Animal Work?!

[SilverDoe]

Do any of you work with animals? If so do you mind sharing what you do and how much you earn?

Thinking of a career change once the kids are in school

Following with interest!

I don't but my son is a falconer, he doesn't earn a fortune (circa £20k) but he absolutely loves what he does, the hours are long and he often is away for the weekend doing shows and displays and of course, he has to work Christmas and other bank holidays.

My job title is Rehoming supervisor for Blue Cross but I do a lot more than supervise rehoming haha. For that part of the job I talk to people who are looking into rehoming their pets and give advice and talk them through what will happen, same for people who want to adopt an animal we have, do home checks and that’s sort of thing. But I also do a lot of hands on work with the animals making sure they are healthy and trained. I also do a lot of work with scared animals to get them ready for their new homes. I earn about 18k a year before any bonuses. I do find it rewarding but also very draining, it’s a lot of work and if you’re an animal lover like I am it can be really hard to see the state some animals are in. I can’t imagine myself in any other work though as I’ve always been set on animal care work.

My biggest advice though will be to get some sort of qualification or experience before you’re looking to start paid work because it’s hard to get into.

Thanks for the replies

Stupidly I hadn’t thought of rescue centre work! Do you mind telling me kind of qualifications would you expect an employee to have?

It’s not so much qualifications, experience will trump qualifications. There are a lot of online courses in Animal Care that are worth looking in to if you’re looking for something flexible if you have kids at home. Where I am we’d never turn someone away for not being qualified as it’s more about the type of person you are and your attitude towards animals than what you know but it doesn’t hurt to have some sort of idea what you’re doing haha. I tend to favour the animal lovers who are just have a genuine passion for the job but a lot of places would prefer the qualified people as it means less training for them.

That’s great to hear! I will look into some volunteering maybe as there is a shelter close by to me :)

I struggle to even think of jobs working with animals besides a vet or vetinary nurse, so it’s hard to know where to even start looking!

What about animal handling presenter? There's a few with pets that do it more for fun but there's some businesses with franchise opportunities. Visit schools, birthdays etc. Fits well around kids but there's the positives and negatives of running your own business.

Hi
I am a veterinary nurse (over 10 years). It's a great job but not very well paid, you really have to be in it for the love of the job. Also, places at university (if you go that route) are highly sought after so you really need experience before they will consider you for the space. I would start getting volunteer work in an animal shelter etc before you apply. Also write to local vets to see if you can come in and 'see practice'.
Other jobs might include working for the RRSPC or SSPCA as an inspector.
Working in kennels or boarding catteries.
Animal care assistant at the larger vet schools.

Look at your local colleges for animal based courses, they do 'pre' veterinary nursing courses to give you a taste of what the job entails.

Hope this helps!

I used to own an animal sanctuary, it’s still up and running but owned by someone else. It is very rewarding work as PP said but it does take a lot out of you when you’re seeing these gorgeous animals in such a state. I’m probably not the best person to comment because the income was very very unstable and would vary drastically depending on the type of month we’d have as we were mainly funded by donations. I loved every minute there and would go back in a heartbeat, the only reason I had to sell was because I had 4 kids so needed a more stable income and was starting to struggle to afford the upkeep. Now I have more time and money and my youngest is 16 with her own job I’d love to go back but unfortunately the new owners have no intention of selling

Unless you’re planning on something like veterinary care I wouldn’t worry about qualifications, yes they’ll help but I don’t imagine you have much time to go back to college/uni if you have young kids at home. If you do have a few hours spare though I really do recommend volunteering and getting some experience. As PP said experience is more important than qualifications when it comes to animal care.

Used to work for one of the biggest animal welfare charities in the UK. Animal carers earn a minimum of 18k for full-time work.

I worked in a cattery for two years at minimum wage
Only thing I'd say is being fit as it's a lot of cleaning out
Lovely job if don't mind leaving each night covered in poo, wee, sick and fur balls :)

dog walking can be very lucrative, seems very popular round here.

Also dog boarding. I know several people who do this. £25 per day.
May not be enough to count as a salary though.

I had exactly the same thought process as you. Kids were growing up and it was time to get back to work. I had taken our dog into school and an old people’s home and loved it but it’s voluntary. It made me research jobs with dogs and, based on my experience and degree, I came up with play therapy. I’m nearly qualified now and can then do a top up to become an Animal assisted play therapist. I’m loving it so far!

My next door neighbours do pet sitting , either at someone's house or having dogs stay at theirs

I'm a qualified Veterinary Nurse. It's a lot of work to train and not very well paid. Only do this if you are not bothered by working for a low wage and are just in it for the love of animals.

I'm a freelance groom - I travel around looking after people's horses. I also do some riding and occasionally teaching (only if I'm really skint as I HATE teaching!)

I charge £13 an hour plus travel outside 8 miles from my home address. I have a set base of long term clients so my wages don't really differ month to month, and I mostly work between school hours.

I have equine qualifications including teaching, however experience counts far more than qualifications in the horse industry - in fact several of my clients would refuse to employ someone who'd studied equine at college!

Student vet nurse - underpaid and undervalued. I exect to earn 20k on qualufication. I wouldnt do anything else

I used to work as a yard manager (horses) until I got injured. If I was able I’d be back in a heartbeat—best job I ever had. The money is shit but it’s so incredibly rewarding and satisfying that I didn’t care. I think a lot of animal based jobs are like that and it kinda depends on what you value the most—salary or job satisfaction.