From her childhood fascination with Zoobooks magazines, Sonia Liu has nurtured a deep love for animals. Growing up in suburban Chicago, she cared for a variety of pets, from turtles and hamsters to fish, birds, and dogs. She pursued her passion academically, earning a double major in anthrozoology and psychology before completing her medical degree at the University of Michigan. Her commitment to women’s healthcare brought her to San Francisco, where she established herself as a family medicine physician in the Bay Area. Even with her professional focus on human health, Sonia remained dedicated to animal wellbeing by supporting the city animal shelter, which she affectionately refers to as the “emergency room” of animal rescues. Since 2016, she has been a dedicated kitten foster for the San Francisco Animal Care and Control (SFACC). Observing that many people are not aware of the SFACC’s vital work, she ingeniously combined her pottery hobby with her fostering efforts, creating a “Pottery for Pets” drive. This initiative not only repurposed unwanted pottery but also generated donations and public awareness for the SFACC. Motivated to amplify her impact, she joined the Friends of the SFACC in 2024. Although her home often transforms into a temporary sanctuary for kittens and pottery, her cherished family consists of her dog Nahla, cats Daisy and Gatsby, and her human spouse, Jim.