Dr. Barry Schwenk
Dr. Barry Schwenk grew up in Northwest Indiana and East Africa with a family that loved caring for animals both as pets and through wildlife rehabilitation. His experience with animals is wide and varied but what he appreciates most is the special relationship and interdependency shared between people and animals. Pursuing veterinary medicine was a natural way for him to serve both.
Dr. Schwenk earned his BA from the University of Findlay in Findlay, OH. He holds a Masters in Theology from Faith University in Tacoma, WA and a DVM from Kansas State University. After graduating from KSU in 1999, Dr. Schwenk moved to Arizona as a mixed animal practitioner and met his wife of 22 years who is a native Arizonian educator with degrees from Northern Arizona University. They were married and moved to Indiana where they volunteered as teen mentors through their local church while Dr. Schwenk worked fulltime in the animal ER and part time as a general practice relief veterinarian.
In 2006, the Schwenks, along with their 2-year-old daughter moved to Ethiopia to work with the Christian Veterinary Mission. The Schwenks worked with local agencies and churches to provide community development in remote villages. This included drilling wells, building schools, and training teachers, training animal health care workers, teaching agriculture and literacy, and providing both human and animal health services.
In 2012, the Schwenk family of five returned to Arizona. Dr. Schwenk accepted a fulltime position as a pastor serving rural Arizona while also working part time with Christian Veterinary Mission speaking at universities and creating online courses for other veterinary professionals that serve internationally. Dr. Schwenk continues in both these roles while joining Companion Pet Clinic two days per week.
In his spare time, Dr. Schwenk coaches high school varsity swimming and soccer. He also volunteers to support community youth art and science programs. Their family now includes a dog, three cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon and a hedgehog.