HABCare
Evolving Our Care: Introducing the HABCare Team
For many years, Dr Alicia (Lissi) Kennedy, Founder of Cherished Pets Foundation, has pioneered the introduction of Social Workers into veterinary settings in Australia. She recognised early that pets are often at the centre of people’s lives and wellbeing, and that many of the challenges owners face are tied not only to veterinary care, but also to health, housing, and social support.
Through this vision, Cherished Pets Foundation became one of the first organisations in Australia to integrate Social Workers into companion animal care. Working alongside a multi-disciplinary team of Community Veterinary Nurses, veterinary professionals, program managers, and volunteers, these professionals have played a vital role in bridging the gap between human healthcare and animal welfare, ensuring that people and pets can remain together through all life’s phases, complexities and challenges.
Our Human–Animal Bond Practitioners
While the work of our Social Workers continues, we’ve made the decision to retire the title Veterinary Social Worker. The word Veterinary is reserved for those qualified in veterinary science, so we now call these roles Human–Animal Bond Practitioner – Social Workers.
This title more accurately reflects their scope, which extends well beyond veterinary settings — reaching into community, public health and social services, and animal welfare. And importantly, it highlights what sits at the very heart of Cherished Pets: the human–animal bond.
Why the human–animal bond matters
The human–animal bond is the powerful connection between people and their pets. Almost three quarters of Australian homes now have a pet (Animal Medicines Australia, Pets in Australia Report 2025), bringing joy, reducing loneliness, improving wellbeing, and strengthening communities. Our own impact research shows that for every pet we support, up to four other people are positively affected, from family and neighbours to vets and aged care communities.
This bond doesn’t just enrich individual lives, it strengthens the fabric of our communities. And it’s why we must support people who are vulnerable and share life with pets, so both can stay healthy, safe, and connected.
Our HABCare Model
Our Social Service model is now called the HABCare (Human–Animal Bond Care) model — placing people and pets, who together make up our community, at the heart of our services.
Our HABCare team brings together Human–Animal Bond Practitioners across Social Work, Community Veterinary Nursing, Programs and Support roles, working alongside volunteers, partners, and social service agencies. This compassionate, multi-disciplinary team provides interconnected care that supports both people and pets. By weaving together veterinary, social, and community care, HABCare helps people navigate health and social systems, keeps pets safe and loved, and strengthens the community networks around them.
By reframing all our frontline roles as Human–Animal Bond Practitioner positions, we are affirming what has always been true: our work is not just about veterinary care. It’s about honouring the bond between people and pets, and the communities that bond helps create.
This is the heart of the HABCare model — and the heart of Cherished Pets Foundation.
Our HABCare team delivers vital services to vulnerable people and their pets, made possible through the generosity of philanthropy and funders who believe in our mission and share in our impact. You can help keep pets and people together by making a gift today.