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Animal care workers look after animals in kennels, rescue centres and sanctuaries.
You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; on shifts
You could work with domestic or wild animals to:
You could work at an animal welfare centre, at a wildlife park or in kennels.
Your working environment may be outdoors some of the time, physically demanding and dirty.
You can get into this job through:
You could take a college course in animal care, for example:
You may need:
You could apply for a place on an apprenticeship, such as:
These can take up to 1 year and 6 months to complete.
You'll usually need:
It'll help to have some experience of working with animals before you start looking for a job.
Volunteering with animal rescue, animal sanctuaries or conservation charities can sometimes lead to paid work. You may need to do jobs like fundraising or administration first, as a way to get in.
You can search for volunteering opportunities on sites like:
Some of the bigger national animal charities include:
You may be able to find smaller animal charities in your area by searching on the internet.
Looking after your own pets, dog walking or pet sitting can be good ways of learning more about small animal care.
You can find out more about careers in animal care from the:National Land Based College UK; College of Animal Welfare
With experience, you could become a supervisor or manager.
You could become self-employed and run your own business like dog walking, puppy training or pet sitting. You may be able to open your own kennels or cattery or set up an animal rescue charity.
You could also use your experience to move into other animal care careers, like veterinary nursing, or find work in a conservation or wildlife park. There may also be opportunities to go into animal training, for example as an assistance dog instructor.
You can find out more about careers in animal care from the National Land Based College UK and the College of Animal Welfare.