Ilona is a veterinarian who started her career in a mixed animal practice in Finland in 2003 and came to India in 2004 to help a local charity called IPAN with their ABC-programs. This work proved to become her passion and in 2009 she joined WVS (Worldwide Veterinary Service) as the Clinical Director of the WVS International Training Centre, empowering and inspiring veterinarians to sterilize and vaccinate dogs. WVS India now runs two veterinary surgical training centers that provide much needed skills training in the different aspects of ABC-ARV programs for hundreds of veterinarians every year. In 2013 Ilona received the Kulapathi Munshi Award together with her husband Nigel Otter for their dedicated work towards animal welfare.