Emergency vets for dogs in Dubai

Veterinary care in Dubai is split between three municipal clinics, open during office hours and closed on Saturdays, and a private sector that the municipality inspects and certifies. For an emergency at night, none of the three public clinics advertises on-call cover: you will be calling a private clinic, on a number best saved before you travel rather than hunted down while your dog needs it. Here is what Dubai Municipality, the emirate’s legislation portal, the UAE Government portal and the clinics themselves publish.

Where do you find a vet in Dubai?

Dubai Municipality runs three veterinary clinics alongside the private sector. Its Veterinary Services Section describes itself as being in charge of the protection of animal health and welfare in Dubai, and offers preventive and curative services for all kinds of animals.

The three addresses appear on the municipality’s service centres page:

• Al Khawaneej, on Al Khawaneej Road in Wadi Al-Amardi, near the UAE Football Association. This is the clinic that sees pets: Sunday to Thursday, 7.30am to 2.30pm, and Friday, 8am to 11.30am. Farm animals are seen until 7.30pm on weekdays.
• Al Lisaili, next to Al Lisaili Health Centre: Sunday to Thursday, 7.30am to 7.30pm, and Friday, 8am to 11.30am.
• Hatta, near Hatta Heritage Village: Sunday to Thursday, 7.30am to 2.30pm, and Friday, 8am to 11.30am.

All three are closed on Saturdays. One number covers them all, 800900, with the email address [email protected]. For the pet clinic, the municipality asks you to file your request through its website, and sends confirmation by SMS and email.

The municipality has also opened an integrated shelter at the Birds and Pets Market in Warsan, which includes a fully equipped veterinary clinic and a surgical operating theatre, as well as a unit for returning lost pets to their owners. The page publishes neither its hours nor a number of its own.

This public network is busy: the municipality reports 6,585 vaccinations for cats and dogs in the first half of 2026, and 4,100 pets registered.

What do you do if your dog needs a vet at night or on a Saturday?

You turn to a private clinic, and you phone before you set off. The municipality’s published hours stop at 2.30pm for pets and exclude Saturdays, and its veterinary page mentions neither on-call cover nor 24-hour opening.

On the private side, two groups publish a permanent emergency line on their own websites. Noble Veterinary Clinics states that its Dubai Investment Park clinic provides emergency care with a vet on call 24/7, and that all its branches are equipped to handle emergencies; its listed hours nevertheless run from 8am to 10pm at Dubai Investment Park, 8am to 8pm in Jumeirah 3 and 10am to 7pm in Jumeirah Lake Towers. Pawsitive Veterinary Clinic advertises 24-hour veterinary assistance and emergency home visits, with branches open seven days a week in Dubai Silicon Oasis from 8am to 11pm, Motor City from 9am to 9pm and Jumeirah Lake Towers from 9am to 10pm.

The instruction that matters is the one the first of those clinics writes itself: call before you travel, so the team can prepare for your arrival. In both cases the branch hours listed end in the evening while the emergency line is advertised around the clock, so only a phone call will tell you who is seeing you, and where. Hours and numbers also change from one update to the next.

How do you know a veterinary clinic in Dubai is above board?

Veterinary clinics in the emirate are monitored and certified by the municipality. Its Veterinary Services Section says it monitors and certifies veterinary establishments, clinics and pharmacies to confirm they meet health requirements.

The legal basis sits in Local Order No. 11 of 2003, which governs public health in Dubai. Article 26 puts the municipality in charge of monitoring and inspecting all healthcare establishments and public-health-related establishments, and the order’s first schedule lists veterinary clinics among them. If you have a doubt, or something to report, 800900 is the municipality’s number.

What care does Dubai law require from a dog’s keeper?

The keeper has to arrange the dog’s veterinary care, and the text says so plainly. Article 67 of Local Order No. 11 of 2003 makes the keeper responsible for the care and provision of the necessary preventive and therapeutic veterinary services for their animals. Three duties come with it:

• having the animal examined and tested regularly to confirm it is free from animal diseases and zoonoses;
• immunising it against those diseases and holding an immunisation card approved by the competent department of the municipality;
• notifying the competent department immediately if the animal contracts, or is suspected of contracting, an infectious animal disease or a zoonosis.

Article 79 adds that the keeper of a dog or cat must register it with the competent department and place an identification collar around its neck. We set these duties out in Moving to Dubai with your dog.

What does treatment cost at a municipal clinic?

They are modest, and a schedule annexed to Local Order No. 11 of 2003 sets them. For a dog or a cat it provides for 30 dirhams for veterinary treatment, 50 dirhams for surgery, 30 dirhams for de-worming, 30 dirhams for a veterinary health certificate and 10 dirhams to register the animal.

Those amounts apply at the municipality’s clinics only. No official page publishes private clinics’ prices, so ask over the phone. The conditions for the journey home are covered in Bringing your dog home to France from Dubai.

Who do you call to report a dog at risk?

The UAE Government portal publishes the numbers. To report animal abuse, its emergencies page lists the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment on 8003050, Dubai Municipality on 800900 and the Emirates Animal Welfare Society on 9712-5010054, and points to the BioSecurity website, biosecalert.ae, for a breach of animal care rules. The general numbers are there too: 999 for police, 998 for ambulance, 997 for civil defence.

If it is your own dog that has gone missing, articles 70 and 71 of the local order set the frame. The municipality may hold lost animals in sheds designated for the purpose; if the animal is not claimed within one week of its capture, it is deemed a stray and forfeited to the municipality. A fine of 150 dirhams is due for each lost animal caught, payable when the keeper asks for it back. Our guide to Dubai with your dog covers these day-to-day rules.

How do you prepare for an emergency before you fly?

By putting three things together before departure rather than during the problem. The French Ministry of Agriculture’s summer guide gives the method for any trip: tell your vet about the journey, write down the details of an emergency veterinary clinic where you are staying, and carry your animal’s papers, meaning its identification card, health record and prescriptions.

Two documents count in Dubai. Your dog’s pet passport carries its identification and vaccinations, and its microchip is the only means of identification recognised for travel within the European Union. Entry conditions for the Emirates are gathered on our United Arab Emirates travel requirements page.

Then there is the climate. The same guide asks you to watch for signs of dehydration, such as excessive tiredness or difficulty eating, and to contact a vet if in doubt. The precautions specific to the emirate are collected in Dogs and heat in Dubai.

Could your dog fly to Dubai at your feet?

Yes, on a private flight, where it stays in the cabin with you and never in the hold. Loulou Air, a brand of AEROAFFAIRES, a private aviation broker since 1991, sells seats on Pay-per-Seat private jets for your dog and you: you pay for your seat, not the jet, and every ticket covers a seat for one human and their dog. There is none of the weight limit imposed by scheduled airlines, since the dog does not travel in the hold; capacity depends on the aircraft and on the number of animals on board, and a broker approves every dog case by case. Boarding is through a private aviation terminal with no queues, the crew is briefed on welcoming animals, and water, bowls and blankets are provided on board. On paperwork, our brokers check every dog’s file before departure, and entry requirements still apply on every flight, private ones included. See flights to Dubai or talk to a broker; how these flights work is set out in Flying private with your dog.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a 24-hour vet in Dubai?

The municipality’s three clinics do not advertise on-call cover: their hours stop at 2.30pm for pets and they close on Saturdays. Two private groups, Noble Veterinary Clinics and Pawsitive, publish an emergency line reachable at any hour, while their branches list hours that end in the evening. Call before you set off.

How much does a vet cost in Dubai?

At the municipality’s clinics, the schedule to Local Order No. 11 of 2003 provides for 30 dirhams for veterinary treatment and 50 dirhams for surgery, per animal. Private clinics do not publish their prices on an official page, so you have to ask by phone.

Does a dog in Dubai need a vaccination card?

Yes, for a dog kept in the emirate. Article 67 of Local Order No. 11 of 2003 requires the keeper to immunise the animal against animal diseases and zoonoses and to obtain an immunisation card approved by the municipality’s competent department. Article 79 adds registration of the dog and an identification collar.