Kennel attendant vs animal care technician

The differences between kennel attendants and animal care technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a kennel attendant and an animal care technician. Additionally, an animal care technician has an average salary of $29,617, which is higher than the $26,373 average annual salary of a kennel attendant.

The top three skills for a kennel attendant include PET, animal handling and facility laundry. The most important skills for an animal care technician are patients, animal husbandry, and pigs.

Kennel attendant vs animal care technician overview

	Kennel Attendant	Animal Care Technician
Yearly salary	$26,373	$29,617
Hourly rate	$12.68	$14.24
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	72,239	96,973
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	32	32
Years of experience	3	3

What does a kennel attendant do?

A kennel attendant is responsible for the daily care of boarded dogs and kennel maintenance. Some of the duties that you will perform will include cleaning cages, scheduling boarding appointments, and monitoring the behavior of these dogs. In addition, it is your responsibility to clean spilled food and animal waste and to dispose of trash on time. Other duties include walking animals if required, ensuring that the animals are always comfortable, and evacuating them when an emergency arises.

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.

Kennel attendant vs animal care technician salary

Kennel attendants and animal care technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Kennel Attendant	Animal Care Technician
Average salary	$26,373	$29,617
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $34,000	Between $21,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	-	South San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Oregon
Best paying company	-	Emory University
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between kennel attendant and animal care technician education

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

	Kennel Attendant	Animal Care Technician
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Medical Assisting Services	Biology
Most common college	Vermont Technical College	New York University

Kennel attendant vs animal care technician demographics

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

	Kennel Attendant	Animal Care Technician
Average age	32	32
Gender ratio	Male, 20.8% Female, 79.2%	Male, 31.1% Female, 68.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 2.7% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	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	11%	11%

Differences between kennel attendant and animal care technician duties and responsibilities

Kennel attendant example responsibilities.

Assist in managing shelter for animals and arranging for adoption or euthanasia of confiscate animals.
Train to give dogs baths, brushing out coats, scissoring, and toenails.
Perform animal grooming duties such as washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats, etc.
Experience in the use of specialize equipment such as cage washers, autoclaves and animal transport vehicles.
Assist owner in preforming body clips and bathing/drying dogs and cats, preform all grooming tasks including clipper skills except scissoring.
Operate cage/bottle washers, autoclaves and bedding dispensing/disposal equipment.

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.

Kennel attendant vs animal care technician skills

Common kennel attendant skills

PET, 39%
Animal Handling, 10%
Facility Laundry, 8%
Animal Hospital, 5%
Animal Restraint, 4%
Administer Medications, 4%

Common animal care technician skills

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

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Personal Care and Attendants Industry
Kennel Attendant
Kennel Attendant vs Animal Care Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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