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Overview
Animal shelter workers care for animals in shelters by receiving new arrivals, cleaning accommodation, feeding and monitoring welfare, supporting veterinary visits and handling adoption records.
In job descriptions, look for animal records, cage cleaning, feeding routines, animal behaviour, welfare checks, adoption handling, customer contact, transport to veterinarians, first aid and protective equipment.
Explore this occupation
Open in Job ExplorerWhat the work can involve
Work is hands-on shelter care across intake, daily routines and adoption support. Workers assess condition and behaviour, clean accommodation, feed and exercise animals, update records, coordinate with veterinarians and speak with people bringing in or adopting animals.
Skills and specializations
Useful strengths include animal welfare, behaviour observation, nutrition, hygiene, safe handling, adoption administration and clear customer communication. Some roles add dog training, grooming, animal first aid or enrichment activities.
Salary context
Pay is shaped by shelter size, shift coverage, animal handling complexity, responsibility for records and adoptions, veterinary coordination and whether the role includes emergency calls or training duties.
Career paths
Experience can lead toward senior shelter care, adoption coordination, animal welfare advising, veterinary-assistant pathways, dog training, shelter operations or volunteer supervision.
Good to know
Check the species and shelter routines in the advert. Look for cleaning load, intake calls, adoption paperwork, transport to veterinarians, shift work, protective gear and how difficult behaviour is handled.
Editorial note
This guide is editorial occupation context. It is not official labour-market statistics or salary data for this exact occupation.
Map overview
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O*NET relationships
See occupations connected to this ESCO occupation in the official O*NET–ESCO mapping. The relationship type comes from the source and is not a ranking or recommendation.
O*NET relationships: 2
Animal Caretakers
39-2021.00
O*NET occupation is broader
The O*NET occupation covers a broader field of work than this ESCO occupation.
Open in O*NETVeterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
31-9096.00
Close relationship
The occupations are closely related, but the official mapping does not treat them as exact equivalents.
Open in O*NETSource and method
These relationships come from the official European Commission O*NET–ESCO crosswalk.
Relationship direction: O*NET occupation to ESCO occupation.
Several O*NET occupations can point to the same ESCO occupation, and one O*NET occupation can point to several ESCO occupations.
AltoTrail preserves the source relationship type. The order is technical and does not show which occupation is best, most relevant or recommended.
AltoTrail validates and presents the source relationships without adding ranking or recommendation semantics.
Alternative labels
Occupation group
Pet groomers and animal care workers (5164)
Source facts
| ESCO URI | http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/7ceb2340-339c-4367-bc4e-e08f57c992f6 |
|---|---|
| ESCO code | 5164.3 |
| ISCO group | 5164 |
| Concept type | Occupation |