Animal care provider vs laboratory animal caretaker

The differences between animal care providers and laboratory animal caretakers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a laboratory animal caretaker has an average salary of $26,564, which is higher than the $24,866 average annual salary of an animal care provider.

The top three skills for an animal care provider include PET, administer medications and husbandry. The most important skills for a laboratory animal caretaker are ventilation, safety procedures, and pigs.

Animal care provider vs laboratory animal caretaker overview

	Animal Care Provider	Laboratory Animal Caretaker
Yearly salary	$24,866	$26,564
Hourly rate	$11.95	$12.77
Growth rate	28%	19%
Number of jobs	70,701	45,979
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Average age	32	29
Years of experience	3	-

What does an animal care provider do?

An animal care provider is someone who provides care and attention to pets. Usually, this person is part of a veterinary clinic and offers all kinds of care pets ranging from grooming, medical attention, and hygienic care. The animal care provider is an essential contact person for animal lovers, which makes the position important. Part of an animal care provider's responsibilities is exercising animals, monitoring their health and nutrition, treating wounds, sicknesses, and other ailments, and giving owners advice on how to take care of their pets better.

What does a laboratory animal caretaker do?

A laboratory animal caretaker is in charge of monitoring and taking care of animals in a research facility or similar setting, ensuring to handle them properly and humanely. Their responsibilities include feeding the animals, examining them for any diseases or injuries, gathering and preparing samples, and maintaining the cleanliness of work areas. Furthermore, as a laboratory animal caretaker, it is essential to provide research and clerical assistance to staff, all while upholding the laboratory's safety policies and regulations.

Animal care provider vs laboratory animal caretaker salary

Animal care providers and laboratory animal caretakers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Animal Care Provider	Laboratory Animal Caretaker
Average salary	$24,866	$26,564
Salary range	Between $14,000 And $41,000	Between $19,000 And $36,000
Highest paying City	-	Baltimore, MD
Highest paying state	-	North Dakota
Best paying company	-	Charles River Center
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between animal care provider and laboratory animal caretaker education

There are a few differences between an animal care provider and a laboratory animal caretaker in terms of educational background:

	Animal Care Provider	Laboratory Animal Caretaker
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	Stanford University	Cornell University

Animal care provider vs laboratory animal caretaker demographics

Here are the differences between animal care providers' and laboratory animal caretakers' demographics:

	Animal Care Provider	Laboratory Animal Caretaker
Average age	32	29
Gender ratio	Male, 25.1% Female, 74.9%	Male, 28.3% Female, 71.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 2.6% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 6.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 3.2% White, 68.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	11%	10%

Differences between animal care provider and laboratory animal caretaker duties and responsibilities

Animal care provider example responsibilities.

Maintain care on the horses, pigs, goats and sheep.
Work with turtles, snakes, frogs, skunk and owl.
Fed and water horses, chickens, goats, pigs, cows and dogs.
Locate pet product merchants willing to donate food/ toys/ litter to families struggling to financially provide for their pets.
Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
Milk animals such as cows and goats, by hand or using milking machines.

Laboratory animal caretaker example responsibilities.

Manage pigs, sheep, chickens, horses, etc.-fed/groom animals-Assisted with animal theme events-Assured customers' safe positive interactions with animals
Assist in managing shelter for animals and arranging for adoption or euthanasia of confiscate animals.
Care for animals involve in laboratory research such as rats, mice, pigs, rabbits, toads, and squirrels.
Perform grooming duties such as; washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats, cutting nails and cleaning ears.
Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
Keep animals account update through Avimark.

Animal care provider vs laboratory animal caretaker skills

Common animal care provider skills

PET, 35%
Administer Medications, 17%
Husbandry, 9%
Animal Housing, 7%
Customer Service, 7%
Laboratory Animals, 6%

Common laboratory animal caretaker skills

Ventilation, 19%
Safety Procedures, 15%
Pigs, 12%
Animal Species, 6%
Insemination, 6%
Research Animals, 5%

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Animal Care Provider
Animal Care Provider vs Laboratory Animal Caretaker

Updated January 8, 2025

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