The role of a Kennel Attendant, also known as a Kennel Assistant, as the name implies, is to provide care, such as food, warmth, and water, to animals found in shelters and veterinary clinics and centers.
Their tasks might range from simple ones to more complicated ones. They often transport animals from one kennel to another, check on animals regularly, clean up around the kennel and the center, providing company to these animals so that they do not feel mistreated or lonely, and reporting on the animals' health and state, should any change occur, to higher management or the local veterinarian.
A prospect in this field should have a high school diploma or a GED. Prior experience with animals and animal care is always preferred but not necessarily a must. Strong organizational skills and a strong passion for animal welfare are key to doing well in this position.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a kennel attendant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.97 an hour? That's $26,988 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 16% and produce 51,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many kennel attendants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, manual dexterity and physical strength.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a kennel attendant, we found that a lot of resumes listed 36.6% of kennel attendants included animal care, while 9.8% of resumes included facility laundry, and 7.3% of resumes included animal hospital. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
If you're interested in becoming a kennel attendant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 27.2% of kennel attendants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 0.8% of kennel attendants have master's degrees. Even though some kennel attendants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a kennel attendant. When we researched the most common majors for a kennel attendant, we found that they most commonly earn high school diploma degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on kennel attendant resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a kennel attendant. In fact, many kennel attendant jobs require experience in a role such as cashier. Meanwhile, many kennel attendants also have previous career experience in roles such as sales associate or volunteer.