Animal Caretakers
Feed, water, groom, bathe, exercise, or otherwise provide care to promote and maintain the well-being of pets and other animals that are not raised for consumption, such as dogs, cats, race horses, ornamental fish or birds, zoo animals, and mice. Work in settings such as kennels, animal shelters, zoos, circuses, and aquariums. May keep records of feedings, treatments, and animals received or discharged. May clean, disinfect, and repair cages, pens, or fish tanks.
Most important skills
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Coordination
- Service Orientation
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Speaking
- Writing
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administrative
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Administration and Management
- Psychology
- Mathematics
- Public Safety and Security
What the work involves
- Feed and water animals according to schedules and feeding instructions.
- Answer telephones and schedule appointments.
- Examine and observe animals to detect signs of illness, disease, or injury.
- Respond to questions from patrons, and provide information about animals, such as behavior, habitat, breeding habits, or facility activities.
- Provide treatment to sick or injured animals, or contact veterinarians to secure treatment.
- Collect and record animal information, such as weight, size, physical condition, treatments received, medications given, and food intake.
- Perform animal grooming duties, such as washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats, cutting nails, and cleaning ears.
- Exercise animals to maintain their physical and mental health.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Social, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (63.6% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (24.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (56.8%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Animal Caretakers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 82% of occupations compared | 77% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 58% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 76% of occupations compared | 78% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 84% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 85% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 75% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 72% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 65% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 1.23%
- Contact with others most of the time: 21.97%
- Constant contact with others: 76.8%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 10.35%
- Fairly important: 14.15%
- Important: 12.74%
- Very important: 28.94%
- Extremely important: 33.82%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2019
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 9.46%
- Important: 2.48%
- Very important: 10.29%
- Extremely important: 77.78%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2019
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0.69%
- Very little freedom: 16.85%
- Limited freedom: 28.15%
- Some freedom: 26.63%
- A lot of freedom: 27.69%
n = 34, Incumbent 08/2019
Time pressure
- Never: 22.45%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 4.63%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 16.02%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 31.81%
- Every day: 25.09%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2019
Conflict situations
- Never: 2.73%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.09%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 24.64%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 34.45%
- Every day: 10.1%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 9.46%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 16.54%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 28.55%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 32.45%
- Every day: 13%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2019
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 9.46%
- Fairly serious: 26.11%
- Serious: 15.93%
- Very serious: 19.6%
- Extremely serious: 28.9%
n = 35, Incumbent 08/2019
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O*NET-SOC 39-2021.00 · SOC 39-2021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8