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The differences between animal care specialists and public health veterinarians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an animal care specialist and a public health veterinarian. Additionally, a public health veterinarian has an average salary of $62,550, which is higher than the $59,197 average annual salary of an animal care specialist.
The top three skills for an animal care specialist include PET, animal handling and quality customer service. The most important skills for a public health veterinarian are plant management, EEO, and HACCP.
| Animal Care Specialist | Public Health Veterinarian | |
| Yearly salary | $59,197 | $62,550 |
| Hourly rate | $28.46 | $30.07 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 19% |
| Number of jobs | 78,339 | 63,067 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Animal Care Specialists are responsible for caring for an animal's health and safety. Their duties include grooming and feeding animals, cleaning and disinfecting living quarters, perform a physical examination, administer medication and vaccinations, and deliver post-operative assistance. They also arrange for adoptions as well as participate in animal rescues. An animal care specialist working in laboratories may collect blood samples, conduct lab tests, and record results. They help answer phone calls and administer individual queries.
Public Health Veterinarians require participation in a public health program that leads to a master's degree in public health with a focus on veterinarian medicine, should this be their career choice. Earning an average of $76K per year, it is a position that requires a great deal of compassion, as well as manual dexterity, and decision-making, interpersonal, problem-solving, and management skills. They are often needed to consulting with physicians, emergency rooms, legislators, local officials, schools, health departments, and the public on disease control and preventative measures of diseases spread by animals.
Animal care specialists and public health veterinarians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Animal Care Specialist | Public Health Veterinarian | |
| Average salary | $59,197 | $62,550 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $155,000 | Between $28,000 And $137,000 |
| Highest paying City | Baltimore, MD | - |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | - |
| Best paying company | SPCA of Wake County | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between an animal care specialist and a public health veterinarian in terms of educational background:
| Animal Care Specialist | Public Health Veterinarian | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Biology | Veterinary Medicine |
| Most common college | Cornell University | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between animal care specialists' and public health veterinarians' demographics:
| Animal Care Specialist | Public Health Veterinarian | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 29.7% Female, 70.3% | Male, 39.5% Female, 60.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 6.1% Asian, 4.8% White, 83.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 1.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 4.2% Asian, 3.9% White, 86.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 15% | 15% |