While she is not a Granby native and hasn’t always been a veterinarian, Lisa Petersen has walked a long and winding road to get here. Known by some as “the rainbow bridge vet,” reflecting her gentle compassion during emotionally painful times, Petersen has built her business by doing something unusual for a 21st century doctor: making house calls.
“I grew up in a close-knit Yonkers, N.Y., neighborhood,” Petersen says. “I was always the kid who, if someone found a baby bird, I took care of it. And I always loved nature, exploring the life in and around the nearby creek. My mother fed the birds, so I developed a love for them, their myriad colors and shapes and calls.”
While Petersen says that everyone who knew her thought she’d be a veterinarian—and they were, ultimately, right—she majored in psychology at Fordham University in Bronx, N.Y. “While I was at Fordham, I got into biology and took some animal behavior classes with a professor who was affiliated with the [Bronx] zoo,” she says.
Following graduation, Peterson worked in the education department at the zoo. “I was handling alligators, and for school shows I had to walk on stage with a python wrapped around me,” she laughs. “Then I had a five-month outreach and education internship at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, an international center for raptor conservation, education and research in Kempton, Pennsylvania.”
When the internship ended, Petersen headed for Syracuse University for a masters in environmental science. “My first job after that was with the Environmental Protection Agency in Manhattan, doing public outreach,” she says. “I was moving farther and farther away from what I really wanted to do, and after lots of soul searching, I moved to Albany and took classes that I needed for vet school at SUNY [State University of New York].”
While at SUNY-Albany, Petersen worked in various positions at local veterinary hospitals. “It seemed that all the vets had graduated from Cornell [College of Veterinary Medicine], so that’s where I went,” she says. “By the time I went to vet school, almost 10 years had lapsed since I had graduated from college.”
Four years later, with a degree in veterinary medicine in hand and with a dog she rescued from being euthanized because her owner could not afford treatment for Addison’s Disease, Petersen landed a job in central New Jersey, where she stayed for three years, learning from an experienced veterinarian and surgeon. She then moved on to Rocky Hill, Conn., working per diem at a variety of vet clinics, gathering even more experience and knowledge.
While in Rocky Hill, Petersen adopted Vida, a four-month-old Jack Russell terrier whose breeder did not want to spend money on surgery to mend a broken leg. Over the years, she has adopted many dogs, including Labrador retriever Cassie and an obese chihuahua, Diego, who is now slim and trim. Two cats, Cashew and Andi, complete Petersen’s menagerie.
It was when Petersen was house hunting in 2004 that she came to Granby. “I was looking for semi-rural with a yard that was manageable for me and where there was wildlife,” she says. “I bought my Cape Cod-style home mainly because it has a little brook behind it, and when I walked out back, I saw a great blue heron and a hummingbird.” An avid birder, Petersen also noticed the profusion of cattails down by the brook where beavers had built a dam and where mergansers, sea ducks that prefer fresh running water, breed.
“I love my home,” she says. “It’s within walking distance to town, a nice drive to suburban neighborhoods, and out back, it’s wild.” Her ever-expanding garden of native plants attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.
After working eight years at a veterinary clinic in Southwick, Petersen decided to open her own practice making house calls. “I stayed on at Southwick one day a week, but right before COVID hit, I gave notice because I wanted to be entirely accessible to my clients and have the time to answer emails and conduct follow-ups,” she says.
But over time, the work involved in running a busy private practice became too much. “Doing the laundry, ordering meds, scheduling appointments, answering emails and phone calls and conducting follow-ups became a demanding, seven-day-a-week job,” Petersen says. “Now I’m making a transition from providing routine wellness and sick visits to exclusively conducting end of life and euthanasia care.”
Many pet owners need guidance on how to care for a terminally-ill pet and when it’s time to let them go. “I do quality of life assessment. People want to know when it’s time to let go or if there is more they can do to make their pet comfortable. It is so much more peaceful and less stressful for all concerned to say good-bye in the home. I devoted much of my time to wellness care. Now I’m changing focus.
“I want to find the balance between being there for people and their pets and finding time for myself, to travel, to bird watch, to kayak and to unwind. I don’t think of what I do as a job,” Petersen says. “I love what I do.”
Know of a resident for a future Familiar Faces column? Please email your suggestions and contact information to Nicoleoncapecod@gmail.com