10 Animal-Related Jobs You May Just Love

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work with animals? The animal world is a diverse one, with a wide variety of jobs available – from breeding to zoos and veterinary care. Those who care for the animals can be both loving and compassionate—and can find themselves working in the animal-related industries. 

We have gathered 10 of the best jobs that animal lovers can find themselves involved in. Read on and perhaps consider a change of career!

1. Grooming – Is a competitive business where you shave, bathe, and trim a client’s pet’s fur to perfection. Confidence and calmness can make all the difference, especially as many pets do not enjoy the grooming process. However, for many animals like the Sphinx cat, grooming is a necessity to keep them healthy, which makes this role an interesting one for those who care for animals.

2. Kennel/Cattery Attendants, Walkers, and Pet Sitters – care for a pet while their owners travel or become unavailable. This may sound like a dream job, but these roles can be physically demanding if you have to walk a lot of dogs or if you’re caring for animals with special needs. These jobs can be full-time or part-time, allowing animal lovers to get a perfect ratio of time with animals.

3. Veterinary Assistants – assist with the running of a veterinary service with a variety of different non-medical tasks. It could be classified as one of the most diverse in the animal care field. This role is perfect for those who wish to care for sickly animals but do not have the medical qualifications to work with them directly.

4. Animal Caretakers – work directly with animals in many different settings to ensure their health and welfare. This could be looking after zoo animals, or teaching staff how to work with their animals in a laboratory. Animal caretakers often take care of animals you cannot class as pets, such as flamingoes or crocodiles!

5. Animal Trainers – train animals and animal handlers for many tasks, including riding or performing stunts or tricks. This field is diverse, from housetraining problematic pets to training animal actors for movies. It’s important to use training methods that are not considered cruel, as often these backfire in the long run.

6. Veterinary Technicians – are veterinarian’s assistant helping with medical exams, surgery, and vaccinating animals. A step up from the simple assistant, yet not requiring as much extensive training as a veterinarian. The best of both worlds.

7. Animal breeders – aren’t just people who breed pets and pedigrees for sale, but also breed animals for research or to feed other animals. Proper animal breeders should maintain genetic diversity in their animals, as the medical welfare of inbred pedigrees has come under scrutiny in recent years. 

8. Biological technician – is a person who works with animal biological samples and participates in the research process. You do not work with the animal directly, instead looking at their tissues, organs, blood components, and other biological materials. This could be for research purposes or for helping to diagnose a disease in an animal.

9. Zoologists and wildlife biologists – study animals and wildlife and how they interact with their natural environment. Be prepared for many nights of sleeping rough in the wild, or close encounters with animals you do not want to interact with.

10. Animal control officers – help ensure the proper treatment of animals, investigate mistreatment cases and locate abandoned animals. You’ll be encountering many angry and upset pet owners in this field, which means its important to keep professional and focus on the welfare of the animal in question.