Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between animal care technicians and pet care specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both an animal care technician and a pet care specialist. Additionally, a pet care specialist has an average salary of $31,162, which is higher than the $29,617 average annual salary of an animal care technician.
The top three skills for an animal care technician include patients, animal husbandry and pigs. The most important skills for a pet care specialist are PET, health issues, and customer service.
| Animal Care Technician | Pet Care Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $29,617 | $31,162 |
| Hourly rate | $14.24 | $14.98 |
| Growth rate | 28% | 28% |
| Number of jobs | 96,973 | 117,277 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 32 | 32 |
| Years of experience | 3 | 3 |
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.
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.
Animal care technicians and pet care specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Animal Care Technician | Pet Care Specialist | |
| Average salary | $29,617 | $31,162 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $40,000 | Between $20,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | South San Francisco, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | - |
| Best paying company | Emory University | - |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | - |
There are a few differences between an animal care technician and a pet care specialist in terms of educational background:
| Animal Care Technician | Pet Care Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Biology | Biology |
| Most common college | New York University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between animal care technicians' and pet care specialists' demographics:
| Animal Care Technician | Pet Care Specialist | |
| Average age | 32 | 32 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 31.1% Female, 68.9% | Male, 25.5% Female, 74.5% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 2.6% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |