Meet Our Team

Dr. Christine Scruggs grew up in South Windsor and East Hartford, CT and graduated from Smith College in 1991. After a five year hiatus during which she worked in the biomedical and veterinary fields (specifically canine reproduction and genetics), she went on to the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and graduated in 2000 as a 'VMD'. She and her husband Dave relocated to southeastern Connecticut in 2001 to raise their twin boys Jordan and Logan. Dr. Chris has been providing high quality veterinary care to the community since then. She also breeds and shows standard poodles in conformation and performance, establishing the 'Tivin' kennel name in 1991. Dr. Chris enjoys offering high quality veterinary services including small animal medicine, canine reproduction and genetics, soft tissue surgery, and working with a wide variety of small animal, avian, and exotic species. She is pictured here with her dog Caitlyn.

Dave Scruggs was born and raised in Durham, NC and served six years in the United States Navy achieving a final rank of E-5. From 1985-1989 he was a sonar technician second class on the USS Narwhal, SSN-671, a nuclear powered fast attack submarine stationed in Groton, CT. While in the Navy, Mr. Scruggs was a sonar supervisor and upon leaving the armed services he continued employment as a communications specialist and analyst at Duke University in Durham, NC. After relocating with Dr. Chris to Connecticut, Dave worked as a contractor for Pfizer. He looks forward to managing the growth and development of DRAH along with his wife, and supporting the staff as a veterinary technician or receptionist when needed. Dr. and Mr. Scruggs have been married since 2000, and have a set of twin boys who were born in 2001. (Dave is pictured here with Ares)

Kathy has been working in the veterinary field since 1980.... starting as a kennel assistant way back when and moving up from technician, surgical technician to Practice Manager. Kathy comes to us with 25+ years experience as a Practice Manager. `She is also a state and federally licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator working primarily now with birds of prey. Her outside hobbies focus mostly on her Great Danes. She has been breeding and showing her dogs in Conformation and Agility for the past 24 years. Kathy also has several dogs that are certified therapy dogs that frequent hospitals, schools and rehab facilities. She is pictured here with one of her therapy dogs - Jax.  She will always make herself available for our clients. Feel free to check in and say hello.

  Lisa joined our team here at Deep River Animal Hospital in 2020. Having worked as a veterinary technician for more than 30 years we are privileged to have her on staff. When she is not at work she can be found training and running her 2 Border Collies in Agility – a true passion that she has been pursuing for years. Also on her hobby list is wood carving and hiking with her dogs - Fred and Desi.

Bonnie Steed has been with our office since March of 2014 as our receptionist.  Before that, she came to us from Salem, Massachusetts where she worked as a receptionist at All Creatures Animal Hospital.  Bonnie is originally from Connecticut and most of her career had been in the dental field as a receptionist and dental assistant for 30 years in various private practices in Connecticut and at MIT University Dental on campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Bonnie always had pets in her life of many kinds, from cats and dogs to horses, goats and ducks. She used to milk 115 dairy cows on a family farm for several years after high school. Bonnie does not have pets at this time after losing her cherished cat, “Baby” to cancer, but hopes to adopt some new friends soon.

April joined Deep River Animal Hospital in January, 2020, as a receptionist, a role in which she has 10 years of experience. She’s a single mother to her daughter, Skye, born in 2015. April has a passion for all animals and devotes her free time to teaching her daughter to appreciate nature. She currently has 3 cats, 2 of which are newly adopted kittens, Olaf and Cowboy, and a 24-year-old cat named Shadey, and a guinea pig named Sally. April was born and raised in Clinton, CT., and graduated on the Dean's list from Middlesex Community College. April is pictured here with her daughter, Skye, and two kittens, Olaf and Cowboy.

Debbie has been involved with dogs for over 40 years. She joins our receptionist team with many years of experience within the grooming and show world.  She has been breeding, raising, training, and competing with all three sizes of poodles. Her current passion is agility, but always wants a breed championship poodle.