Doctors and Staff

VETERINARIANS

Dr. Ann Stuart

Ann Stuart, DVM 
​Dr. Ann Stuart moved to the Asheville area soon after graduating with honors from the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine, and spending a year of clinical internship at the University of Georgia almost 30 years ago.  She grew up in Chapel Hill and attended the University of North Carolina.  A horsewoman all of her life,  Ann is involved with endurance racing from the local and national levels to international championship competitions as a 4 star FEI judge.  She  has competed in endurance herself and has served as an official and support staff at multiple international competitions, but more recently pleasure riding is how she prefers to spend her time in the saddle. Working with your companion animals is just as rewarding to Ann as working up lameness and maximizing performance in sport horses.  She loves spending her spare time at her home in the mountains of Barnardsville with her many horses, dogs and cats.

Dr. Sarah Dunnigan

​Sarah Dunnigan, DVM​
Dr. Sarah Dunnigan's passion for animals started when she was growing up in Eastern North Carolina. During high school she began showing livestock at the state fair and fell in love with agriculture. This led her to pursue a degree in Animal Science and then unto NC State's College of Veterinary Medicine where she graduated in 2016. 
Since graduation, Dr. Dunnigan has treated animals ranging from dogs to cattle to guinea pigs.  She enjoys the excitement of mixed animal medicine and looks forward to meeting any and all creatures you have!  
In her free time you can usually catch her playing bluegrass guitar, fly fishing, or hiking around with her two dogs, Ziggy Stardust and Pepperoni. 

Dr. Kady Neu

Kady Neu, DVM
Dr. Kady Neu from a young age knew she wanted to be a veterinarian. She grew up on the beaches of Pensacola, Florida and was fascinated with horses. Kady found a great barn called Rustic Trail Stable where she learned to ride and competed in eventing and dressage on her horse Jeep. From there she went to undergrad at University of West Florida and got early acceptance into Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in the caribbean island of St. Kitts. During her time there she decided to focus on horses as well as start acupuncture training through the Chi Institute. Dr. Neu then went to University of Tennessee for her clinical year and fell in love with western NC. Once completing vet school she moved to upstate New York for an internship at the Equine Clinic at Oakencroft. During her time there she learned many valuable skills and further concreted her ideas of wanting to stay in equine medicine. She loves all aspect of equine medicine but has special interest in sports medicine, dentistry and alternative therapy. During her down time she enjoys spending time with her two dogs Zazu and Maverick as well as riding. She is very excited to be working at Appalachian Animal Hospital and looks forward to treating all animals!

Dr. Alex Carvijal Flores

Alex Carvijal Flores, DVM
Dr. Alex Carvijal Flores was born and raised in Yucatan, Mexico, the land of the Mayan culture. After graduating from undergraduate and Veterinary College at the University of Yucatan, he worked as a professor at the State University of Mexico school of Veterinary Medicine. There he served as the director of Large Animal Surgery for 5 years. Three years ago he moved to the USA with his family and obtained his licenses to practice here. Dr. Alex feels blessed to have the opportunity to work in the US and has met such amazing people here. His passion is keeping patients healthy and treating illnesses and injuries in all of the different kinds of animals we care for. His wife and little princess (his daughter) are the inspiration for all he does. In his free time, Dr. Alex loves to travel, read and cook.

Dr. Rachel Getgen

Dr. Rachel Getgen

Rachel Getgen, DVM
​Dr. Rachel was born and raised near Pilot Mountain, NC. She went to NCSSM for the last couple years of high school to better prepare her for college and vet school. She went to NCSU for her undergraduate and veterinary degrees. She’s since lived on the NC coast, Washington state, and now here back in western NC. She loves to work on any animal that walks through the door or ones she sees on the farm. Her primary interests are surgery and internal medicine cases. She shares life with her adventure partner Mike and their furry and feathered kiddos. In her personal time she can be found on two wheels either mountain biking, dirt biking, or on her dual sport motorcycle. She also enjoys rock climbing, CrossFit, snowboarding...well anything outside.

Support Staff

​Jill Anderson/ Practice Manager
Jill is our office manager and has been with us since July 2012.  Jill comes from a teaching background and decided to switch from two-legged children to four-legged animals and loves it! She is devoted to making each client feel as though they are part of our family.  
Outside of work Jill enjoys traveling and spending time with her wonderful husband and 3 children and their friends. It has been said many times over again that she is the glue that holds the practice together and its true! 

Kelly Smith/ Inventory Manager
​Kelly is our tech guru holding a heavy hand in equine. She originally hails from the Virgin Islands (born and raised) and has been riding horses since she was five years old. Kelly is a member of the US Pony Club and is a certified instructor, clinician and HM Judge. She lives with her crazy dog Scruffy and the sweetest cat Ali; she loves to hike and makes sure to avoid snakes at all costs.

Kelsey Fuller/ Receptionist
​Kelsey is originally from Columbus, Georgia and came to Asheville in 2017. Besides having a love for the outdoors she has always had a love for animals which lead her to volunteering at animal shelters. This eventually led to working here as a receptionist. Kelsey is always ready to meet and greet the animals with a huge smile. She is full of Southern charm and adores her dogs Tundra and Maverick! Kelsey considers herself lucky to be able to work with other people's pets on a daily basis, especially when puppy kisses are involved! ​

Jenny "Ginger" Kern/ Equine Coordinator, RVT
Jenny is a registered veterinary technician joining us from Minnesota. She has been working with animals since she was a young girl, rescuing all manners of critters. Jenny loves plants, nature and has a spectacular green thumb! She shares her time and space with her two cats, horse and dog.

Rebekah Reining/ Technician, RVT
Rebekah is a registered veterinary technician who was born in Alaska but made her way to Weaverville, NC in 2010. She now lives in Mars Hill with her husband and 2 fur babies, Kona and Maya. In her spare time she loves hiking, CrossFit, and eating/cooking. She is very passionate about assisting in surgeries and healing sick pets. 

Emily Hembree/ Technician, RVT
Emily moved back to the mountains from Washington state in 2015 and currently lives with her partner and their several four legged animals. She is a Registered Veterinary Technician and aspires to specialize in rehabilitation and exotic medicine. Emily has traveled around the U.S. as well as several parts of Asia. On her free time she can be found hiking, fostering, and traveling. Emily looks forward to meeting and helping a variety of animals, from large and small animal to exotics.

​Peyton Craven/ Technician
Peyton was born and raised in Rutherfordton NC, small-town friendly as they say. She has worked with all animals large and small, feathered and scaly for many years. She dreams of having her own farm someday with goats, chickens, horses and as many animals she can rescue/rehabilitate. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with family and friends, anything outdoors or just being on the farm brushing a horse. She resides in Golden Valley NC, with her long-time boyfriend Bobby, their big ole lab Bentley, and feisty siamese cat Piper.   

​Sharyn Groh/ Equine and main office team member
Sharyn helped us out one day about fifteen years ago and she’s been with us ever since! She coordinates field appointments and is a tremendous support to both the doctors and our clients. Sharyn is a classical dressage rider and endurance rider. She lives in the mountains of Barnardsville with her horses and dogs.