) / Mission Rabies, India – Rabies Hero November 2021
Dr Ilona Otter received a Rabies Hero Award for her innovative work and developing sustainable approach to rabies control in Ooty, India. The programs she runs – encompassing education, strategic vaccination and engaging with local authorities – have made a significant difference in the area. She is committed to achieving freedom from rabies and passionate about animal welfare, truly living the One Health approach.
Ilona has been the driving force behind new creative ways to vaccinate, educate and collaborate, making the rabies control more sustainable. Her efforts focused on delivering dog vaccination to strategically important places around Ooty and improving the rabies awareness among local communities. She introduced new smart ways to administer rabies vaccines more efficiently, working with local vets and combining rabies campaigns with the vaccination of livestock. Her innovative methods have increased access to rabies vaccination in remote places.
She has also engaged with education programs to improve dog health and welfare and collaborated successfully with local authorities to support the fight against rabies. Her all-round approach includes population control of strays and free-roaming dogs. Together with her husband, Ilona has established a veterinary training centre in Tamil Nadu, to teach spay/neuter surgery and humane animal handling. They also run a unique animal sanctuary in the Nilgiris, that provides home for 200 rescued animals.
Here is what Ilona told us about her work:
“In my work my main focus is to empower and inspire veterinarians from across India to get actively involved in canine rabies control. Through the WVS and Mission Rabies programs we aim to develop and demonstrate different approaches for sustainable rabies control that can be then implemented in different areas, depending on the dog population and human demographics. On our training courses we then share these examples with the veterinary participants to encourage them to adopt these strategies wherever they work, to make canine rabies control in India a sustainable activity and to reach zero human deaths from rabies by 2030. For me it is important to keep raising awareness among the veterinary sector regarding the responsibility that the veterinarians have in preventing human rabies deaths. This is One Health at the grass-root level. “
Click here to see photos and find out more about the projects Ilona has been engaged in.
