Donald K. Allen for President

Background information

DONALD KENNETH ALLEN, MS, DVM

Dr. Allen was born on April 16, 1947, in Rockford, Illinois. He graduated from Rockford West High School in 1965, and attended junior college for one year. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force May 12, 1967, for four years. Dr. Allen served as a military journalist for 13 months at Mactan AB, Republic of the Philippines, as photographer, reporter, and editor of the award-winning base newspaper. He served with the 467th Combat Support Group. He was then assigned to George Air Force Base in California, 479th Tactical Fighter Wing, serving as reporter, editor, historian, and also working in public relations until he was discharged on March 23, 1971, as a staff sergeant (E-5).

Dr. Allen attended the Midwest Horseshoeing School in Macomb, Illinois, and became a licensed farrier. He then began a horseshoeing business part-time and returned to college. Dr. Allen worked for nine years as a professional horseshoer, until graduation from veterinary school in 1980.

He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Agriculture with a B.S. in animal science in 1974 and a M.S. in animal nutrition in 1975. The majority of his M.S. work was in non-ruminant nutrition.

Dr. Allen served as the Animal Commissary Manager of the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago from 1975 to 1976. While there he initiated a weekly competitive bid program for produce and other food suppliers that resulted in a savings of $30,000 for the year.

He was admitted to the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in Urbana, Illinois in 1976. While in college he worked part-time horseshoeing and performing corrective hoof work for the Large Animal Clinic. He established and printed a monthly student newsletter, "SMEGMA", and continued it annually for ten years following his graduation in the Class of 1980. He received a B.S. in veterinary science in 1978 and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1980.

Dr. Allen then began his veterinary career in mixed practice (large and small animals) at Tri-County Veterinary Service, in Earlville, Illinois, where he performed all aspects of routine preventative and curative care for farm animals and pleasure horses. While there, he gained valuable experience and expertise in small animal medicine and surgery.

Dr. Allen has worked as a small animal veterinarian since then. He established a house-call service in Rockford, Illinois in 1982. In 1984 Dr. Allen moved to Youngstown, Ohio, to work at Crago Veterinary Clinic. In 1987 he became the Medical Director of Animal Charity, a private humane society veterinary care facility in Youngstown. Because of his leadership, the facility achieved a 30% annual growth from 1987 through 1992, culminating with a staff of 12 and a membership of over 20,000 clients.

On October 15, 1992, Dr. Allen opened a private veterinary practice at 4501 Market Street in Youngstown, Ohio, presently serving over 4,600 active clients with over 8,500 pets, including 3,100 cats, 4,200 dogs, 411 birds, 232 reptiles and 493 "pocket pets."

He hosted the "Pet Talk" radio show for several years on WKBN radio in Youngstown, Ohio. Dr. Allen is currently seen on CBS television station WKBN in Youngstown. He provides a weekly live pet-related segment for their 5 p.m. news show, and pre-recorded pet topics for their early morning news show.

Dr. Allen served three years in the Army and Air Force Reserves between 1981 and 1984, and was re-commissioned on April 2, 1987 as captain, U.S.A.F.R. (IMA), Public Health Officer, assigned to the 74th Medical Group (SGPM), at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel Oct. 1, 2007.

Dr. Allen founded a joint-venture veterinary supply business in Kaunas, Lithuania, in December 1994. He presented lectures on "Starting Your Own Veterinary Practice" at the 1995 annual veterinary conferences in Lithuania and in Latvia. Dr. Allen lectured on "Small Animal Dermatology" at the 1997 Lithuanian Veterinary Congress, and also was a guest lecturer at the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy in Kaunas.

Dr. Allen is a member of Argus Lodge No. 545 (Masonic), the Youngstown Torch Club, the Youngstown Rifle and Pistol Club, the American Veterinary Medical Association, is Director of the Companion Animal Protection Society, and is on the board of directors for Angels for Animals in Canfield, Ohio.

Dr. Allen is an amateur World War II historian, and wrote and published Tarawa - the Aftermath in 2001. It tells the story of Tarawa Atoll, which lies in the middle of the Pacific, before and after the Nov. 20-23, 1943, assault by U.S. Marines. The book includes many accounts by veterans who served on Tarawa - Seabees, Marines, sailors and airmen. A book-related site continues with more veterans' stories and information: TarawaTheAftermath.com

Dr. Allen conceived, organized, and performed the first annual free vaccination clinic for active duty military service members at Camp Lejeune, NC, in September 2005. With vaccines and pet care supplies donated by major corporations, and with the help of the U. S. Army veterinary service at Camp Lejeune, over 750 Marine family pets were brought up to date with vaccines during the one-day event. The clinic was repeated in September of 2006 and 2007, serving roughly 600 pets. The base has about 10,000 pets registered.

Dr. Allen's hobbies and interests include rifle and pistol marksmanship, archery, downhill and cross-country skiing, genealogy, philately, photography, and travel. He is an advanced certified scuba diver and is a second degree black belt (recommended) in taekwondo (ATA).

Dr. Allen’s maternal grandparents emigrated to the United States around the turn of the last century from Lithuania. On his father’s side, he has traced the Allen lineage back to Nathaniel Allen, who was a packet ship captain sailing between London and Boston. Nathaniel was born in London in 1699 and moved permanently to Boston in 1734.

I may be like you. Tired of the constant bipartisan bickering and backstabbing that has been going on in our government for the past 20 years (or more). Will electing a Democrat president stop it? Probably not. Will electing a Republican president end it? No. Could an Independent bring bipartisan cooperation?

I was raised a Democrat, since that was my Mother’s party of choice. My father died of a heart attack when I was six, and my Mom never remarried. She raised my older brother and myself on Social Security income and whatever she could make as a porcelain-painting artist. She also cleaned and cooked for people and occasionally borrowed money from relatives to pay the mortgage. We didn’t have much, but she provided a warm home and lots of good memories.

I started working when I was 15, just to provide some income for myself. Mom never asked me to help out, probably happy that I was making my own “allowance.” I’ve worked as a French fry cook in a fast food place, Muzak installer, salesperson in a toy store and a hardware store, diener in a hospital lab, all-purpose helper in a car dealership, and for nine years as an Illinois-licensed horseshoer. Few manual labor jobs can match the last one.

During all my working years (going on 45 of them), I never filed for unemployment. I just found another job. Not always the job I wanted, but it was work. In college I did apply for food stamps, but since we owned a car and my horseshoeing truck, I was disqualified for having two vehicles. I asked if I would qualify if I owned a new Lincoln, and she said, “Yes.” So much for that.

Working hard eventually paid off for me. I’m doing very well in my profession, but am not a millionaire or multi-millionaire like the people I’m running against. Is being a millionaire a requirement for becoming President? I don’t think so, but all I hear from the press is that it is going to take $500 million to win the White House. It’s as if the Presidency were up for auction. Do you think that is good? Do you think that is right? I do not.

Skeletons

If anyone wants to dig in my past for dirt to use, here are three things that are true. If you look for any prior drug use, you won’t find it. If you look for falsification of military service, you’re wasting your time. Infidelity? Nope. Unpaid school loans? Paid in full. So, here’s all you have to go on:

1. I’ve been married three times. The first time I thought was forever. Two children and 14 years later, she met her “one true love.” The second wife I met through a dating service. No, they didn’t have “E-Harmony©” back then. It lasted about a year and a half and the split was amicable. How I met my third wife is an interesting story. We have been happily married for over 16 years and enjoy life very much together.

2. I was once accused of failing to pay child support. After wife No. 1 and I were divorced we had joint custody of our children. It worked out well until I moved to Ohio for a job offer. Then the kids came out for the summers and some holidays. I paid child support. When my daughter moved to Ohio with me to go to high school, I stopped paying support because we each had one child and were both making out OK. She was a medical technologist working in a local hospital, living in a house owned by her father. I was a recent veterinary graduate making a little more than her, but also buying a small house. I thought that if she wanted a child support adjustment, she would take me to court. Her attorney must have told her to sit tight, that she was building a nice nest egg. When my daughter moved back to Illinois, I got a letter for court. We also had to stop my daughter’s support because she just turned 18. Now I was told that the clock kept running when I wasn’t paying, and that I owed all that back child support plus interest. I sold the house and was able to pay it off.

3. I once lied about my age. About 20 years ago I saw an article in the newspaper about the local Rotary sponsoring an exchange trip to Japan for young professionals. I had studied Oriental art and was very interested in Japan, so I went for an interview. The Rotarian thought I would be perfect, and when I asked about age limit he said, “It’s 35, but you don’t have a problem with that.” I looked younger than I was. So I made myself younger on the application. I should have just inquired about a waiver, but it didn’t occur to me. In any event, I couldn’t go through with it and withdrew a couple weeks before the trip.

Posted March 6, 2007 : last revised January 14, 2008