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Animal Care Worker
Animal care workers look after animals in a number of different places, such as kennels, animal rescue centres and animal sanctuaries. They also work as:
- animal welfare assistants at Blue Cross adoption centres
- animal collection officers for the RSPCA
- animal care auxiliaries at animal hospitals.
Their work includes:
- preparing food and feeding the animals
- keeping animals clean, grooming them and treating parasites and fleas
- exercising dogs in a yard or taking them for walks
- cleaning out kennels, pens and cages and changing bedding
- looking after animals who become ill or distressed.
Some animal care workers also have other duties, for example, keeping records, taking bookings and advising owners on looking after their animals.
Hours and Environment
As an animal care worker, you will usually work 40 hours a week. Because animals have to be looked after round the clock seven days a week you are likely to work shifts. This will often include early starts and working some evenings and weekends.
Although working with animals can be very rewarding it can also involve physically hard work. You will need to be prepared for some unpleasant tasks - cleaning out animal pens and cages can be smelly and dirty - and in some jobs you could be working outdoors some of the time.
The work may not be suitable if you have skin allergies.
Skills and Interests
To be an animal care worker you should:
- have a real interest in working with animals
- be able to handle animals patiently, gently annd confidently
- be able to cope with upsetting situations such as working with animals which have been ill-treated or injured
- be prepared to do dirty or unpleasant tasks.
Entry
You will not need any qualifications for most animal care jobs, although some organisations do ask for qualifications such as GCSEs/S grades.
It will be useful if you have experience of working with animals before looking for work. Voluntary work is a useful way to get experience and show employers that you are really enthusiastic and interested in working with animals.
You can find out about opportunities for volunteering in your area from Volunteering England or Volunteer Scotland (see Further Information below for contact details). You could also contact the animal welfare organisations listed in Further information or look in Yellow Pages for other local organisations that might need volunteers.
You could also do full-time college courses before applying for your first job. These include:
- BTEC First Certificate/Diploma in Animal Care
- BTEC National Certificate/Diploma in Animal Management (Care).
You should check with colleges for entry requirements for the courses.
You may be able to get into this job through an apprenticeship scheme. Funding for apprenticeships is available for 16-24 year olds and some over-25s. To find out more, visit www.apprenticeships.org.uk. For information about apprenticeships in other parts of the UK, see Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Training
When you are employed as an animal care worker, you will receive on-the-job training, and can also work towards qualifications such as NVQs/SVQs in Animal Care at levels 1, 2 and 3. Level 1 is a general basic qualification. At levels 2 and 3 you can follow a general option, or specialise in one of the following:
- Boarding
- Pet Care and Retail
- Zoos/Wildlife Establishments
- Dog Grooming
- Open Farms
- Animal Welfare
- Breeding.
- Dog/Animal Warden
- Animal Training.
You can also do distance learning courses with the Animal Care College. These include the OCN Level 2 National Small Animal Care Certificate. See Further Information below for a link to the Animal Care College website, where you can find details of courses.
Opportunities
As an animal care worker you could work for organisations such as kennels, catteries, animal sanctuaries and rescue centres, animal welfare charities such as the Blue Cross and veterinary practices. You can find information about working in kennels on the Kennel Worker profile.
As an experienced animal care worker, you may be able to progress to centre management or become self-employed.
Your experience in animal care work could be useful for moving into other animal care careers, for example:
- Animal Technologist
- Veterinary Nurse
- Assistance Dog Trainer
- Zookeeper
- RSPCA/SSPCA Inspector
- Dog Handler.
You can find out more by looking at the profiles for these jobs.
Annual Income
Earnings will vary depending on the type of job and the employer.
Starting salaries for some jobs may be around the National Minimum Wage.
Further information
Priorslee
Telford
Shropshire
TF2 9PQ
Tel: 0800 917 2509
Godmanchester
Cambridgeshire
PE29 2LJ
Tel: 0870 062 1122
Wilberforce Way Southwater Horsham West Sussex RH13 9RS
http://www.rspca.org.uk
Stoneleigh Park
Nr Coventry
Warwickshire
CV8 2LG
Tel: 0845 707 8007
High Street
Ascot
Berkshire
SL5 7JG
Tel: 0870 730 8433
Burford
Oxfordshire
OX18 4PF
Tel: 01993 822651
Back To Animals Plants and Land Careers
Further Help and Advice
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Site Disclaimer
The information contained in our Career Profiles Database was correct at time of publishing, but since publication certain details may have changed so please use this section as a research tool and in some cases further research may be required.
Careers Database Information By Learn Direct Advice