What animal care jobs involve
Animal care is the part of the animal industry that sits around veterinary
practice: the people who feed, clean, handle, exercise, transport, rehome and
look after animals every day. Some of those roles are clinical (veterinary
nurses, animal attendants in hospitals), some are in welfare and rehoming,
and some are in pet businesses — boarding kennels, catteries, grooming salons
and pet retail. If you searched for pet jobs, animal care jobs near me, kennel
work or service animal jobs, this is the closest match on VetJobs.au.
Most of the animal care roles advertised here are in veterinary clinics and
hospitals, which is where the board's listings come from. Animal attendant,
shelter, zoo, wildlife, grooming and service-animal roles appear too, but in
smaller numbers — set up a job alert if that is the
specific work you want, and we'll email you when one is posted.
Animal care role families
- Animal attendant / kennel hand — feeding, cleaning,
exercise, enrichment and basic health monitoring in kennels, catteries,
boarding facilities, shelters and animal hospitals. Usually entry level, and
often casual or part-time.
- Kennel, cattery and boarding staff — the same husbandry
work in a commercial boarding environment, with a heavy customer-service
component at check-in and pick-up. Weekend and holiday cover is the norm.
- Animal welfare and shelter work — intake, behaviour
assessment, foster coordination, rehoming and community education at
shelters, pounds and rescue groups. Emotionally demanding but one of the most
direct routes into the industry.
- Veterinary nursing and animal care in clinics — surgical
and hospital nursing, anaesthesia monitoring, dentistry, pathology and
in-patient care. A Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing is the usual
qualification, and clinic experience is the strongest currency for every
other animal care role.
- Client services and reception — the front desk of a
clinic or welfare organisation: bookings, payments, reminders, insurance
claims and calming worried owners. No animal qualification is required, and
it is a common way in for people who want to move into nursing later.
- Pet retail and grooming — pet store floor and inventory
work, grooming assistants and groomers, and dog training or walking
businesses. Grooming is usually learned on the job or through short courses
rather than a full qualification.
- Zoo, aquarium and wildlife — keeper and wildlife
hospital roles, often requiring a zoology, animal science or captive animal
qualification plus volunteering. Highly competitive and rarely advertised
widely, so watch the page and set an alert.
- Service, assistance and working animals — guide dogs,
assistance dogs, therapy animals, detection dogs and police or defence
working animals. The work blends animal husbandry with training and
public-facing client support.
- Laboratory animal care — animal technicians in
universities and research institutes, managing breeding colonies, welfare
monitoring and compliance. Usually requires a science or animal technology
background and additional ethics and compliance training.
- Bird and exotic animal care — avian, reptile and small
mammal handling in exotic practices, wildlife shelters and pet businesses,
where species-specific knowledge matters more than general clinic
experience.
What animal care roles pay
Pay in this cluster is more predictable than in most of the job market
because most animal care and veterinary support roles sit under the
Animal Care and Veterinary Services Award, which sets minimum rates
for animal attendants, veterinary nurses, receptionists and related
classifications. Entry-level animal attendant and kennel roles typically start
near the award minimums; experienced veterinary nurses, senior animal
attendants and surgical or emergency nurses earn above them; and practice
managers are normally paid above award or on a salary rather than hourly.
Roles at zoos, wildlife hospitals and large welfare organisations often
track the same award but add shift loadings, weekend penalties and, for
senior keeper roles, above-award salaries.
Check the salary field on each listing — where an employer has published a
range, it is shown on the job card — and ask about penalty rates, on-call and
weekend loadings before accepting, because rosters in this industry vary a
lot between employers. Current award minimums are published by the
Fair Work Ombudsman.
How to get into animal care
There is no single entry path, and many people start working with animals
without a formal qualification. The most common routes are:
- Vocational study — a Certificate II in Animal Care or a
Certificate III in Animal Care Services is the standard entry qualification
for attendant, kennel, shelter and pet retail roles, and a Certificate IV in
Veterinary Nursing is the recognised nursing qualification. TAFE and private
RTOs deliver these part-time and online, and some employers support study.
- Volunteering and foster care — RSPCA, Animal Welfare
League and local rescue groups rely on volunteers, and shelter volunteering
is the most common way people build the handling experience that paid roles
ask for.
- Traineeships and casual work — kennels, catteries, pet
stores and grooming salons frequently hire casual staff with no experience
and train on the job. Once you have six to twelve months of animal handling
on your resume, clinic and welfare roles open up.
- From client services into nursing — many veterinary
nurses start on reception or as animal attendants in a clinic and move into
nursing while their employer supports their Certificate IV.
- Degree-level and specialist roles — zoo keeping, wildlife
health and laboratory animal technology usually expect a relevant science or
animal science degree, plus volunteering or internship experience.
Who employs animal care staff
Animal care vacancies come from a wide range of employers:
- Veterinary clinics and hospitals — independent practices
and corporate groups such as Greencross, VetPartners, Vets Central and the
specialist and emergency hospitals, employing animal attendants, nurses,
receptionists and practice managers.
- Welfare and rehoming organisations — RSPCA, Animal Welfare
League shelters, council pounds and breed-specific rescue groups.
- Boarding and pet services — kennels, catteries, doggy
daycare, grooming salons, dog training businesses and pet sitting networks.
- Pet retail — Petbarn, Petstock and independent pet stores,
which often run grooming and veterinary services in store.
- Zoos, aquariums and wildlife hospitals — Taronga, Zoos
Victoria, SEA LIFE aquariums, wildlife parks and rescue and rehabilitation
centres.
- Service and working animal organisations — Guide Dogs,
Assistance Dogs Australia, therapy animal providers, and police and defence
working-dog units.
- Universities, research institutes and government — animal
facilities, teaching hospitals, biosecurity and local government animal
management teams.
Browse the live animal care listings above, or jump straight to
vet nurse, reception and practice
manager jobs if you already know which side of the industry you want.