What does an animal technician do?
An animal technician is responsible for ensuring the animals' welfare under the supervision and guidance of a licensed veterinarian. Animal technicians maintain an organized record of animal information, assisting in medical surgeries and procedures, administering medications, collecting laboratory samples, and sending examination reports to the animal owners. They also keep the cages clean, inspecting the clinic's tools and equipment, and sterilizing laboratory materials to avoid contamination. An animal technician must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in responding to the owners' inquiries and concerns and monitoring the animals' conditions.
Animal technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real animal technician resumes:
- Maintain all necessary paperwork for specific species as required by the USDA, IACUC, as well as other agencies.
- Maintain the cleanliness and organization of all animal facility locations.
- Stock shelves with personal protection equipment (PPE).
- Learned all PPE policies for different areas of the vivarium.
- Train and supervise fellow animal technicians in GLP, vivarium policy, husbandry and sterilization methods.
- Perform oral gavage, im, iv and ip injections and retro orbital collections in mice.
- Place animals in clean cages; supply feed, water and house according to AAALAC guidelines.
- Perform animal grooming duties, such as washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats.
- Work independently to maintain pathogen free environment, colony health, and meet standard codes of cleanliness.
- Communicate with clients directly about their pet, and inform them about any irregularities in their behavior and health.
- Order and receive pets, process inventory, direct sales of live animals and pet supplies, and customer service.
- Participate in a wide range of duties ranging from general animal care to dosing procedures to clinical observations in GLP studies.
- Operate and maintain standard laboratory equipment including autoclaves and cage washers.
- Utilize automatic washers and autoclaves to clean and sanitize associate equipment to ensure internal sterilization standards are met.
- Perform animal care duties associate with feeding, watering, euthanasia; monitor room environmental parameters.
Animal technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Animal Technicians are proficient in Animal Handling, Autoclaves, and Euthanasia. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Manual dexterity, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Animal Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Animal Handling, 7%
Prepped surgery suite, assisted with anesthesia if needed, supervised researchers ensuring proper animal handling and pain management following procedures.
- Autoclaves, 7%
Utilized automatic washers and autoclaves to clean and sanitize associated equipment to ensure internal sterilization standards were met.
- Euthanasia, 6%
Performed animal care duties associated with feeding, watering, euthanasia; monitored room environmental parameters.
- Laboratory Animal Care, 4%
Maintain facilities for compliance with the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC International).
- Technical Procedures, 4%
Performed technical procedures necessary to implement and conduct study protocols for safety evaluation studies.
- AALAS, 4%
Certified ALAT (Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician) with AALAS (American Association for Laboratory Animal Science).
Common skills that an animal technician uses to do their job include "animal handling," "autoclaves," and "euthanasia." You can find details on the most important animal technician responsibilities below.
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an animal technician to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "veterinary technologists and technicians communicate with supervisors, other staff, and animal owners." Animal technicians often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "perform clinical duties including sample collection, treatments, and communication with veterinary faculty. "
Manual dexterity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling animal technician duties is manual dexterity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "veterinary technologists and technicians must handle animals, medical instruments, and laboratory equipment with care." According to an animal technician resume, here's how animal technicians can utilize manual dexterity in their job responsibilities: "skilled in dentistry, surgical prep, manual radiography, answered phones, laboratory techniques, patient care. "
Physical strength. animal technicians are also known for physical strength, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to animal technician responsibilities, because "veterinary technologists and technicians need to be able to manage and lift animals." An animal technician resume example shows how physical strength is used in the workplace: "assist veterinarians as requested with routine sample collection and physicals. "
Compassion. animal technician responsibilities often require "compassion." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "veterinary technologists and technicians must treat animals with kindness and must be sensitive when dealing with the owners of sick pets." This resume example shows what animal technicians do with compassion on a typical day: "performed euthanasia of animal with an understanding and compassion. "
Detail oriented. Another crucial skill for an animal technician to carry out their responsibilities is "detail oriented." A big part of what animal technicians relies on this skill, since "veterinary technologists and technicians must pay attention to detail." How this skill relates to animal technician duties can be seen in an example from an animal technician resume snippet: "readied building for inspections and kept detailed records of animals, temperature logs, building cleanliness and animal mortality. "
The three companies that hire the most animal technicians are:
- Charles River Center14 animal technicians jobs
- Charles River Labs12 animal technicians jobs
- JoulA(c)10 animal technicians jobs
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Compare different animal technicians
Animal technician vs. Veterinary nurse
Registered veterinary technicians work under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. The technicians must control and prevent zoonotic diseases. They assist veterinarians in medical administration, surgeries, and other animal health treatment procedures. These technicians observe animals for behavioral and physical changes, perform lab tests and collect laboratory examples, and provide nursing care to animals. They must undergo training in any accredited veterinarian technician programs and must study topics such as veterinary anatomy and physiology, parasitology, and veterinary nursing.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an animal technician are more likely to require skills like "autoclaves," "euthanasia," "laboratory animal care," and "technical procedures." On the other hand, a job as a veterinary nurse requires skills like "patient care," "vital signs," "icu," and "critical care." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Veterinary nurses tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $35,153. In contrast, animal technicians make the biggest average salary, $41,499, in the health care industry.On average, veterinary nurses reach similar levels of education than animal technicians. Veterinary nurses are 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Animal technician vs. Internal medicine veterinary technician
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that animal technician responsibilities requires skills like "animal handling," "autoclaves," "euthanasia," and "laboratory animal care." But an internal medicine veterinary technician might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "internal medicine," "physical examinations," "endoscopy," and "critical care."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Internal medicine veterinary technicians tend to reach similar levels of education than animal technicians. In fact, they're 3.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Animal technician vs. Registered veterinary technician
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, animal technicians are more likely to have skills like "euthanasia," "laboratory animal care," "technical procedures," and "aalas." But a registered veterinary technician is more likely to have skills like "venipuncture," "patient care," "rvt," and "radiology."
Registered veterinary technicians earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $41,217. Animal technicians earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $41,499.Most registered veterinary technicians achieve a similar degree level compared to animal technicians. For example, they're 2.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Animal technician vs. Veterinary laboratory technician
Types of animal technician
Updated January 8, 2025
