Dr. Donald K. Allen Veterinary Clinic

Dr. Allen was born and raised in Rockford, IL. Shortly after graduating from high school he enlisted in 1967 in the Air Force for four years, serving as a military journalist in the Philippines and at George AFB, CA. He attended Midwest Horseshoeing School in Macomb, IL, and became a licensed horseshoer, which he used to help work his way through college, along with the GI Bill. Dr. Allen received a bachelor degree in animal science at the University of Illinois, then a master’s degree in animal nutrition. He worked at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago for a year before being accepted to the UI College of Veterinary Medicine, graduating with a BS in veterinary science and then a DVM in 1980. He moved to Youngstown in 1984 and started his own practice in 1992. He served over 16 more years in the Air Force Reserve as a public health officer at Wright-Patterson AFB, retiring in 2010 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Dr. Allen presented several conference lectures on dermatology and veterinary practice in Lithuania and Latvia, and started a joint-venture veterinary supply business in Kaunas, Lithuania. An amateur WWII historian, he wrote “Tarawa - the Aftermath” in 2001, and served as veterinary support for cadaver dog searches for missing in action WWII soldiers and Marines, traveling to Tarawa and Belgium with a team from History Flight.

Dr. Allen is an advanced certified SCUBA diver, and holds a second degree® black belt in taekwondo. He is an expert marksman with both pistol and rifle, but does not hunt. He and his wife, Paula, enjoy travel, reading, photography, and their pets, cats Yul, Gus, Meriwether, and Finn, and German shepherds Dagny and Eva, who often visit the front office.