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How to find a job with Animal Handling skills

How is Animal Handling used?

Zippia reviewed thousands of resumes to understand how animal handling is used in different jobs. Explore the list of common job responsibilities related to animal handling below:

  • Assisted in animal handling and care.
  • Cleaned Cages* Daily care for animals* Customer Education* Taking customer around to see adoptable animals* Animal Handling* General cleaning
  • Coordinated scheduling of procedure rooms for animal handling and research for Principal Investigators.
  • Clean and disinfected and maintained animal handling areas and veterinary services areas.
  • Cleaned, disinfected and maintained animal handling areas and veterinary services areas.
  • Performed various procedures requiring proper animal handling, restraint and aseptic techniques.

Are Animal Handling skills in demand?

Yes, animal handling skills are in demand today. Currently, 852 job openings list animal handling skills as a requirement. The job descriptions that most frequently include animal handling skills are wild animal caretaker, veterinary laboratory technician, and animal health technician.

How hard is it to learn Animal Handling?

Based on the average complexity level of the jobs that use animal handling the most: wild animal caretaker, veterinary laboratory technician, and animal health technician. The complexity level of these jobs is intermediate.

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What jobs can you get with Animal Handling skills?

You can get a job as a wild animal caretaker, veterinary laboratory technician, and animal health technician with animal handling skills. After analyzing resumes and job postings, we identified these as the most common job titles for candidates with animal handling skills.

Wild Animal Caretaker

Job description:

A wild animal caretaker is responsible for administering care to animals at pet shops, kennels, aquariums, zoos, and research labs. They are tasked with grooming, feeding, giving water to, and exercising animals. They monitor animals, record their health conditions, and report any problems. They must have excellent communication, interpersonal, and time-management skills to excel in this role.

  • Animal Handling
  • Facility Laundry
  • General Care
  • Administer Medications
  • Husbandry
  • Rabbits

Veterinary Laboratory Technician

  • Animal Handling
  • Laboratory Procedures
  • Diagnostic Tests
  • Biomedical
  • Catheter
  • Laboratory Animals

Animal Health Technician

Job description:

Animal health technicians work primarily in an animal diagnostics laboratory, where they test specimens according to a veterinarian's requests. The animal health technician must be capable of operating all of the necessary diagnostics equipment for animal care. The animal health technician must provide accurate results on diagnostic requests coming from a veterinarian. Added responsibilities of an animal health technician are educating owners on taking care of their pets, ensuring that all equipment is working correctly, and providing accurate results for better diagnosis.

  • Animal Handling
  • IM
  • Laboratory Animals
  • Medical Procedures
  • Husbandry
  • Euthanasia

Laboratory Animal Technician

Job description:

A laboratory animal technician is responsible for conducting animal research studies by observing and analyzing animal nature and conditions. Laboratory animal technicians maintain the safety and cleanliness of animal cages, supply them food and water, and administer medications as needed. They also take samples for laboratory examinations, monitor the adequacy of inventories, and sterilize tools and equipment. A laboratory animal technician writes finding reports, logs information on the database, and coordinates with other animal experts for study validations.

  • Animal Handling
  • Animal Husbandry
  • Research Animals
  • Cleanliness
  • Technical Procedures
  • Animal Species

Animal Care Specialist

Job description:

Animal Care Specialists are responsible for caring for an animal's health and safety. Their duties include grooming and feeding animals, cleaning and disinfecting living quarters, perform a physical examination, administer medication and vaccinations, and deliver post-operative assistance. They also arrange for adoptions as well as participate in animal rescues. An animal care specialist working in laboratories may collect blood samples, conduct lab tests, and record results. They help answer phone calls and administer individual queries.

  • PET
  • Animal Handling
  • Quality Customer Service
  • Animal Husbandry
  • Animal Shelter
  • Physical Examinations

Kennel Attendant

Job description:

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.

  • PET
  • Animal Handling
  • Facility Laundry
  • Animal Hospital
  • Animal Restraint
  • Administer Medications

Kennel Worker

  • Clean Cages
  • Facility Laundry
  • Animal Handling
  • Exam Rooms
  • Schedule Appointments
  • Front Desk

Animal Technician

Job description:

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 Handling
  • Autoclaves
  • Euthanasia
  • Laboratory Animal Care
  • Technical Procedures
  • AALAS

Animal Care Supervisor

Job description:

An animal care supervisor's responsibilities include supervising the overall animal facility, ensuring that the animals are properly taken care of by the personnel. The animal care supervisors' duties include administering feeding programs to maintain animals' well-being, examining the operation of mechanical equipment and necessary tools, monitoring animals' health conditions, providing medication by veterinarian's advice, and coordinating with animal experts for recommendations. An animal care supervisor must adhere to and enforce the highest safety standards and regulatory procedures within the animal care facility.

  • Direct Supervision
  • Sops
  • Patient Care
  • Animal Handling
  • Animal Facility
  • USDA

Kennel Supervisor

  • PET
  • Customer Service
  • Dog Food
  • Surgical Procedures
  • Animal Handling
  • Quality Care

Animal Attendant

Job description:

An animal attendant is responsible for administering high-quality care for the animals in a shelter, clinic, or wildlife preserve. Animal attendants monitor the health conditions of the animals, manage their food intake and medications, maintain the adequacy of animal stock inventories, and report any critical findings and unusual observations to the veterinarians. They also ensure the cleanliness and orderliness of all the facilities and cages, as well as the efficiency of tools and equipment to support daily animal operations.

  • PET
  • Patients
  • Animal Handling
  • Cleanliness
  • Euthanasia
  • Autoclaves

Animal Caregiver

Job description:

An animal caretaker is primarily in charge of the welfare and safety of animals in a particular area. They may work at veterinary shops and clinics, private institutions, kennels, animal shelters, and even zoos. Although their responsibilities vary on the animals and their place of employment, it typically includes feeding, bathing, grooming, exercising, and petting. There are also instances where they must clean and sanitize cages, prepare meals, administer vitamins and medication, and monitor their behavior.

  • Pigs
  • PET
  • Animal Handling
  • Animal Shelter
  • General Care
  • Facility Laundry

Animal Keeper

  • Animal Husbandry
  • Zoo Animals
  • Animal Exhibits
  • Exotic Animals
  • Animal Handling
  • AZA

Animal Care Technician

Job description:

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.

  • Patients
  • Animal Husbandry
  • Pigs
  • Patient Care
  • Animal Handling
  • GLP

Kennel Technician

Job description:

Kennel technicians are employees who work in animal boarding houses, veterinary clinics, and shelters. Primarily, they take care of and maintain animals living in a kennel. They are responsible for the upkeep of animals under their supervision and ensure they are healthy, happy, and clean. Often, they work with cats and dogs, although they may also care for other domestic animals. They should have skills in handling animals, sanitation, cleaning, friendly office help, and primary animal care.

  • PET
  • Facility Laundry
  • Administer Medications
  • Scheduling Appointments
  • Animal Handling
  • Front Desk

Groom

Job description:

A groom is primarily in charge of maintaining the hygiene and appearance of pets. Typically working at grooming shops, a groom liaises with pet owners to identify their preferences, observe the pet's condition to identify its needs, and explain the extent of procedures to pet owners. They may bathe and cut a pet's hair or nails, even brush its teeth and recommend care procedures to clients. Furthermore, as a groom, it is essential to be proactive and alert as some pets' behaviors are unpredictable.

  • PET
  • Clipping
  • Animal Handling
  • Pet Care
  • Compassion
  • Customer Satisfaction

Dog Groomer

  • PET
  • Customer Service
  • Scheduling Appointments
  • Coats
  • Animal Handling
  • Front Desk

How much can you earn with Animal Handling skills?

You can earn up to $27,846 a year with animal handling skills if you become a wild animal caretaker, the highest-paying job that requires animal handling skills. Veterinary laboratory technicians can earn the second-highest salary among jobs that use Python, $34,460 a year.

Job titleAverage salaryHourly rate
Wild Animal Caretaker$27,846$13
Veterinary Laboratory Technician$34,460$17
Animal Health Technician$37,267$18
Laboratory Animal Technician$30,382$15
Animal Care Specialist$59,197$28

Companies using Animal Handling in 2025

The top companies that look for employees with animal handling skills are Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, VCA Animal Hospitals, and Oregon Health & Science University. In the millions of job postings we reviewed, these companies mention animal handling skills most frequently.

Departments using Animal Handling

DepartmentAverage salary
Healthcare$58,147
Hospitality/Service$38,231