Sep 2, 2026

Emergency Vets in Phoenix: The County Publishes the List Itself

No other city in this series has a county-published emergency vet list, complete with a disclaimer that says exactly what we would say. Twenty entries, five in Phoenix, and the three we checked ourselves.

Luis ZamoraCo-founder of PetCompass; Dog Dad to Banzo and Tuck

Phoenix, Arizona10 min readPet Care & Services

Maricopa County maintains its own directory of 24-hour emergency veterinary hospitals, with addresses and phone numbers. Twenty entries across the metro. No other city in this series has a county-published list.

It also comes with a disclaimer that says almost exactly what we say on every page like this. Verbatim from the county's page:

"While MCACC provides resources and contact information in the spirit of helpfulness, they are not endorsements." "Our community has hundreds of organizations that may have merit and could provide assistance to you and your pets in a time of need." "These organizations do not provide MCACC with updated information. Please contact each resource directly to determine if they will be able to meet your needs."

We appreciate that, and we are going to repeat the instruction rather than paper over it. Ring before you drive.

The five with Phoenix addresses

From the county's list, these are the 24-hour hospitals inside Phoenix itself.

Hospital	Address	Phone
1st Pet Veterinary Center, North Valley	18453 N. 7th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85023	623-849-0700
BluePearl Phoenix	3110 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix, AZ 85016	602-995-3757
Phoenix Veterinary Referral and Emergency	4015 E. Cactus Road, Phoenix, AZ 85032	602-765-3700
Veterinary Emergency Group, Phoenix	2196 E Camelback Road., Phoenix, AZ 85016	602-671-0331
VetMED Emergency & Specialty Veterinary Hospital	20612 N. Cave Creek Road, Phoenix, AZ 85024	602-697-4694

Five, spread across north Phoenix, central Phoenix and the Cave Creek corridor. For a city this size that is a genuinely good position, and better than anything else in this series.

The rest of the metro

The county lists fifteen more, and in a valley this size the nearest one may not be in Phoenix.

Hospital	Location	Phone	Address
1st Pet Veterinary Center	Chandler	480-732-0018	1233 W. Warner Road, Chandler, AZ 85224
1st Pet Veterinary Center	Mesa	480-924-1123	5404 E. Southern Ave., Mesa, AZ 85206
AVECCC	Buckeye	602-805-1500	19345 E. Indian School Road, Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
AVECCC	Gilbert	480-497-0222	86 W. Juniper Ave., Suite 1, Gilbert, AZ 85233
AVECCC	Peoria	602-491-1928	7823 W. Golden Lane, Peoria, AZ 85345
AVECCC	Queen Creek	480-746-6600	21419 S Ellsworth Road, Queen Creek, AZ 85142
BluePearl	Avondale	623-385-4555	13034 W. Rancho Santa Fe Blvd., Suite 101, Avondale, AZ 85392
BluePearl	Peoria	623-974-1520	20165 N. 67th Ave., Glendale, AZ 85308
BluePearl	Scottsdale	480-949-8001	22595 N. Scottsdale Road, Ste 110, Scottsdale, AZ 85255
Gilbert Queen Creek Emergency Vet & Specialty Center	Queen Creek	480-674-3200	18610 E. Rittenhouse Road, Building B, Queen Creek, AZ 85142
The Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic	Scottsdale	480-945-8484	7311 E. Thomas Road, Suite 100, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Thrive Pet Healthcare Specialist North Scottsdale	Scottsdale	480-690-3738	17477 N 82nd St., Scottsdale, AZ 85255
VCA Animal Referral and Emergency Center of Arizona	Mesa	480-898-0001	1648 N. Country Club Drive, Mesa, AZ 85201
VCA McCormick Ranch Animal Hospital and Emergency Center	Scottsdale	480-948-3873	10380 N Hayden Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85258
Veterinary Emergency Group	Chandler	480-847-2570	7210 W. Ray Road, Chandler, AZ 85226

Two oddities in the county's own list, reproduced as published. The AVECCC entry headed "Buckeye" carries a Litchfield Park address, and the BluePearl entry headed "Peoria" carries a Glendale address. Those are the county's labels and the county's addresses. Trust the address over the heading.

Three we verified independently

The county's list is the county's list. We also read three hospitals' own websites directly, each with a real 404 control, so their hours come from them rather than from a directory.

Hospital	Own-site hours	Address	Phone
VetMED Emergency & Specialty	"Open 24/7/365 for Emergencies" and "Open 24 hrs"	20612 N. Cave Creek Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85024	(602) 697-4694
Phoenix Veterinary Referral & Emergency Center	"24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year"; hours block reads "Monday: 24 hours"	4015 E Cactus Rd, 85032	(602) 765-3700
MedVet Phoenix	"ER Open 24/7"	10450 N. 74th St. Scottsdale, AZ 85258	623.522.8904

VetMED describes itself, verbatim: "VetMED is a specialty referral and 24-hour emergency veterinary hospital located in Phoenix, AZ. Our hospital is home to board-certified specialists in a variety of fields as well as experienced emergency doctors." Its instruction is direct: "If your pet is experiencing an emergency, please call us immediately at (602) 697-4694".

Phoenix Veterinary Referral & Emergency Center states its catchment, verbatim: "We are proud to offer our services to the Phoenix area, including Scottsdale, Cave Creek and Paradise Valley", and that it provides care "to pets 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year."

And a naming trap worth flagging. MedVet's page is titled "MedVet Phoenix, AZ" and gives an address in Scottsdale. It states, verbatim: "MedVet Phoenix is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year" and "If your pet needs emergency care, you can come directly to our hospital. No appointment is ever needed for emergency care."

We have seen the same pattern before in this series: MedVet New Orleans carries a Metairie address. Read the address, not the page title. MedVet Phoenix does not appear on the county's own 24-hour list, which is worth knowing but proves nothing either way.

What to say when you ring

The person answering is triaging, and the useful information is not what comes to mind first.

The symptom and when it started. Before anything else.

The dog. Breed or approximate size, age, weight if you know it. Those drive drug doses and whether they need a particular table.

Anything ingested. What, roughly how much, how long ago. The single most useful sentence in a poisoning call and the one most often left out. Our guide to toxic foods and plants for pets covers what commonly causes them.

If heat is involved, say so immediately. In this city that is the most likely emergency for half the year, and it is time-critical.

Then the two questions. Can you see him now, and should I come to you or somewhere else. With twenty hospitals across the valley, the second question has a real answer here.

Our pet first aid basics guide is worth reading once in daylight, our emergency vet, what to know explainer covers what to expect on arrival, and our emergency pet info card is the single page to keep on the fridge.

The heat emergency, and the two things not to do

Phoenix's most likely veterinary emergency is heat, and Maricopa County's own first aid instructions include two prohibitions that cut against instinct. Verbatim from its pet heat safety page:

"Move your pet out of the heat" "Place a cool wet cloth on their belly, paws, and neck" "Place a fan so that it is blowing on your pet" "Do not attempt to rapidly cool pet with water or ice; this may cause shock" "Do not force water" "Do not leave pet unattended"

Do not hose the dog down and do not pour water into it. Cool, damp, belly, paws and neck, plus a fan, then a vet.

And the reason heat is the likely call: the county's asphalt table gives 125-degree pavement at 77 degrees of air temperature, and states that "Skin damage can occur in ONE MINUTE when asphalt temperatures are above 125 degrees." A burn on a pad is a veterinary problem, not a graze.

For cars, the county states: "When the outside temperature reaches 100 degrees, the inside of a car can reach 129 degrees in just 20 minutes", and: "See a pet locked in a hot car? If it appears to be in immediate danger, call 911." Our summer heat safety for pets guide covers the signs to watch for.

The other kind of emergency

If your dog is missing rather than ill, the clock in Maricopa County depends on a licence.

The county states that it follows "a minimum of 120 hours for Hold-Notify of a licensed dog that comes into the shelter, compared to a minimum stray hold of 72 hours". And Ordinance P-13 provides that "Each stray dog or any cat impounded shall be kept and maintained at the County Pound for a minimum of seventy-two hours unless claimed by its owner", with a stray dog defined as one "four months of age or older running at large that is not wearing a valid license tag."

Five days with a licence, three without. Which makes a $22 tag the cheapest thing on this page.

The list is the county's, and it will drift

We are being explicit about the limits of this page.

The addresses and numbers above are Maricopa County's, published for public help and expressly not endorsements. The county says those organisations "do not provide MCACC with updated information."

Three hospitals we read directly. Their hours are their own statements.

We are not citing aggregator listings for any of them. Practices drop overnight cover without updating directories, and a hospital that stopped staffing nights two years ago can still look open in a listing site.

And the best answer is still local. Ask your own vet where they send patients overnight and write the answer down. A practice that has been referring somewhere for a decade knows which hospital picks up the phone at three in the morning. Our notes on how to choose a veterinarian cover what else to ask.

If you are visiting

Save two numbers before you arrive. Pick the nearest Phoenix-address hospital to where you are staying, and add one more on the other side of town.

Know that the valley is large. Chandler to Peoria is a serious drive. Working out your nearest before you need it is a five-minute job.

And treat heat as the likely reason you will need it. Our roundup of pet-friendly hotels in Phoenix and our Phoenix hotel directory are the places to start, and a ground-floor room with grass nearby is worth more here than a view.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a 24-hour emergency vet in Phoenix? Yes, several. Maricopa County's own directory lists five with Phoenix addresses: 1st Pet North Valley, BluePearl Phoenix, Phoenix Veterinary Referral and Emergency, Veterinary Emergency Group Phoenix, and VetMED.

How many 24-hour emergency vets does the Phoenix metro have? Maricopa County Animal Care and Control's 24-hour emergency list carries twenty entries across the valley.

Does Maricopa County endorse the hospitals on its list? No. The county states that the information is provided in the spirit of helpfulness, that they are not endorsements, that the organisations do not provide MCACC with updated information, and that you should contact each resource directly.

Which Phoenix emergency vets publish their own 24-hour hours? VetMED states "Open 24/7/365 for Emergencies", Phoenix Veterinary Referral & Emergency Center states 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year, and MedVet states "ER Open 24/7".

Is MedVet Phoenix in Phoenix? Its page is titled MedVet Phoenix, AZ and gives an address of 10450 N. 74th St. Scottsdale, AZ 85258.

What is VetMED's phone number? (602) 697-4694, at 20612 N. Cave Creek Road, Phoenix, AZ 85024.

Sources

Hours and numbers change, and the county says its listed organisations do not update it. Ring before you drive.