Our Veterinarians

Louis J. Crupi, DVM

Dr. Crupi grew up in Lyndhurst, NJ. He graduated from Essex Catholic High School in 1972, and went on to earn his B.S. in Biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University. After working for a few years in the private sector for Sika Chemical Corporation, Dr. Crupi went back to school to earn his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Araneta University in 1982.
While at Veterinary School, he met his wife, Dee, who is currently the hospital manager. His first position as a veterinarian was at Arlington Dog & Cat Hospital in Kearny, NJ. From there he went on to practice at Montclair Animal Hospital and Verona Animal Hospital. Dr. Crupi developed a special interest in birds while in veterinary school and went on to cultivate that interest as a member of the Avian Association of Veterinarians since 1986.
Dr. Crupi established and built the Dog, Cat & Bird Clinic of Nutley in 1988. The following year he and Dee were blessed with their daughter, Nicole. The office was initially a one-doctor practice, but as the practice grew, Dr. Crupi began to take on other associates. He then moved the practice to its current location, functioning as a full service, three associate hospital.

Dr. Crupi's professional memberships include: the AVMA, NJVMA, AAHA, AAV, and current member and former President of the Metropolitan NJ Veterinary Medical Association. He is also a member of the Nutley Rotary and Nutley UNICO.
His furry and feathered family consists of his newly adopted coonhound mix from Georgia, Beau, his adopted, sweet, Silky Terrier, Molly, and Yellow-Naped Amazon Parrot, Monty.
In his time away from the clinic, Dr. Crupi enjoys boating, fly-fishing, cooking, and spending quality time with his family.

FUN FACTS

Dr. Crupi is an avid fly-fisherman
His favorite weekend activity is making home-made pasta
His best kept secret: closet comedian!
Enjoys traveling and photography

Nicole L. Crupi, DVM

Dr. Nicole Crupi grew up in Nutley, NJ. With a passion for animals and growing up at the veterinary clinic, she knew she would follow in her parents footsteps. She graduated from Nutley High School in 2007, and earned her B.S. in Biology from the University of Connecticut in 2011. She attended veterinary school abroad on the island of Grenada at St. George’s University (SGU) for 3 years. During her time there, she represented her local chapter of the Student American Veterinary Association (SAVMA) nationally as the junior and senior delegate from St. George’s University. She is also a past chair of the Integrative Communication and Diversity Committee of SAVMA at the national level. Dr. Nicole is a recipient of the surgery team award, which recognizes surgical excellency during clinical training. While in Grenada, Dr. Nicole met her husband, Ethan, who is currently in the middle of his medical residency in psychiatry in Elizabeth, NJ. She went on to finish her last year of clinical training at the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine in Blacksburg, VA before joining the team at the Dog, Cat & Bird Clinic in February 2017. Dr. Nicole's professional memberships include: the AVMA and NJVMA.
She enjoys spending time with her husband, friends and family as well as her cat, Raffie, and parrots, Emily, Virgil and Rio. During her time off, Dr. Nicole enjoys traveling, cooking and binging her favorite tv shows.

FUN FACTS

Dr. Nicole's parrots are the children of Dr. Crupi's birds, Monty and Popeye
She considers herself a "foodie" and is always looking to taste and try new things!
Her best kept secret: singing!

Christopher F. Stancel, DVM

Dr. Stancel originally grew up in Nutley, New Jersey and always knew he wanted to be a veterinarian. While attending high school and college he worked for a local pet store, a farm, and a small zoo in the Newark Museum where he loved caring for the animals. He graduated from Rutgers University- Cook College with a B.S. in Animal Science. Approximately 3 years prior to attending veterinary school, Dr. Stancel worked for the Dog, Cat & Bird Clinic of Nutley as a veterinary technician. There he gained not only a wealth of knowledge of veterinary medicine but also close relation with Dr. Crupi and his wife.

Dr. Stancel graduated from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in January 2004. While there he received multiple community service awards as Vice President/President, Website manager and treasurer of People for the Animal Welfare on St. Kitts (P.A.W.S) before completing his last clinical year at Louisiana State University. During his clinic year he received a large amount of training in the field of Avian, Exotic, Wildlife and Zoo medicine. As a veterinarian, he worked at Central Veterinary Associates in NY followed by the Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital in NJ. In 2013, Dr Stancel decided to rejoin the family at the Dog, Cat & Bird Clinic of Nutley but this time as a fellow veterinarian.

Dr. Stancel tends to dogs and cats but has a focus on Avian and Exotic Medicine and would like to complete board certification in Avian, Reptile and Exotic Mammal Medicine. He also has a special interest in surgery, endoscopy and ultrasound.

Dr. Stancel's professional memberships include the Association of Avian Veterinarians, Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians, Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians, Association of Sugar Glider Veterinarians, New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association, and American Veterinary Medical Association.

Dr. Stancel has written several published journal articles:

Calcium and Phosphorous Supplementation Decreases Growth, but Does Not Induce Pyramiding, in Young Red-Eared Sliders, Trachemys scripta elegans. Zoo Biology. Vol. 17 Issue 1. Pages 17-24. Dec. 1998.
Renal Adenocarcinoma in a Bearded Dragon. Exotic DVM. Vol. 12 Issue 1. Pages 29 - 31. 2010
Congenital Cardiomegaly in a Boa Constrictor. Exotic DVM. Vol. 12 Issue 1. Page 4. 2010

Dr. Stancel and his fiancée Maria have a spunky chihuahua named Dobby, a lovable Boxer mix named Cheerio, 3 cats: Lola, Lil' C, and L.B., and many reptiles including lizards, snakes, turtles and tortoises. Dr. Stancel enjoys keeping and breeding reptiles for fun along with spending quality time with his fiancée Maria.

FUN FACTS

Breeds various reptiles including lizards, snakes, turtles and tortoises
Enjoys fishkeeping and building aquariums
Enjoys spending time with his fiancee Maria

Alissa M. Hilliard, DVM

Dr. Alissa Hilliard grew up in Southern California. Prior to pursuing her dream of becoming a veterinarian, she studied film production at San Francisco State University. After working in the writer’s office of the TV series Dawson’s Creek, she decided to go back to school and follow her passion for animals.

Dr. Hilliard attended veterinary school at the University of Minnesota. While in school, she spent two years as Treasurer of the local chapter of the Student American Veterinary Association (SAVMA). This position enabled her to hone her leadership skills at the Veterinary Leadership Institute’s (VLI) annual conference in Post Falls, Idaho.

Dr Hilliard’s favorite part about being a veterinarian is extending the human-animal bond by aiming to heal patients that can’t tell her exactly what’s ailing them, and providing comfort and information to owners in need. Special interests include feline and geriatric medicine.
Dr. Hilliard is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), as well as the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association (NJVMA).

Outside of work, Dr. Hilliard enjoys traveling, exploring her adopted home state of New Jersey with her husband, taking her own pup to the dog park, and watching Jeopardy!. She loves spoiling her dog Porkchop, and her two cats Ramona and Grover.

FUN FACTS •

Dr. Hilliard is an avid NY Times crossword puzzler, and even won cash and prizes on the short lived TV gameshow, Merv Griffin’s Crossword.
She loves karaoke, and harbors a (not so secret) fantasy of singing in a band someday.
She is a walking encyclopedia of 1980s/90s pop culture trivia!