Safe Pets Safe Families (SPSF) is a South Australian charity founded in 2013, operating under a One Welfare and Veterinary Social Work framework. They provide holistic, wrap-around support to keep people and pets together through crisis.

Clients include people experiencing:
• Domestic violence
• Homelessness or rough sleeping
• Poverty and cost-of-living crisis
• Disability
• Mental health challenges
• Housing insecurity.

The growing cost of living crisis has meant a dramatic increase in the number of people doing it tough. Without accessible vet care, people are forced into traumatic choices: surrendering or euthanasing their pets, delaying medical care for themselves, staying in abusive households, or letting animals suffer unnecessarily.

Launching in early 2026, the Community Veterinary Van will provide desperately needed veterinary care to those in crisis including those experiencing homelessness, domestic violence, disability and those struggling with the cost of living crisis. Using a social enterprise, not-for-profit model, the van will be providing for-fee services in order to create a sustainable business model that can help those in need for many years to come.

The Mobile Vet Clinic will deliver:
• Street-based and in-home vet care for clients with transport or mobility barriers
• Pop-up clinics for DV services, homelessness hubs, and councils
• Preventative health care such as: health checks, vaccinations, parasite control, microchipping
• Comprehensive sick animal consultations and treatments
• Quality-of-life assessments
• Palliative care planning & euthanasia
• Chronic illness management at home
• Behavioural consultations
• Street-based and in-home vet care for clients with transport or mobility barriers
• Pop-up clinics for DV services, homelessness hubs, and councils
• Supervised student placements integrated with social work support

Awesome Foundation funding will go to purchasing equipment needed to start servicing people and pets as well as providing free veterinary care and medications to those most at risk one day a week for one month.