At Cinnaminson Animal Hospital in New Jersey, the holiday season carries a deeper meaning this time of year. Amid the festive lights and cheerful decorations stands a special Rabies Free Africa giving tree, a project led by Dr. Robyn Steiner and her animal care team.
Each ornament on the tree represents a donation to Rabies Free Africa, a program that works hand-in-hand with local governments in Kenya and Tanzania and global partners to eliminate human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030.
Their work focuses on the research, development, and deployment of sustainable vaccine strategies across the African continent, where rabies remains a leading cause of preventable death for both people and animals.
Steiner personally joined Rabies Free Africa on a vaccination trip to Tanzania in 2023, where she and a team of veterinarians and technicians from across Vetcor worked with local animal health professionals to vaccinate around 1,250 dogs and cats in rural communities. The experience left a lasting impression, inspiring her to bring the mission hme and invite her clients and team to be part of life-saving work happening halfway around the world.
Today, 138 Vetcor veterinary clinics have pledged to support Rabies Free Africa. Seeing the impact of these efforts firsthand inspired Steiner to bring that mission home.
To share the story and invite others to help, Steiner and her team created a display inside their Cinnaminson Animal Hospital. It features a framed photo from Tanzania showing a local family proudly holding their vaccinated dog, alongside a hand-drawn map of Africa explaining the purpose of the campaign. Beside it stands a small Christmas tree where clients can hang snowflake ornaments, each one representing a donation and a life saved.
Every dollar collected through the campaign goes directly to vaccination efforts in Tanzania and support the administration of rabies vaccines in underserved communities. By the end of their campaign last year, the team’s efforts made a meaningful impact.
Each donation helps vaccinate dogs and cats, protecting entire families and villages from this deadly but entirely preventable disease.
For Steiner, the work continues. “I appreciate all you do to make us aware and take ownership in helping the families in Tanzania,” she wrote in a recent letter to Rabies Free Africa. “I plan to continue to do whatever I can to support this cause.”
And as a sign in the hospital lobby proudly reads, “Asante” — the Swahili word for “thank you” — it’s a fitting message from a team whose compassion knows no borders.
Through their Giving Tree, Steiner and the Cinnaminson Animal Hospital team remind that veterinary care extends far beyond clinic walls. It’s about empathy, connection, and the shared belief that protecting animals is protecting people too.