The Social Hearted Vet

The Social Hearted Vet I am Dr Lissi, founder of Cherished Pets, world’s first BCorp vet service.

What a special night we had at the ‘s Community Grant Gala which has become one of my favourite annual events. It’s a ...
29/05/2026

What a special night we had at the ‘s Community Grant Gala which has become one of my favourite annual events. It’s a chance to see all the amazing organisations doing wonderful work across the Geelong region.

Foundation is the recipient of a generous grant in this year’s round within the Health, Resilience and Connection Grants for Mental Health.

To see our social veterinary service being recognised in such a critical human health category is both a relief and a joy.. we know that the Human-Animal Bond drives human health and wellbeing. When people face hardship and crisis their pets matter more than ever and need to be prioritized in care planning. The difference our HABCare service makes in keeping pets healthy, well and together with their humans is vital to the fabric of a healthy and connected community.

We applaud for the incredible work you continue to do to help our region thrive.

Thanks to Gail Rodgers (CPF Board member) and Jenn Polley (HABCare team program support) for joining our celebration last night and representing our organisation.

Every moment matters. Every dollar matters.

Deepest gratitude indeed

🙏💕✨

Every response to this survey really matters so if you are in the vet world please consider gifting 25 mins to this surv...
29/05/2026

Every response to this survey really matters so if you are in the vet world please consider gifting 25 mins to this survey 🙏

Volunteers are the heart of our community services and home care assistance .. Thankyou to each and every one of you for...
21/05/2026

Volunteers are the heart of our community services and home care assistance .. Thankyou to each and every one of you for all that you do
💕💕💕

These are the moments I exist for as a Human-Animal Bond Vet.Helping older people thrive by keeping their pets healthy, ...
18/05/2026

These are the moments I exist for as a Human-Animal Bond Vet.

Helping older people thrive by keeping their pets healthy, well and together with them is my jam.

I love the magic of these connections 💕✨🤩

One of our nurses snapped this pic recently and it fills my heart that our team deeply get it too 🐶 this is our collective why..

I’ll be undertaking my Myer Fellowship over the next 12 months and am dedicated to making it possible for more older people to enjoy the benefits of healthy pets.

Let’s do this!

Celebrating 100 years of David Attenborough. Wow.What an extraordinary human. Thankyou for it all ✨
08/05/2026

Celebrating 100 years of David Attenborough.
Wow.
What an extraordinary human.
Thankyou for it all ✨

Dotti and I have an announcement 👏🐞🐶I have been selected for a 2026 Kenneth Myer Innovation Fellowship. It’s unbelievabl...
01/05/2026

Dotti and I have an announcement 👏🐞🐶

I have been selected for a 2026 Kenneth Myer Innovation Fellowship. It’s unbelievably exciting, a true honour and comes with enormous responsibility.

https://www.myerfoundation.org.au/news-story/2026-kenneth-myer-innovation-fellows-announced

My Fellowship will help us advance the social veterinary service model and HABCare systems change work that has been the heart and evolution of and the Cherished Pets Foundation over the past decade.

This feels like a game-changer. Beginning in June, I will take a twelve-month leave of absence from my clinical GP Vet role at Cherished Pets Vet Clinic and immerse myself fully in HABCare model development alongside the team at CPF and our broader network. It comes at a meaningful moment as I am just completing my Churchill Fellowship. Timing is ideal.

Our multidisciplinary approach to supporting the human-animal bond, bridging veterinary services with human health and social services, has never been more needed. I am deeply humbled that the Kenneth Myer Innovation Fellowship Committee recognised not just the passion behind our work, but the real-world impact we have generated at Cherished Pets through a One Health One Welfare model of care.

There have been so many opportunities and supporters along the way: Anthony Costa Foundation Global Leaders

A special thank you to my core team: Gerard and my family, Jane Boag, Simon Fieldhouse, Sarah Waddle, the CPF Board and HABCare team, the entire team at Cherished Pets B Corp Vet and my community, all of you 🙏🐞💕.

So please join me in this moment of celebration. I feel I am taking this work forward on behalf of you all, with you all and for you all (and cherished pets everywhere).

Hold on for the ride, our movement is growing, and we need you! Our vision is within reach. ✨





29/04/2026

Thankyou community!!!

It’s been four weeks since I returned from my Churchill Fellowship. Wowza. A once in a lifetime adventure. These past we...
29/04/2026

It’s been four weeks since I returned from my Churchill Fellowship. Wowza. A once in a lifetime adventure. These past weeks have been a whirlwind of reconnecting with life, my family, the clinic, our HABCare service, the Foundation, clients, patients, my health and of course, my beloved dogs, and Jaycee my twenty-one-year-old cat. Huge shout out to GK for keeping all happy and healthy while I was away. It was a long time.

My Fellowship experience was packed with over forty official meetings, twenty flights, four countries, and more than 2,000 photos.

Now, I’m immersing into the next phase: distilling all those conversations, insights, and experiences into a 20,000 word report. I am loving diving into my meeting notes, journal and photos to relive the connections. Today I took myself back to Guelph, which was a full and inspiring three days. I felt joy and excitement remembering those days. New connections. Ways of thinking. Amazing humans. Serving animals.

While I was away I didn’t keep up with daily social updates as intended which did create some feelings of regret in me.. but I’ve made peace with that. I’m 61 after all and I get tired! As I work on my report, I’ll keep sharing flashbacks and snippets with you because there is simply so much still to share!

Btw I’ve published my Substack piece about my time in the Netherlands. Next installment will be Canada.

And just when one thinks life might start to settle something amazing comes along.. I have a huge announcement coming up. It’s a game changer for all of us passionate about the HAB. I can’t wait to share it with you.

For today it’s deep writing at least in the morning. To facilitate my brain landing into writing mode I have created a cozy corner desk space to help me focus (not my strongest skill!). My mornings start with a walk with my dogs, a brewed cup of tea, and settling into this special place to write with heart, head, and soul. I use the pomodoro technique and play my Scottish music playlist to take me back to those days 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Thank you for walking this journey with me. Your support means the world.


One of my clients is a returned serviceman who served in Afghanistan and has faced challenges. Mitch is a gentle and se...
25/04/2026

One of my clients is a returned serviceman who served in Afghanistan and has faced challenges. Mitch is a gentle and sensitive human who has found comfort and support in the form of a 8 kg bundle of joy called Saxon.

Mitch says : “Saxon is my best friend. He’s there for me no matter what happens, in the good times and the bad. Saxon loves me unconditionally everyday and I’m lucky I got to meet him in this life of mine. I couldn’t ask for a better companion than Saxon”.

This Anzac Day we are celebrating animals everywhere who provide support, love and companionship to those who serve.. both in the battlefields and afterwards back home.

We remember. We give thanks.


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Ocean Grove, VIC

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0439094379

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