Animal care supervisor vs animal care technician

The differences between animal care supervisors and animal care technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an animal care supervisor, becoming an animal care technician takes usually requires 1-3 months. Additionally, an animal care supervisor has an average salary of $43,219, which is higher than the $29,617 average annual salary of an animal care technician.

The top three skills for an animal care supervisor include direct supervision, sops and patient care. The most important skills for an animal care technician are patients, animal husbandry, and pigs.

Animal care supervisor vs animal care technician overview

	Animal Care Supervisor	Animal Care Technician
Yearly salary	$43,219	$29,617
Hourly rate	$20.78	$14.24
Growth rate	6%	28%
Number of jobs	70,965	96,973
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	47	32
Years of experience	6	3

What does an animal care supervisor do?

An animal care supervisor's responsibilities include supervising the overall animal facility, ensuring that the animals are properly taken care of by the personnel. The animal care supervisors' duties include administering feeding programs to maintain animals' well-being, examining the operation of mechanical equipment and necessary tools, monitoring animals' health conditions, providing medication by veterinarian's advice, and coordinating with animal experts for recommendations. An animal care supervisor must adhere to and enforce the highest safety standards and regulatory procedures within the animal care facility.

What does an animal care technician do?

An animal care technician is an animal medical professional who is responsible for providing care to animals in the clinical or research setting. Animal care technicians take blood or stool samples from animals and run laboratory tests to determine the cause of an ailment. They often take charge of bathing and grooming animals as well as administer anesthesia before procedures. Animal care technicians are also required to speak to the pet's owners to help them understand the diagnosis and administer medication.

Animal care supervisor vs animal care technician salary

Animal care supervisors and animal care technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Animal Care Supervisor	Animal Care Technician
Average salary	$43,219	$29,617
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $64,000	Between $21,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	Hillsborough, NJ	South San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Delaware	Oregon
Best paying company	Northwell Health	Emory University
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between animal care supervisor and animal care technician education

There are a few differences between an animal care supervisor and an animal care technician in terms of educational background:

	Animal Care Supervisor	Animal Care Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Nursing	Biology
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	New York University

Animal care supervisor vs animal care technician demographics

Here are the differences between animal care supervisors' and animal care technicians' demographics:

	Animal Care Supervisor	Animal Care Technician
Average age	47	32
Gender ratio	Male, 34.4% Female, 65.6%	Male, 31.1% Female, 68.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 31.7% Asian, 1.1% White, 58.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 2.7% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	3%	11%

Differences between animal care supervisor and animal care technician duties and responsibilities

Animal care supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage and implement merchandising strategy for POS marketing and display inventory.
Demonstrate ability to troubleshoot creatively, solve problems effectively, and make inform decisions while successfully guiding others through constant change.
Supervise and monitor associate activity for adherence to guidelines insuring maximum engagement, AHT efficiency, and sales productivity.

Animal care technician example responsibilities.

Assist in managing shelter for animals and arranging for adoption or euthanasia of confiscate animals.
Train in safety procedures for blood borne pathogens, GLP and GMP certification, and ISO standards.
Familiarize with the strains of various animal species to include rats, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs.
Interview prospective adopting families while counseling on animal welfare and responsibilities of pet owners.
Maintain knowledge of CPR procedures and evacuation procedures.
Assist with minor emergency procedures, perform CPR.

Animal care supervisor vs animal care technician skills

Common animal care supervisor skills

Direct Supervision, 11%
Sops, 10%
Patient Care, 10%
Animal Handling, 7%
Animal Facility, 7%
USDA, 6%

Common animal care technician skills

Patients, 10%
Animal Husbandry, 9%
Pigs, 5%
Patient Care, 5%
Animal Handling, 5%
GLP, 4%

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Animal Care Supervisor vs Animal Care Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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