What are careers in animal welfare?

Careers in animal welfare include animal shelter caretaker, an animal control officer, farm manager, zookeeper, veterinary assistant, park ranger, animal training, or even a dog walker. For someone interested in the welfare of animals, there are a variety of jobs available that involve taking care of animals while you get paid. Working as a kennel technician or animal shelter caretaker is a way to enter the field of animal welfare with little to no experience. Animal shelter caretakers clean the pet area, take the animals for walks, feed them, and make sure all of their needs are taken care of.

How To Become An Animal Shelter Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is an animal shelter worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Chase Runyan

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an animal shelter worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.87 an hour? That's $33,011 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 28% and produce 101,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What's a day at work look like for an animal shelter worker?

Dr. Chase Runyan

Associate Professor, Department Chair, Director of MIR/Research Scientist, Angelo State University

Because agriculture industries are so diverse in their nature, it is nearly impossible to gauge what a work day might look like.

ScoreAnimal Shelter WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,011

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 28%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.45%

Asian 2.63%

Black or African American 4.27%

Hispanic or Latino 17.98%

Unknown 6.32%

White 68.36%

Gender

female 69.30%

male 30.70%

Age - 29

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 29

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an animal shelter worker

Explore animal shelter worker education requirements

Most common animal shelter worker degrees

Bachelor's

48.3 %

Associate

19.2 %

High School Diploma

18.8 %

Start to develop specific animal shelter worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Crisis Intervention	14.81%
Mental Health	14.50%
Direct Care	10.97%
Emergency Shelter	10.37%
Client Intake	10.05%

Complete relevant animal shelter worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New animal shelter workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an animal shelter worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real animal shelter worker resumes.

Research animal shelter worker duties and responsibilities

Assist in managing shelter for animals and arranging for adoption or euthanasia of confiscate animals.
Maintain an aquatic system of zebrafish and rotifers.
Assist veterinarians, veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants in providing the best care possible for patients.
Milk animals such as cows and goats, by hand or using milking machines.

Prepare your animal shelter worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your animal shelter worker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an animal shelter worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable animal shelter worker resume templates

Build a professional animal shelter worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your animal shelter worker resume.