How To Become An Animal Care Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an animal care specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Shea Porr Ph.D.

Animal care specialists take care of the wellbeing of animals at veterinarian offices, shelters, laboratories that use animal testing, kennels, or any other place where many animals are kept. Animal care specialists take care of basic duties such as feeding animals, grooming them, and making sure that their living spaces are clean. If they are working with a veterinarian, they can perform basic medical tasks like giving medication and assisting during surgery. They take care of administrative duties like maintaining patient logs and interact with customers at a vet's office or animal shelter.

While some animal care specialists have a bachelor's degree in animal science or a related field, many are able to succeed with only a high school diploma. Some previous experience working with animals, even as a volunteer, is also helpful.

Animal care specialists earn an average salary of $31,670 a year, but most are not in this field for the money. They do their job because they love animals.

What general advice would you give to an Animal Care Specialist?

Shea Porr Ph.D.

Department Head, Animal/Equine Science, Associate Professor, Equine Science, Murray State University

Watch and listen. There are a lot of things that are taught in the classroom that aren't necessarily the only way to do things. Different employers will have different experiences or situations, and though the concept may be the same, the delivery may not. Don't assume that just because you have a degree, you already know how to do it "right." Doing something a different way doesn't make it wrong, and you may learn another way to do the same thing.

Be willing to move. You may want to end up working a job back in your hometown, but that's not always going to happen right after graduation. You may need to move to another city, state, or even country, and earn some experience before moving back home. There's a lot to be said for what you can learn and bring back with you. And who knows—you may fall in love with a completely different part of the country!

Take a chance. Step outside your comfort zone. There are a lot of exciting opportunities out there, and you don't want to let one slip by because you were afraid of a little challenge. Or even a big one!

ScoreAnimal Care SpecialistUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $59,197

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate 19%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.26%

Asian 4.83%

Black or African American 1.40%

Hispanic or Latino 6.06%

Unknown 4.30%

White 83.15%

Gender

female 70.33%

male 29.67%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress Level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.7

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an animal care specialist

Explore animal care specialist education requirements

Most common animal care specialist degrees

Bachelor's

46.5 %

Associate

22.8 %

High School Diploma

20.7 %

Start to develop specific animal care specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
PET	26.50%
Animal Handling	10.39%
Quality Customer Service	8.14%
Animal Husbandry	7.52%
Animal Shelter	2.99%

Complete relevant animal care specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New animal care specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an animal care specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real animal care specialist resumes.

Research animal care specialist duties and responsibilities

Enter demographics and medical history into EMR.
Perform hearing, vision, vital signs, and EKG tests as part of physical examinations of air crews.
Motivate and instruct children ages PreK-2nd grade in different sports programs offer such as soccer, basketball, and t-ball.
Develop adaptive sports programs for a variety of disabilities.

Prepare your animal care specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your animal care specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an animal care specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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