An animal attendant is responsible for administering high-quality care for the animals in a shelter, clinic, or wildlife preserve. Animal attendants monitor the health conditions of the animals, manage their food intake and medications, maintain the adequacy of animal stock inventories, and report any critical findings and unusual observations to the veterinarians. They also ensure the cleanliness and orderliness of all the facilities and cages, as well as the efficiency of tools and equipment to support daily animal operations.

Animal Attendant Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real animal attendant resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

  • Assist in managing shelter for animals and arranging for adoption or euthanasia of confiscate animals.
  • Skil at handling, restraining, husbandry and veterinary procedures with reptiles, mammals, raptors, amphibians, and songbirds.
  • Clean goat and pig yards, train goats and pigs, keep records.
  • Serve as midwife for birthing dogs, cats and goats.
  • Care for goats by providing them with feed every week.
  • Maintain cleanliness of the shelter and medicate animals direct by supervisor as needed.
  • Complete beginning of the month and end of the month paperwork regarding clients and DSS
  • Distribute medication and assist clients with job search and housing search through local DSS.
  • Restrain animals for catheter placement, blood draws, vaccinations, ear cleaning, etc.
  • Execute jugular and femoral vein surgery technique, canine dosing and catheter placement resulting in generation of studies.
  • Interview pet owners upon animal check in to the hospital's kennel to understand their pets' needs and requirements.
  • Maintain cleanliness of hospital by sweeping, taking out trashes, doing loads of laundry, and various other janitorial chores.
  • Follow all USDA, FWC & AZA regulations precisely and adhere to extremely high standards of safety, cleanliness and professionalism.
  • Organize and complete paperwork associate with the husbandry procedures
  • Maintain sanitary, comfortable and compassionate medical environment for patients, boarders and permanent residents.

Animal Attendant Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 59% of Animal Attendants are proficient in PET, Patients, and Animal Handling. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Problem-solving skills, and Compassion.

We break down the percentage of Animal Attendants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • PET, 59%

    Worked with Colorado Pet Animal Care Facilities Act (PACFA) to better monitor state licensed breeders and other facilities.

  • Patients, 6%

    Established collaborative relationships with Veterinary Technicians to support their responsibilities, including holding patients requiring injections or calming nervous pets.

  • Animal Handling, 6%

    Gained experience in animal handling and proper restraint for animals kept in the care of the Humane Society.

  • Cleanliness, 3%

    Dodge City Animal Shelter, Dodge City, KS Maintain the cleanliness of the shelter.

  • Euthanasia, 3%

    Performed humane euthanasia and disposed of animals according to department protocols.

  • Autoclaves, 2%

    Experience in the use of specialized equipment such as cage washers, autoclaves and animal transport vehicles.

"pet," "patients," and "animal handling" aren't the only skills we found animal attendants list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of animal attendant responsibilities that we found, including:

  • Arguably the most important personality trait for an animal attendant to have happens to be customer-service skills. An example from a resume said this about the skill, "animal care and service workers should understand pet owners’ needs so they can provide excellent customer service" Additionally, other resumes have pointed out that animal attendants can use customer-service skills to "provided employee training sessions and guest education about the many exotic animals at the facility. "
  • While it may not be the most important skill, we found that many animal attendant duties rely on problem-solving skills. This example from a animal attendant explains why: "animal trainers must be able to assess whether animals are responding to teaching methods and to identify which methods are successful." This resume example is just one of many ways animal attendants are able to utilize problem-solving skills: "developed humane training solutions to address animal behavior problems. "
  • Another skill that is quite popular among animal attendants is compassion. This skill is very critical to fulfilling every day responsibilities as is shown in this example from a animal attendant resume: "animal care and service workers must be compassionate when dealing with animals and their owners" This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "administer medications, daily feedings, and demonstrate care and compassion toward each animal. "
  • A thorough review of lots of resumes revealed to us that "detail oriented" is important to completing animal attendant responsibilities. This resume example shows just one way animal attendants use this skill: "animal care and service workers are often responsible for maintaining records and monitoring changes in animals’ behavior." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical animal attendant tasks: "maintained detailed records on activities and environmental conditions in the animal rooms and support areas. "
  • See the full list of animal attendant skills.

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    What Pet Groomers Do

    A pet groomer typically works with pets and other animals in pet grooming boutiques and pet stores. As a pet groomer, you will perform a few tasks that may include cleaning and taking care of pets such as dogs, maintaining the cleanliness of the work area for the next client, and working with the cash registers. In addition, you will groom dogs and cats using different tools and techniques, ensuring that pets stay safe and are well taken care of.

    In this section, we compare the average animal attendant annual salary with that of a pet groomer. Typically, pet groomers earn a $5,745 higher salary than animal attendants earn annually.

    While their salaries may differ, one common ground between animal attendants and pet groomers are a few of the skills required in each craft. In both careers, employees bring forth skills like pet, animal handling, and cleanliness.

    As far as similarities go, this is where it ends because an animal attendant responsibility requires skills such as "quality care," "patients," "euthanasia," and "autoclaves." Whereas a pet groomer is skilled in "dryers," "salon services," "pet parents," and "appointment scheduling." So if you're looking for what truly separates the two careers, you've found it.

    The education levels that pet groomers earn is a bit different than that of animal attendants. In particular, pet groomers are 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an animal attendant. Additionally, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of a Dog Groomer?

    Pet care specialists are professionals who are responsible for maintaining the health and safety of pets by providing them their basic needs. These specialists are required to educate pet owners about proper pet care and maintenance while creating personalized customer service to maintain customer loyalty. They must help and assist customers with their needs by providing professional and courteous customer service. Pet care specialists must also order useful items for the store while conducting in-store audits on their inventory.

    The next role we're going to look at is the dog groomer profession. Typically, this position earns a higher pay. In fact, they earn a $5,526 higher salary than animal attendants per year.

    While the salary may be different for these job positions, there is one similarity and that's a few of the skills needed to perform certain duties. We used info from lots of resumes to find that both animal attendants and dog groomers are known to have skills such as "pet," "animal handling," and "pet care. "

    In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, animal attendant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "quality care," "patients," "cleanliness," and "euthanasia." Meanwhile, a dog groomer might be skilled in areas such as "scheduling appointments," "animal safety," "dryers," and "physical appearance." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

    On the topic of education, dog groomers earn similar levels of education than animal attendants. In general, they're 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    How a Pet Care Specialist Compares

    A dog walker provides dog walking services to pet owners at scheduled times, ensuring their safety. They first meet with pet owners to discuss their preferred schedule and use this opportunity to learn more about the dog and understand its needs. There are instances where a dog walker may walk multiple dogs, consider weather conditions, pick-up and dispose of waste properly, and feed dogs with water or food. Moreover, a dog walker regularly updates pet owners with the duration or location of walks, including the dog's behavior.

    The pet care specialist profession generally makes a higher amount of money when compared to the average salary of animal attendants. The difference in salaries is pet care specialists making $4,768 higher than animal attendants.

    By looking over several animal attendants and pet care specialists resumes, we found that both roles utilize similar skills, such as "pet," "animal cages," and "customer service." But beyond that the careers look very different.

    Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from animal attendant resumes include skills like "quality care," "patients," "animal handling," and "cleanliness," whereas a pet care specialist might be skilled in "health issues," "work ethic," "strong work ethic," and "cpr. "

    Pet care specialists are known to earn similar educational levels when compared to animal attendants. Additionally, they're 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of a Dog Walker

    Now, we'll look at dog walkers, who generally average a higher pay when compared to animal attendants annual salary. In fact, the difference is about $4,499 per year.

    While their salaries may vary, animal attendants and dog walkers both use similar skills to perform their jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like "pet," "customer service," and "administer medications. "

    While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "quality care," "patients," "animal handling," and "cleanliness" are skills that have shown up on animal attendants resumes. Additionally, dog walker uses skills like walkers, cpr, good communication, and clients homes on their resumes.

    Dog walkers earn a higher salary in the professional industry with an average of $30,722. Whereas, animal attendants earn the highest salary in the education industry.

    The average resume of dog walkers showed that they earn similar levels of education to animal attendants. So much so that the likelihood of them earning a Master's Degree is 1.3% more. Additionally, they're more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.5%.