New animal hospital aims to ease shortage of emergency services

Michelle Swafford

Tuesday, July 5, 2005 | 11:06 a.m.

Local veterinarians recently opened a 6,000-square-foot emergency center to ease the shortage of animal care services.

Animal Emergency Center -- owned by 43 local vets -- more than tripled the size of its facility to upgrade equipment and add treatment areas when it moved to 3340 Patrick Lane.

"We were really out of space for animal storage and the equipment we needed," said Dr. Rob Kessler, the center's chief of staff. "As a city -- Las Vegas -- even with this third one opening, it's relatively underserved."

The center opened Memorial Day weekend and is one of three emergency hospitals in Southern Nevada where pet owners and animal trainers can take animals once veterinary offices close. The other emergency centers are located at 5600 W. Charleston Blvd. and 701 E. Charleston Blvd.

"There's definitely the need for them in Las Vegas," said Debbie Machen, executive director of the Nevada State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. "With the vet offices closing in the evenings, a lot of them don't do critical care. These pick up when your typical facilities are closed."

Animal Emergency Center operates from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday, from 6 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Monday and on holidays.

SR Construction built the center that cost about $1.4 million to construct and is a significant upgrade from the 1,800-square-foot of usable space the hospital leased at 1914 E. Sahara Ave.

The new center treats most animal species -- including mountain lions, tigers, kangaroos, ostriches, birds and dogs -- and a variety of medical cases, hospital manager Maggie Howes said. An average of 420 animals are treated monthly.

Animals commonly need treatment for snake bites, dog attacks, heart failure and traumas, Kessler said.

On Monday night, the hospital treated several dogs that had been hit by automobiles, several small dogs attacked by larger dogs, a bird with liver failure, a dog with kidney failure, a dog with heart failure and a dog with glaucoma, he said.

The clinic receives referrals from vets across the Las Vegas Valley but most of the patients come from the southeast and northwest parts of the valley. Animals are also treated from Utah, Arizona and California, Howes said.

All treatments are administered without appointments and care is given to animals with the severest cases first, Howes said.

The Animal Emergency Center has 34 cages and kennels plus 12 large runners, most of which can be divided to accommodate more patients, she said.

Three full-time vets and 18 vet technicians work for the center and several other vets work as needed, Howes said.

"We're hiring for all positions," Kessler said. "The growth of the clinic has been so rapid we have trouble keeping enough staff."

Nevada has about 53 specialists and 660 veterinarians who are actively practicing, which is about a 10 percent increase compared to last year, Machen said.

The number of Nevada veterinarian offices increased 7 percent from last year to 172 facilities now, she said.