Dr Alicia Kennedy is the founder of social enterprise Cherished Pets, which provides vet care and social support to vulnerable people and their pets. In January she heads to Europe and North America to conduct a Churchill Fellowship research tour. She spoke to Matt Hewson about how and why she does what she does.
Ten years ago Alicia Kennedy put her dream into action.
Having trained and built a career as a veterinarian, by 2015 Alicia had spent eight years as the founding director of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) of Australia.
While still acting in that position, she decided to launch a unique concept, one she felt certain would benefit, and resonate with, the community.
In April 2015, with the assistance of a Geelong Community Foundation grant, Alicia launched a service combining veterinary care and social support she called Cherished Pets in Ocean Grove.
It was the realisation of a dream that began as a childhood love of animals and developed over years of vet practice into a vision for her community.
“I grew up in Adelaide and I decided when I was five years old that I wanted to be a vet; it was almost an obsession,” she said.
“I was an average student so it was an against the odds mission for me to get into vet school.
“I had two people that believed in me; my dad and one of my teachers. Dad used to sing me the Frank Sinatra rubber plant song, High Hopes, he really backed me.”
“I worked very hard…(and he) would drive me across town to tutors so I could increase my scores in physics and maths, because I was dreadful.”
With her father’s unwavering support, Alicia’s hard work paid off. She was accepted into veterinary science at Perth’s Murdoch University.
After graduating in 1986, she began her career as a vet. As she gained experience, she began to see a gap that lay between the care of animals and the care of humans.
“I met my husband at uni and he ended up working with Alcoa, so we moved around a bit…Portland, Geelong, we lived in China,” Alicia said.
“I remember working as a very young vet graduate in mixed practice. We had a golden retriever at the time, and on my day off I would take her to the local nursing home and I started to become fascinated with this human-animal bond space.
“It’s interesting, I spent a lot of time as a little girl with my nanna, and after my grandad died I could see how lonely she was.
“She had this really fat and feisty fox terrier called Jenny, who nobody else in the world liked, but my nanna just loved this dog. And I really do think that was one of those very early experiences that made me see how important a dog could be to a lonely old lady.”
That seed continued to grow in Alicia’s mind. She found herself drawn to the end-of-life space of vet care.
“People are no more vulnerable than when their pet is dying,” she said.
“Our pets are so embedded in our world, our families, our health and well-being that when our pets are dying…we’re a unit.”
And so, armed with a simple question – “What do we need to do as a community to better support pets of our elderly neighbours?” – Alicia organised a community conversation at Bellarine Training and Community Hub.
“The (Ocean Grove) Voice ran a little piece…about this local vet who wanted to start doing something; I wasn’t quite sure what it was but I knew that I wanted to support pets for the elderly and I knew I’d need volunteers,” she said.
“And 25 people came and that actually seeded the first committee that then led to the establishment of Cherished Pets Foundation.
“Cherished Pets Foundation was seeded with a question and community, and community is always at the heart of everything that we do.”
At first, Alicia was able to balance her burgeoning enterprise with her volunteer role as JGI director.
She had been inspired to get in contact with the pioneering primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall after reading one of her books while living in China.
Alicia managed to organise a meeting with Jane in 2003, where she asked why her institute had not been established in Australia.
“And she said to me ‘because no one’s set it up’, so I said, ‘well, I’ll help’,” Alicia said.
“In 2006…we coordinated Jane’s first visit to Australia, and that seeded the establishment of the Jane Goodall Institute Australian Chapter, which was my life until I retired as a director from that organisation in 2017.”
By that stage, Alicia had spent the better part of three years working for both Cherished Pets and JGI and the situation was becoming untenable.
“I spoke to Jane and said, I need permission to step out of JGI and focus on Cherished Pets…she totally got our work and what my mission is,” she said.
“She shaped me as a founder and a leader trying to make a difference for pets and people, especially those who are experiencing vulnerability.
“She’s been a friend and a mentor, so when she died (in October this year) it came as a great shock because we honestly thought she’d live until she was 100.”
Since 2017, Cherished Pets has grown far beyond simply supporting elderly people and their pets.
The organisation now has a full team of specialists, both veterinarians and social workers, who now also support people experiencing domestic violence, homelessness or mental health crises and their pets.
“What we know for sure is that the human-animal bond is a powerful driver of human health and well-being, and people will choose their pet’s health and safety over their own,” Alicia said.
“So what that means is a woman and her children will choose to stay in an unsafe household rather than be separated from their pets.
“People will choose to remain homeless rather than be separated from their pets and people will refuse to go into a hospital for the care that they need. So our crisis care service addresses that.”
In addition to grants from Geelong Community Foundation and state government, Cherished Pets has received unflagging support from a number of local businesses and organisations, including Anthony Costa Foundation, Kings Funerals and Urban Paws Doggy Daycare.
When the organisation had full funding from the state government in 2022-23 it received referrals from 18 organisations across the community, including mental health, domestic violence and housing bodies as well as Barwon Health.
“This is a circular model of care because by supporting people you’re also protecting animals,” Alicia said.
“I often say when people struggle, animals suffer. And that’s not from a lack of love, it’s a lack of capacity.
“So our service addresses that to build capacity in people and keep their pets healthy and together with them.”
As a result of this work, Alicia was approached by three different people who all suggested she apply for a Churchill Fellowship.
“Every year 100 Australians receive one, and the intention is to explore initiatives that are new and emerging, to go overseas and explore what’s happening and bring those insights back to Australia to inform and better Australian society,” she said.
“I’ve been selected for a Churchill Fellowship to explore organisations that are operating at the intersection of social and veterinary services.”
In January Alicia, or more often referred to as Dr Lissy, will depart to visit England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Canada and the USA over an eight-week schedule of visiting organisations, meeting experts and presenting her own work.
Her first stop was meant to be a visit to Jane Goodall, but after her unexpected death, Alicia decided to instead prepare a tribute book for Jane’s family.
“I was born in the ’60s, Jane Goodall was my childhood hero; I wanted to be Dr Jane when I grew up,” she said.
“I have her voice in my head saying we must never give up, and her voice has become louder since she died.
“One of the things she always used to say was, we’ve just got to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work that needs to be done to create a kinder planet for animals, people and the environment.
“And when I feel a bit anxious or stressed or tense I say two things: ‘have a cup of tea’, because everything feels better after a cup of tea; and ‘roll up your sleeves’.”
Cherished Pets is launching a funding appeal in early December. Visit cherishedpetcare.com.au to donate or for more information.
