Animal Emergency & Referral Associates (AERA)
About Us
From a small, after-hours emergency clinic to a fully staffed, specialty veterinary hospital group with ‘round-the-clock emergency care, AERA has come a long way.
In 1977, a dedicated and visionary group of veterinarians founded the Animal Emergency Group, a center designed to treat after-hours veterinary emergencies by creating a fully-staffed animal emergency medical facility. These doctors realized that the rapid growth of the local pet population, along with broad technological advances in veterinary medicine, demanded a state-of-the-art facility to address the urgent and critical needs of beloved pets in their community.
The Animal Emergency Group thus became one of the first hospitals dedicated to small animal emergency care in the United States.
In order to provide a wider array of services, Animal Emergency Group (later known as Animal Emergency & Referral Associates) expanded in the mid-nineties to add several veterinary specialties, each offering exceptional care to our local pet community.
In 2003, Animal Emergency & Referral Associates partnered with Veterinary Referral Centre in Little Falls, NJ, leading to the development of the Animal Eye Center of NJ, a hospital dedicated to veterinary ophthalmology. In 2004, construction was completed on a larger facility—a 15,000-square-foot modern medical center in Fairfield, New Jersey—which became home to the entire staff of Animal Emergency & Referral Associates in May of that year.
In 2016, Animal Emergency & Referral Associates expanded its emergency hours to 24/7, 365 days a year.
The growth of AERA is a testimony to the quality of care, dedication, and compassion of our doctors, nurses, and receptionists who are the lifeblood of our mission—to provide outstanding emergency and specialty care for our beloved animal companions.
