A 24/7 pet emergency room that allows owners to stay with their furry and feathery friends through all stages of treatment opened its 114th location this week in Chantilly.
VEG ER for Pets, located at 5009 Westone Plaza, offers an open floor plan with no lobby, and immediate contact with the medical team. Owners are able to follow their pets throughout treatment and have the option to observe procedures such as surgeries. Overnight stays for hospitalizations are also offered at no additional charge.
“That is a huge part of what makes us different — you’re never separated,” Dr. Karena Joung, the hospital’s director, said during an opening celebration yesterday (Thursday).
According to Joung, when dogs, cats, birds, mice or other pets are with their owners, their stress levels and anxiety are reduced, making treatment easier. Pet owners have greater peace of mind, while the patients become “more amenable to getting blood drawn or an injection.”
The unique style of care can also make it easier on medical staff, Joung added.
“[In] veterinary medicine, we suffer from a lot of burnout, compassion fatigue,” she said. “… It’s because we care so much and we see so much of the sad stories. But when you are able to connect with an owner who is so grateful, that makes them feel so much better about what they are doing in this life.”
Joung herself had suffered from burnout before joining VEG ER.
Five years ago, when a classmate contacted her about a potential job at VEG, her initial reply was, “You know what? I’m not interested in doing veterinary medicine anymore.” He told her the company — which was started by emergency veterinarian Dr. David Bessler and investor David Glattstein in 2014 and had just 11 locations at the time — was trying to offer something different.
So, Joung decided to give it a try — and has never left.
“I joined in August 2020, and it has re-inspired me, because it’s that community and connection, and the fact that we have clients talking to each other and bonding,” she told FFXnow.
Meanwhile, the company has grown to 114 locations, including three in Virginia. In addition to the new Chantilly emergency room, VEG can be found in Alexandria (4525 Duke Street) and at the Tysons Station shopping center in Pimmit Hills (7500 Leesburg Pike).
Open all day, every day, including on holidays, VEG focuses on emergency care, so it only takes walk-in patients with no appointments. Pet owners can call a doctor in advance, though, to determine whether they need to visit.
