Animal Care Worker

Typical Salary

£13,500 To £22,000

Typical Hours

38 to 40 a week

evenings / weekends / bank holidays on shifts

How To Become a Animal Care Worker

You can get into this job through:

a college course
an apprenticeship
volunteering

College / University

You could take a college course in animal care or management, for example:

Level 1 Certificate in Introduction to Animal Care
Level 2 Diploma in Animal Care

2 or fewer GCSEs at grades 3 to 1 (D to G), or equivalent, for a level 1 course

2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course

Apprenticeship

You can do an intermediate apprenticeship as an animal care and welfare assistant.

some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship

Routes into this Career

Routes into this Career are not listed for this job.

Other Routes

Other Routes are not listed for this job.

Skills And Knowledge

You'll need:

to be thorough and pay attention to detail
the ability to use your initiative
to be flexible and open to change
patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
the ability to work well with others
the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
customer service skills
excellent verbal communication skills
to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Day To Day Tasks

As an animal care worker, you'll:

monitor animals' health
clean out kennels or cages
prepare food and help out at feeding times
clean and groom animals
look after animals that become ill or distressed
answer queries from colleagues and visitors
exercisie dogs in a yard or take them for walks

Working Environment

You could work at an animal welfare centre, at a wildlife park or in kennels.

Your working environment may be physically demanding, dirty and outdoors some of the time.

Career Path & Progression

With experience, you could become a supervisor or manager, or work self-employed.

You could also use your experience to move into other animal care careers, like veterinary nursing, or find work in a zoo or wildlife park.

Volunteering Opportunities

It'll help to have some experience of working with animals before you start looking for a job.

Volunteering can sometimes lead in to paid work. You can find out about volunteering opportunities in your area from:

Tips & Information

Further information

You can find out more about careers in animal care from the National Land Based College UK and the College of Animal Welfare.

Restrictions & Requirements

Restrictions & Requirements are not listed for this job.