About our Staff
Deborah Perzak, DVM
Dr. Perzak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and moved to the Greenville area at the age of three. She jokes and says that a German shepherd, the first baby in the family, helped raise her! Dr. Perzak always had pets and at a very early age started “rescuing” pets that needed homes. She went to school locally and spent over 15 years in the restaurant business before returning to school to become a veterinarian, graduating from the University of Georgia in 2001. After completing a one-year internship at Texas A&M University, she returned to the Upstate and settled in as an associate veterinarian at Holly Tree Animal Hospital.
In March 2008, she became the proud owner of Woodruff Road Animal Hospital and has indeed been relishing the challenges a new business can provide! Her veterinary interests include internal medicine, servicing the special needs of senior pets, dentistry,nutritional counseling and weight management. She shares her home with a number of 3 and 4 legged felines and 2 beloved dogs, most of which come with a story or two as to how they ended up living with a veterinarian!
Dr. Perzak enjoys traveling, has a special interest in health and fitness, is a repeated marathon finisher, and loves to read when time allows.
Lynn Bowden, DVM
Dr. Lynn Bowden grew up in North Carolina, where she received her undergraduate degree in Zoology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1987 she graduated with honors from the North Carolina State School of Veterinary Medicine. Following graduation, she and her husband, Larry, settled in the Charlotte area where Dr. Bowden practiced small animal medicine and surgery for the next 15 years.
Larry’s career opportunities moved their family to the Upstate in 2001 where they have embraced the community of Sugar Creek. The Bowdens have two children, Clay and Liza, and two dogs, Bonnie and Meg, who are local celebrities often found with more toys in the front yard than the neighborhood children. While Dr. Bowden enjoys the spontaneity and diversity of general small animal practice, her special passion lies in the area of dog and cat behavior. Many hours of advanced study have made her uniquely qualified to assist families with preventative behavioral wellness counseling and address existing serious behavioral concerns.Because our pets hold a place of great importance within the family,Dr. Bowden believes it is crucial to build a strong and healthy relationship with your pet from day one, based on mutual respect and a keen understanding of your pet’s needs. Furthermore, she believes that a collaborative effort among the owner, the professional staff and the pet is the finest way to achieve a wonderful and fulfilling relationship with a life long companion.
Dr. Bowden is excited to join the growing team at Woodruff Road Animal Hospital. She looks forward to meeting you and assisting your family in caring for your beloved pet.
;)
Becky Robinson – Office Manager/Receptionist
Becky was born and raised in Marion, Indiana. She is a graduate of Ball State University with a major in Biology. She and her husband, Ken, are high school sweethearts and have two daughters, Kyra and Kelsey. They have lived in South Carolina for 20 years.
Becky has always been involved with animals. She grew up on a farm and went into the veterinary field right after college. She has spent approximately years working as a receptionist and/or veterinary assistant, taking some time off to raise her children. The Robinson household also has four pets:Poptart and Emmi, both dachshunds; Maggie, a miniature schnauzer; and Sassy, the snobby cat.Outside of work, Becky enjoys spending time with her family, reading, watching movies, and traveling.
She also enjoys Nascar, the Atlanta Braves, and the Indianapolis Colts.
April Major-Receptionist
April was born in Victorville, California. She says that the family moved around a lot because her Father devoted his entire career serving as a Technical Sergeant with the U.S. Air Force.
As a result of all of this traveling, April has lived and visited such places as Mexico, Turkey, Germany, Tampa, Goldsboro, and our very own, Myrtle Beach.
Once her father retired,the family settled in Greenville County. It was here that April spent her Junior and Senior years attending Mauldin High School, and later continued her education at Winthrop University. After the death of a beloved family pet named Charlie, April decided to study in the Veterinary Assistant program at Greenville Technical Institute. She graduated this past May(2009), and says that she is proud to call Woodruff Road Animal Hospital her new "work home".
April is planning to marry Vic, the love of her life, in October 2010, and says that they are very excited to start their lives together.
Both April and Vic enjoy traveling, reading, spending time together, and spending time with their dog, Bailey.
Stefanie Scott – Veterinary Technician
Stefanie was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to Greenville at 10 years of age. According to her, she has had a love of animals since day one! She has been in the veterinary field since 1998.
She and her husband, Tommy, were married in October 2007. Presently, their family consists of 3 dogs: a miniature pincher, Bruiser; a pit bull terrier, Kramer; a terrier mix, Charlie; and 2 cats: Cecil and Ricky.
In her spare time, Stefanie enjoys spending time outdoors camping or swimming, reading, or visiting with her husband.
Amber Gagne – Veterinary Assistant
Amber was born and raised in Barre, Vermont. She moved to Greer in 2005 and started working at Woodruff Road Animal Hospital the same year. According to Amber, every since she bought her first hamster “Hampy”, animals have been an important part of her life. Although her first love is cats, all furry creatures are special to her.
Amber shares her home with four indoor cats: Baby Kitty, Doodle, Suds, and Layla; one outdoor cat named “205”; and two white German shepherds, Snowflake and Brick.Amber enjoys spending time at home with her animals, visiting with family, eating chocolate, baking bread and in her spare time, camping and swimming.
Kimberly Holford – Veterinary Assistant
Kim was born in Dalton, Georgia, and moved to Greenville at 2 years of age.
She has worked at Woodruff Road Animal Hospital for 10 years, often doubling as a receptionist and a veterinary assistant.
She shares her home with a senior toy poodle named Ovaltine, a terrier mix named Wuzzy, and two cats named Cassie and Tigger. In her spare time Kim enjoys going to the beach as often as she can and relaxing with her animals.
Gypsy King – Veterinary Assistant
Gypsy was born and raised in Simpsonville, South Carolina. She began working in a veterinarian’s office four years ago, starting as a kennel assistant and moving up from there. In addition to working as a veterinary assistant, she attends classes in the Divinity program at North Greenville College.
Gypsy has worked extensively training dogs since she was nine years old. At present, she competes in agility trials with her Australian shepherd, Dusty, and her miniature Doberman pinscher's, Mo and Buzz. As often as she can, Gypsy teams up with her dog Dusty for pet therapy visits at Carolina Behavior Center.
To round out her menagerie, Gypsy also has 4 other dogs, 2 cats, and a bird, and in her spare time Gypsy enjoys spending time with her family and pets and going to the lake.
Betsy Auvil-Licensed Veterinary Technician
Betsy was born in Northeastern Ohio and moved to South Carolina in 1998.
She graduated from Tri-County technical school in 2003 with an Associates degree in Health Sciences with a major in Veterinary Technologies. Currently, Betsy is studying Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina in Columbia with future plans to become a Physician’s Assistant. When Betsy is not in class, she can be found at Woodruff Road Animal Hospital in the daytime and in the evenings at the Animal Emergency Clinic in Greenville, where she has been employed since 2003.
Betsy enjoys many forms of physical activity including, Pilates, kick -boxing, rafting, marathon races, swimming and has special interests in nutrition.
Betsy currently has three lovable pets, Kradyl, who is an ageless Calico kitty, Kaedyn, who is a rescued female mixed breed and Ness, who is a male, Columbia Red Tailed Boa Constrictor.
Alice Haltiwanger-Veterinary Technician
Alice grew up in Columbia, SC. She graduated from Grinnell College, located in Grinnell, Iowa, with Bachelor of Science in Biology.
Alice has always had a passion for animals and the outdoors. As a child she says that she loved to explore the world around her and all of the living creatures in it.
As a matter of fact, she has traveled extensively to places such as the Galapagos Islands, in an attempt to visit with some of the rarest animals on the planet!
Alice has worked in the veterinary field as a receptionist as well as a veterinary technician.
In August of 2009 she joined the staff at Woodruff Road Animal Hospital where she works as a veterinary technician as well.
Welcome Alice. Thank you for all of your hard work. We are very glad to have you as a part of the team!
Ashley Turner-Veterinary Technician 
Ashley was born and raised in Greenville, SC, and currently lives in Simpsonville.
She has been fascinated by animals as far back as she can remember, and shares that cats, reptiles, birds, and sharks top her list of those most interesting to her.
Ashley has worked with animals for over ten years, has worked as a veterinary technician for most of that time, and has stayed very busy with pet sitting clients over the years as well.
In her free time, Ashley loves to spend time with her friends, work out at the gym, and run. As a matter of fact, in September of 2009, Ashley participated in the USMC "Mud Run" , and absolutely had a blast.
She admits to having a huge passion for life, good food and the great outdoors.
We are so glad she decided to join us and share some of her energy and enthusiasm for life.
Welcome Ashley..Glad you are on board......
Elaine Burdulis-Public Relations
Elaine was born in New York and moved to North Carolina in 1977. She graduated from the UniversityofNorth Carolina in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and a Master of Education from the same institution in 1983. Elaine has worked in the Nutrition field, spent fifteen years working in the furniture industry and has worked in the marketing field as well.
Elaine says that her love for animals probably surfaced when she began watching the Lassie episodes on TV. She says she would cry during every episode until Lassie would get back home, safe and sound, and goes on to say, without hesitation, that the happiest times of her life have always been, while she was in the company of animals.
Elaine lives in Simpsonville, SC with her husband Paul, and Bert, a 2 1/2 year old Border- Collie mix.
Scully-Staff Advisor
The offi cial greeter and timekeeper. She has never met a stranger and strives to stay right in the middle of all the excitement. As the day progresses, she becomes intensely interested in “helping” out the receptionist – perhaps it coincides with feeding time!
Andrew-Good Will Ambassador
Andrew is one of those cats you love the minute you meet him. He's just so darned sweet, unassuming, easy going and handsome. And on top of that, he gets along well with most people, most cats, and, believe it or not, most dogs too!
Because he is such a versatile kind of guy, a cat who is almost always in a good mood, we decided to honor him with the title of "Good Will Ambassador" to the Woodruff Road Animal Hospital.
And....if you have already had the pleasure of meeting Andrew, you know that the title really suits him. He truly is a natural at "keeping the peace", and he plays a huge part in making us smile every day.