Dream Fulfilled: 'Street Vet' Returns To Where Journey Began In Modesto To Open First Practice
MODESTO (CBS13) – Dr. Kwane Stewart's love for four-legged friends started way back when he was a child.
"I've always had the affinity for animals since I was, you know, 6 years old," Stewart said.
A big part of his lifelong journey of 50 years started right in Modesto.
"Going back about eight years ago, I was the county veterinarian," Stewart said.
After Stanislaus County, Stewart's career jumped on to the silver screen, literally.
He became the director for the group that signed off on no animals being harmed during the making of a movie. Stewart worked as an animal safety expert in Hollywood for them and is now the vet for Netflix.
He has brushed shoulders with A-listers like Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio on the set of "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood."
But, worldwide, Stewart's known as the street vet.
"My journey as a street vet started [in Modesto]. So this ground zero for me and my mission, and this ideal that I had of helping the underprivileged," Stewart said.
That ideal caught the ear of a producer who said that's a TV show. His journey helping pets whose owners were down on their luck has been seen in 26 different countries.
His street vet work has taken him all over California from Sacramento and Modesto to the Bay Area and Southern California. But there was a task he wanted to tackle in his life's journey.
"I also had a side dream of starting my own hospital," Stewart said.
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So, he's now welcoming clients at his first clinic ever in Modesto while still doing street vet work. It's located at 2401 College Avenue.
The goal of the practice is to do the best he can to give care for pets that their owners can pay at an affordable price.
"It truly showed his character, for sure. I thought that 'You don't get that very often anymore,' " Kristin Youngblood, one of Stewart's clients, said.
Part of Stewart's character is compassion. Something Stewart plans to bring to where his street vet days all started.
"And, [Modesto] was home for a long time. I knew there was a need here," he said. "My heart is really with helping pets and helping people and this just seemed like the right place to do it."
He also plans to expand his practice to Sacramento and the Bay Area in the future.
Stewart is on Instagram and Twitter at @drkwane and @thestreetvet.