A Quiet Pledge on the Streets

Dr. Kwane Stewart had been a practicing veterinarian for over two decades when burnout nearly ended his career. In 2008, he was working at an overcrowded shelter during the 2008 recession in central California. The weight of the profession almost became unbearable, and he was struggling mentally because of it and considered completely leaving the profession.
“There are a lot of emotional stressors that come with being a veterinarian, especially at a shelter that might be overcrowded,” Danae Davis, the now Executive Director of Project Street Vet, said. “He mentions having to do a number of euthanasias every day just due to overcrowding, and that’s a huge emotional drain.” 

He was on the brink of drafting his letter of resignation when one afternoon, he noticed a man sitting outside 7-Eleven with his dog. It was a duo he had noticed before, but on this particular day, he paused to take a closer look. 

The dog was experiencing fur loss, and the skin looked even burned. To Dr. Stewart’s experienced eyes, he diagnosed a severe flea issue. He saw it as something that was easily fixable and treatable. 

He asked the man to return the next day. Stewart came back with flea medication in his pocket, recalling the event along the lines of, “It was only $10 and 10 minutes out of my time.”

 Within weeks, the transformation was remarkable. The dog’s fur was coming back, its energy restored along with the “pet parent’s”. The man with his now healthy pet was brimming with gratitude, thanking Dr. Kwane Stewart for simply not ignoring him or the issue at hand. 

“From that day on, Dr. Stewart kind of made this quiet pledge to himself that he was gonna find more people like them and more pets like them who could really benefit just from a little additional care,” Davis said. “So he started doing this quietly on the side. He didn’t even tell us.” 

A Quiet Pledge and The Birth of Project Street Vet

For years afterward, Stewart carried his promise close to himself without sharing it. He didn’t even tell his family. There was no grand plan, no funding, no organization behind him. In his book, “What It Takes to Save a Life: A Veterinarian’s Quest for Healing and Hope,” Dr. Stewart delves further into these early years of his journey that would eventually turn into a non-profit.

Although he was quiet about the help he was doing initially, it got to a point where Stewart was helping animals more frequently. 

“He had support from his family, including his brother, who did co-found Project Street Vet with him ultimately,” Davis said. Stewart found himself treating not only flea infestations and skin infections, but also animals who needed surgeries or diagnostics that couldn’t be solved with a quick call on the street. These cases required equipment, supplies, and money — resources beyond what he alone could provide. That’s when his brother stepped in. Together, they started raising small amounts of money through GoFundMe, testing whether anyone else cared enough to support this work. 

One of the earliest cases that revealed the true potential of crowdfunding came when a man named Richard’s dog needed surgery to remove painful bladder stones. Dr. Stewart and his brother launched a GoFundMe campaign and raised enough to cover the entire procedure. When Richard was presented with a bill for zero dollars, he and his wife broke down crying tears of relief and gratitude. 

After formalizing their efforts Dr. Stewart and his brother officially founded Project Street Vet in 2020. What began as one man with a handful of supplies grew into an organized nonprofit with a name, a mission, and a growing network of support. By 2021, the work had become far more active and visible and began shifting its structure towards clinics and coordinated volunteer efforts.

“What was once done by Dr. Kwane alone is now done by over 50 volunteer veterinarians and other veterinary volunteers across several cities,” Davis says. 

The Executive Director

Danae Davis grew up in San Diego with a lifelong love for animals, although her parents were not animal lovers themselves. Her pets growing up included birds and fish. The first chance she got to build her own path, she leaned into her love for animals, eventually making animal welfare her career.

Right after college, Davis began working in the nonprofit sector and soon found her way to FACE Foundation, a San Diego organization that provides emergency grants for families who can’t afford lifesaving veterinary care. She spent nearly a decade there, rising to Executive Director and doing what she could to prevent “economic euthanasia.” This is when pets are put down for treatable conditions simply because their families couldn’t pay the bill. 

“A lot of times, it’s people once they’re at the emergency vet hospital, they figure out what’s going on with their animal,” Davis said. “Maybe their dog swallowed a ball, and they’re kind of presented with this estimate that a lot of times ranges $5,000 or more, and not everyone even qualifies for credit.” 

The “solution” to this problem: euthanasia.

Her work at FACE eventually led her to start a small program focused on pet families experiencing homelessness. That initiative introduced her to Dr. Stewart, who was at the same moment shaping his own vision for Project Street Vet. 

“We just kind of had a synergy,” Davis said. “I offered to kind of volunteer and help do what I could to see what they needed help with and dive in.” Four years later, she is still with the team working as the Executive Director, and considers her time spent helping the organization get on its feet to be a great journey. 

Cost of Care in a Changing Industry

As Project Street Vet grew, it became clear that Stewart’s original quiet pledge aligned with a larger systemic issue: the rising cost of veterinary care in America. For families struggling with finances and those who live unhoused, even basic care is often out of reach due to financial barriers.

“In my personal experience working within the veterinary industry, especially more specifically the companion animal nonprofit space, even during my 10 years at FACE Foundation and still now, there has been a huge shift in the cost of care,” Davis said.

A recent study confirmed this trend, finding that nearly 30 percent of American pet families cannot afford even routine veterinary services. For some, this means falling behind on vaccines or preventative care. For others, it means facing economic euthanasia simply because the bill is impossible to pay.

Davis explains that part of the shift comes from broader changes in the veterinary industry itself. Large corporations and private equity firms now own a growing share of veterinary hospitals across the country. 

“What’s your opinion about private equity coming in and opening up vet clinics?” Davis said. “Does a candy bar company really have the best interest for my pet when I bring them into this hospital that is honestly owned by a private equity firm looking to get a return on investment?” 

The result is a gap in access to care for pets that organizations like Project Street Vet now try to fill. Pets are at risk of becoming collateral damage in an industry increasingly being shaped by an increase in profit. 

“The reality is animal organizations are typically among the least funded organizations, kind of looking at that philanthropy pie,” Davis said. “We’re usually kind of joined with environmental causes and only make up about three percent of annual giving among philanthropists and annual statistics.”

But although Davis acknowledges that Project Street Vet doesn’t make up the biggest piece of this “philanthropy pie,” she says, “We do a lot of work, good work with what we do have.” 

The Future Vision

For Stewart and Davis, the mission of Project Street Vet is not just about treating the animals in front of them; it’s also about shaping a more compassionate model of veterinary care for the future. In the coming years, the organization hopes to expand into the top 15 U.S. cities with the highest rates of homelessness, provided there are local veterinarians ready to do the work. Part of that effort includes developing training resources to legitimize what they call “street medicine” for pets. Even if a veterinarian can’t formally join Project Street Vet, Davis wants them to have the tools and confidence to begin in their own communities.

“Our mission really is to empower veterinary teams to provide non-judgmental professional veterinary care to pet families experiencing homelessness within their communities,” Davis said.

For the unhoused families this model serves, the impact is often life-changing for both pets and their owners. But the work has also created a surprising ripple effect among the veterinarians themselves. Many of Project Street Vet’s volunteers come from traditional clinic settings, where the constant financial barriers can be draining.

“Project Street Vet Services are provided free of cost; there’s no strings attached to the care that they’re providing,” Davis said. “Most animal people are really empaths; they’re very caring people. They really want to help not only animals, but the people who are helping those animals and caring for those animals.” 

Having to turn families away takes an emotional toll. Through Project Street Vet, volunteers finally get to provide the care they want to give, freely and without strings attached. In that way, Project Street Vet not only helps restore pets to health, but also helps to restore the joy and purpose in the people who care for them.

The growth of the non-profit has been rapid — expanding from fewer than 100 pets served in 2021 to more than 2,300 in 2024. The team expects to reach its 6,000th pet later this year. Beyond Southern California — their primary service area — they have a veterinarian in Atlanta, two in Florida, and several in New York City. 

“We’re looking to onboard three new veterinarians in high-need cities in the next year. One of our goals is around empowering veterinarians and teams to do this work in their communities,” Davis said. “No one should have to lose their best friend because of finances.”