Dr. Amy Schroff

India New England Online
Published: 2/1/2004

WALTHAM, Mass. - Working at a 24-hour animal hospital can be stressful, since veterinarians deal with five times more deaths than physicians.

But for Dr. Amy Shroff, the chance to make a critical difference in an animal's life is worth the heartache.

Shroff, 39, is co-owner and chief of staff of the Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Center of New England, one of the area's few 24-hour clinics for animals. The lifelong animal lover opened the center in 2001 with fellow vet Brian Huss.

The partners spent more than $4 million to buy a warehouse and convert it into the center, which uses advanced technology and employs three doctors and 15 nurses. The center has an on-site blood bank for cats and dogs and works closely with its next-door neighbor, the New England Veterinary Oncology Group.

Central to Shroff's success is maintaining a high standard of care and excellent communication with clients.

"We have to be able to see all animals at all hours of the day and night and be able to handle them confidently, efficiently and with lots of TLC," Shroff said.

Shroff considers working with animals to be her calling. She has treated pets that have been electrocuted and attacked, suffered from hypothermia and infectious diseases, and overdosed on the likes of aspirin and chocolate.

Recently, a reporter from National Public Radio visited Shroff's center to do a story on modern technology in veterinary medicine and how it affects the decisions owners make in treating their pets.

"Anything you can offer a human now you can essentially offer an animal," Shroff said.
When she's not working at the center, the University of Pennsylvania graduate gives guest lectures to veterinary students at the Mount Ida College and offers animal first-aid classes to the general public.

Shroff lives in Wayland, Mass., with her husband, Howard Greenblatt, and their Scottish terrier, Bonbon.