ANIMAL SHELTER CAREERS
With a high school diploma-or during summer vacations- you can enter animal shelter work with a paid or volunteer job as a kennel worker or adoption clerk. With a diploma and perhaps some additional schooling you can apply for a job as an Animal Control Officer (also called Humane Agent). With further education and training, you can rise through the organization to become an Animal Control Supervisor, Assistant Shelter Manager, Shelter Manager, Humane Education Specialist, or to the top post in the animal shelter, Executive Director (also called Director of Animal Control).
To understand why some jobs have two titles, you should know about the two types of animal shelters. And to see how well you might fit into the picture, you need to know the characteristics that all animal shelter workers have in common.
ANIMAL SHELTER TYPES
There are two kinds of animal shelters. Some 550 are operated by SPCAs and humane societies, often in cooperation with local government, which assists with funding and law enforcement. They are run by Executive Directors and their outside animal workers are called Humane Agents. These shelters depend largely on contributions.
Approximately 2,000 other shelters are supported by their cities and towns. Their leaders are usually called Directors of Animal Control, and their outside workers are known as Animal Control Officers. Many of these agencies perform their own law enforcement.
ANIMAL SHELTER FUNCTIONS
Both shelters do the same things for the communities:
- Enforce local animal control and licensing laws
- Investigate complaints of cruelty or animal nuisances
- Issue citations against lawbreakers and testify in court against them
- Control stray, injured, or unwanted animals
- Rescue animals
- Inspect animal facilities for compliance with laws
- Care for animals in their custody
- Find new homes for animals through adoption
- Put animals to sleep that cannot be adopted
CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED FOR ANIMAL SHELTER WORK
Some people who have selected animal care careers say it's because they relate better to animals than to people. The animal shelter worker should be an exception, since a large part of any job from Director to adoption clerk involves a high degree of public contact and calls for good public relations. Shelter workers must deal positively with the public while dealing kindly with the animals that are their prime responsibility.
Part of these public relations involves the often difficult task of making people aware of the animal shelter's mission, which is community service. The old stereotype of the shelter as being merely "the dog pound" unfortunately persists. Although enforcing local dog laws is still one duty, shelter workers' jobs go far beyond that old-fashioned notion.
Positive public relations are also needed to overcome the negative perception of euthanasia-an unfortunate necessity in the face of animal abandonment and pet over-population.
Much animal shelter work could be heartbreaking for the people doing it. A high proportion of the animals the worker deals with are not suitable for adoption and must be destroyed. Even with a well-publicized adoption program, the supply of pets often exceeds the demand. Shelter workers' natural compassion must be tempered with professionalism in the face of reality if they are to serve the community's need for animal control.
Another necessary characteristic is the willingness to work for relatively low pay, particularly in animal shelters funded by public contributions. In many areas, the funds for shelter operation are barely adequate, and pay is proportionately less than it might be for work at similar levels in other animal care areas.
SHELTER JOBS FOR BEGINNERS
The kennel worker is one of the animal shelter mainstays. This job can lead to promotion within the shelter, or to a job as Control Officer or Humane Agent. If you think that animal shelter work is your cup of kibble but you have no experience, a summer of paid work or volunteering will give you an insider's perspective on things. As a kennel worker, you will care for sick and well animals in separate areas; feed puppies, dogs, kittens, cats, and other creatures; keep them and their cages clean; and perhaps help with adoptions and learn to do some administrative detail. If you are not a volunteer, you will very likely be paid close to minimum wage for your efforts, but you'll acquire that all important experience in animal care that will be invaluable in any animal care career you select. As a volunteer, especially if you are in college with an animal-related major, you may be able to get some sort of course credit for your summer internship, a possibility well worth investigating ahead of job time.
The shelter adoption clerk helps people select the right pets (or reclaim their lost animals), completes the adoption papers, collects the necessary fees, and instructs the new owners in basic pet care. This, too, can be either a full-time job or an internship. A pleasing personality, affinity for animals, basic typing, administrative and telephone skills, and a high school diploma are the usual requirements. As with kennel worker, the opportunity for experience or possible advancement should be more important to you than earnings.
ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER/HUMANE AGENT
Regardless of the name, this is the high-visibility animal shelter job. In the city-operated shelter, Animal Control Officer is the usual title; Humane Agent is the name for the same job in the SPCA or humane society facility. This is the person most often viewed by the public-positively or negatively depending on whether the job at hand is rescuing a kitten for a grateful child or filing a cruelty complaint against the owner of a roadside zoo.
This is a job you may be able to get if you're a high school graduate with good communication skills, a positive (but not overbearing) manner, and the ability to make sound judgments on the spot. A background in basic law enforcement, animal science, or veterinary technology is helpful but may not be essential. In several states, your proficiency in animal law enforcement has to be legally certified, often as a part of your on-the-job training.
Physically, this job calls for skill in animal handling and control (again, part of training), stamina, agility, and a degree of strength. Pure strength is not as important as gentleness and persuasiveness. For this reason, women make excellent Officers, and many are entering the field.
As a new Officer, you would first have several weeks of training in animal law, recognition of animal breeds and behavior, illnesses, injuries, and symptoms of disease. In the next training period, you would learn the animal capture and handling techniques for all the situations you'd be likely to encounter. You'd also receive training in dealing with the public.
After you begin work-often as a partner with an experienced Officer-it usually takes two months or more for you to become reasonably competent. As a beginner, you might be the vehicle driver, assisting and learning from your partner as you make daily rounds.
Your control team may start the day with a list of requests and complaints to be checked out: a barking dog; a roving monkey; a treed cat. Other requests may come in by two-way radio: a pig has escaped from an overturned truck on the Interstate or a skunk needs to be removed from a suburban garage.
As you rescue, capture, or administer first aid, your team would try to find the owners of domestic animals and might issue a warning or write a citation for an unlicensed animal. Only when animals are wild, injured, or without apparent owners are they taken to the shelter.
Officers most often find the public is cooperative. In the rare instance when a pet owner becomes troublesome or a situation gets out of hand-when your one escaped pig turns out to be a squealing herd-your team would call for shelter or police reinforcements by radio. In any event, an Officer's day is seldom dull.
One such spring day was exciting indeed for Janie Gerber, head Control Officer of the Aspen/Pitkin County (Colorado) Animal Control Department. Responding to a call, she found a kitten marooned on a rock in a river, trapped by rising flood waters. Janie called for volunteers from the many spectators, formed a human chain, and plunged into the raging water to rescue the kitten. She succeeded, and took the kitten to a local veterinarian even before changing her soaked clothing.
Janie Gerber, an avid outdoors person, performs human rescue work in Colorado's rugged mountains during the winter snows. She has trained her own German Shepherd to help.
Janie is also deeply involved in humane education and is a favorite speaker at area service clubs and Scout meetings. She believes that the more people know about the needs of animals, the more responsive-and responsible-they will be.
In some areas, you, like Janie, would aid in public relations by speaking on pet care and shelter operation to civic and school groups. You would also make inspection and enforcement calls on pet shops, zoos, animal processing centers, traveling circuses or shows, and riding stables, either at random or in answer to complaints. When rounds are over, you would enter reports on the animals brought in, the citations issued, and the findings of your inspections.
HUMANE EDUCATION SPECIALIST
With additional schooling beyond high school, your chances for interesting shelter career work grow. Among the jobs available are veterinary technician (see Chapter 8) and humane education specialist. Higher education is the key to shelter management positions as well.
Humane education specialist is a relatively new career with moderate growth. If you elect to enter it, be prepared to get a college degree in elementary education first, with a minor in animal science or biology. You should also plan to live in a major population area, since most humane education specialists work for larger humane societies, often in connection with an area's public school system.
Your job would be educating the public-especially school children-on the need for humane treatment and respect for animals. Your tasks would very likely include conducting audiovisual lectures, field trips, pet care classes, and wildlife preservation courses. You might also be the public relations liaison between your humane society and the community.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) can provide more information about this career specialty.
ANIMAL SHELTER MANAGEMENT CAREERS
The top management position in the humane society shelter is Executive Director; the same person in the city-connected facility is the Director of Animal Control. In either shelter, the second in command is called the Shelter Manager. In smaller facilities, these jobs may be combined.
The Director is like the captain of a ship-in charge of every phase of the operation. He or she must have excellent administrative, personnel management, and public relations skills. In a municipal facility, the Director formulates the annual budget, in cooperation with a City Council or other governing group, and then operates the facility within the budget. The Director may also be expected to raise money if the center operates on a contract that does not cover all its expenses.
The Executive Director of a humane facility usually works with a Board of Directors, and is an unofficial member. The Executive Director is also the chief fund-raiser, an important job-and in either facility, the Director maintains harmonious relations with the public, by appearing often on local radio and TV talk shows, and by seeking favorable publicity for the shelter's programs and operations.
Although Directors may rise through the ranks-most often promoted from Shelter Managers-they may also have had experience as veterinarians, commercial kennel operators, or animal science specialists. Since Directorship openings are relatively rare, an aspiring Director must be willing to relocate when and where an opening appears.
In shelters large enough to need them, the Director is aided by a Shelter Manager, in charge of all day-to-day activities from supervising employees to maintaining cleanliness standards and purchasing supplies. The careers leading to Manager are similar to Director, including advancement from within.
At both top management levels, a thorough knowledge of animal health standards, community expectations and animal law enforcement are required for the job.
Middle management jobs offer salaries higher than Control Officer but below Shelter Manager. These can include Control Officer Supervisor (or Humane Agent Supervisor) and Assistant Shelter Manager. These jobs are usually earned through promotion, or by changing from one animal shelter to another.
PET SHOP CAREERS
Although they are at the other end of the pet care spectrum from animal shelters, pet shops also offer work for beginners. Summer or after-school work in a pet shop can give you the edge in experience that can help you enter another area of animal care-or can help you develop the selling and management skills you'll need to operate a pet related business of your own.
Some pet stores sell both common and exotic animals, and offer supplies and grooming services as well (this is an excellent separate business, too). Other shops stick to the basics: kittens, puppies, gerbils, hamsters, and fish. Some merchants specialize in fish or birds-and if the shop is called Jim's Puppyland, you know what to expect when you walk in. But whatever the merchandising philosophy, the job skills for beginners are the same: willingness, love of animals, a sense of order and cleanliness, and an ability to deal with people.
Pet store work often begins early. The pets may be fed before the doors open for business. Cage cleaning goes on until all are fresh and welcoming. Animals are inspected for illness and-surprise!-unexpected pregnancies. Customers select pets and supplies, new animals are checked and added to waiting cages, pet supply salespeople are welcomed (they are a top source of merchandising ideas, many pet shop owners say). On days when the store is closed, the pets must still be fed, watered, and their cages kept clean. Most of these are jobs you as a beginner can do.
With experience and ongoing education into this retail business, you can advance in the pet shop world, perhaps to manager of a store, or to the ownership of your own shop.
If you do go into business for yourself, take the advice of experienced pet shop owners and locate your store in a high traffic area. It's not surprising that many pet stores are in shopping malls where people can stroll in comfort regardless of the weather, and where children predominate in the crowds that pass by. Learn to plan appealing window displays; many pets and supplies are bought on irresistible impulse, and the sight of your appealing window will draw customers inside. Perhaps, too, you can think of a way to allow animals in window displays to have more space to play and indulge their kitten or puppy energy. The present tiny quarters and the zonked-out appearances of these tiny animals might leave pet shop owners open to charges of animal cruelty.
While minimum wage is generally the rule for pet shop workers who are also students, you may receive modest pay increases the longer you stick with the job, and the more willing you are to do the dirty chores. Or, your boss may let you work behind the counter and add a small sales commission to your hourly wages.
