Company Profile
Animal Emergency and Referral of Minnesota
Company Overview
The Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota (AERC) was established over 40 years ago by a group of veterinarians who wanted to provide their clients with quality veterinary care during non-business hours. Today, we employ a wide variety of veterinarians, board-certified specialists, and health care team members, all on-hand for when your pet just isn’t feeling like himself. We’re proud to be the only locally-owned emergency and specialty hospital for pets in the state of Minnesota.
Company History
1980: The Animal Emergency & Referral Center of Minnesota (AERC) was founded by 17 local veterinarians to meet the community’s need for after-hours emergency veterinary care, initially operating with one full-time veterinarian and a few relief veterinarians.
1991: AERC moved to a free-standing facility and hired two full-time veterinarians to support the growing demand.
2000: A second location opened, with five full-time veterinarians rotating between both clinics.
2009: AERC expanded to 24-hour operations and hired its first specialist, a criticalist in emergency care.
2010: The hospital relocated to a new building in Oakdale, known as the "Blue Building," and launched an I-131 treatment facility for cat care.
2012: AERC added two more specialists in Internal Medicine and Surgery.
2015: Four additional specialty departments were introduced: Dentistry, Rehabilitation, Cardiology, and Dermatology.
2022: AERC opened a state-of-the-art, three-story "Red Building," adding Oncology and Avian/Exotics specialties.