#10 Fun Jobs with Animals: Pet Sitter/Dog Walker
Pet sitters and dog walkers are often in high demand. These individuals visit people’s homes while they are working to take their dogs for a walk, feed their pets, and give the animals much-needed attention. Some pet sitters may also be hired for overnight or multi-day assignments where they stay in an individual’s home and take care of their pets while they are away for travel. Being a dog walker or pet sitter can also be a side job that you do alongside other endeavors. If your schedule is more open during the traditional workday, you may be able to fit in some time to take a few neighborhood dogs for a walk or stop by a neighbor’s home to give attention to their cat.
#9 Fun Jobs with Animals: Veterinary Assistant
If you’ve ever been to a vet, you’ve likely met a veterinary assistant. As the job title implies, these individuals assist veterinarians. Commonly referred to as veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants are responsible for keeping the exam rooms clean, weighing animals, giving medications to animals, and offering other assistance to a veterinarian during an exam. Veterinarian assistants may also interact a lot with the pet’s family members. Some of their duties may include doing a pre-assessment and talking with the owner about why their dog, cat, or other pet needs to be seen by the veterinarian.
#8 Fun Jobs with Animals: Seeing-Eye Dog Trainer
Seeing-Eye dog trainers have a critical job; they are responsible for ensuring that dogs in training are ready to perform the duties need to help individuals with a visual impairment. Trainers will need to coach dogs to learn how to guide their owners through traffic, assess the safety of a variety of situations, and much more. Seeing-eye dog trainers spend two to three with a dog getting them ready to work. They use a variety of training techniques including positive reinforcements, clicker training, and other incentives to make sure the dog is up for the task.
#7 Fun Jobs with Animals: Dog or Cat Breeder
Breeders select male and female dogs or cats to breed together to make puppies of the same (or sometimes mixed) breeds. Dog breeders must take care to ensure that the male and females are in good health to prevent inheritable diseases from being passed on to the puppies or kittens. In addition to checking on the physical health, breeders should also evaluate the dog’s temperament to ensure that they are even-tempered to increase the odds that the puppies they produce will be as well. Purebred dog breeds also need to conduct genetic testing to confirm that the male and females they choose are indeed purebred dogs and not mixed with any other breeds. They should also consult with the breed standard and conduct a physical assessment of the dog to make sure they meet these criteria. Once puppies are born, breeders need to work hard to take care of the puppies and find them good homes where they’ll be safe and well-cared for.
#6 Fun Jobs with Animals: Zoologist
Zoologists study different animals and make plans for their care. They often work to make sure that their habitat is meeting their needs and that their dietary requirements are being met. Zoologists may work in zoos, national parks, aquariums, wildlife centers, or other areas where animals need support and attention. A few of the animals a zoologist may study include elephants, lions, penguins, giraffes, and monkeys. Many zoologists also work on advancing measures to ensure wild animals are protected.
#5 Fun Jobs with Animals: Marine Biologist
If you love ocean animals such as dolphins, killer whales, manatees, seals, or sea otters, one of the careers you may want to consider is to become a marine biologist. Marine biologist study ocean and salt water animals to learn more about their habits and behaviors. They may track different animals, assess how impacted they are by human-caused changes, or work to make changes to help improve ocean ecosystems that have been damaged.
#4 Fun Jobs with Animals: Wildlife Rehabilitator
A wildlife rehabilitators job is to assess and care for wild animals that have been hurt. Some of their duties include patching up wounds and cleaning animals. Wildlife rehabilitators are often called when there are natural disasters or other events, such as an oil spill, that impact or endanger a lot of different animals. While many think that their only job is to care for hurt animals, the job also involves educating the public and running volunteer initiatives, doing administrative work, and helping run the wildlife rehab facility. As far as education requirements go, you can earn a certificate to be a wildlife rehabilitator, but it’s becoming a more competitive field, so the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association recommends getting a college degree in biology or ecology, with a focus on curriculum that would prepare one to handle, treat and care for all types of wild animals.
#3 Fun Jobs with Animals: Veterinarian
Veterinarians are responsible for providing medical care to pets. The most common animals treated by veterinarians are cats and dogs. Some veterinarians may also treat smaller animals such as gerbils or hamsters, while others may specialize in farm animals like horses, cows, and sheep. Veterinarians perform regular checkups on animals as well as emergency visits to diagnose conditions that are making the animals sick. They also perform surgeries that are needed to keep pets healthy.
#2 Fun Jobs with Animals: Animal Nutritionist
An animal nutritionist is a person who works to make sure the nutritional needs of the animals in their care are being met. They examine the behavior of different animals and use that information along with information about the animal’s overall health and dietary needs to make recommendations to owners, governmental agencies, or corporations that are responsible for the animals. Much of an animal nutritionist’s time is spent working in a lab, but they do spend some time out with the animals under their care as well.
#1 Fun Jobs with Animals: Zoo Veterinarian
Zoo veterinarians are veterinarians who specialize in treating animals at the zoo. This position requires more advanced training than what a standard veterinarian would receive since zoo veterinarians need to learn not only how to care for exotic animals, but also how to interact with some of the larger creatures. Zoo veterinarians work to make sure animals at the zoo stay healthy. They clean and care for any wounds they may sustain and work to make sure the animals’ dietary needs are being met. Zoo veterinarians may treat a wide range of species including tigers, rhinoceroses, zebras, parrots, lizards, and more. Zoo veterinarians are definitely big animal lovers and get to experience things most people will never have the opportunity to. Animal lovers deserve to find a job that makes them happy and will allow them to spend time working with animals. Which one of these careers seems most exciting to you?
Summary
If you’ve ever thought of making a career out of working with animals, here’s a reminder of the top 10 most fun jobs:
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