Animal Careers?

Curious if anybody here has an animal career. I have to do a career paper for history class and I'm interested in animal careers. If you have an animal career, I'd love to hear about it! It's cool hearing about all the different things there are out there.

What career?
Does it require a college degree?
Description of the job:
Anything Else?

Last edited on 2018-03-12 at 12:04:06 by Oswin

We used to have a cattle farm with usually in between 80-100 head of cattle, and I'm wanting to get into it again once I start a career, so I'll fill that out. :)

What career? cattle farmer
Does it require a college degree? nuh-uh
Description of the job: There's two types, there's dairy farmers and beef farmers. We had beef cattle. Beef cattle are raised for food and that, you raise up the calves and get them good and big, then ship them out or keep them for breeding stock. Dairy cattle are raised for milk. Dairy farmers often have over 100 cattle that are milked every day, some milk by hand, others with newfangled milking machine things. Cattle farmers also often grow crops to feed the herd, as we did.
Anything Else? perhaps some farmers don't take good care, but I wanna clear it up that most take excellent care of their stock, unlike many think. That is their livelihood and their source of putting food on the tables for their families, so it is very important to them to take good care of them. Some also butcher the cattle in bad ways, but many, us included, use swift, humane methods or have reputable people do for it for them.

Just for funzies!

What career? Veterinary Assistant

Does it require a college degree? No, but the more education you have, the better

Description of the job: I have worked as an assistant for a horse vet and now currently am employed at a small animal vet clinic. It is a little different in working with different species but the same ideas apply. Basic know how of safe animal handling practices, people skills, knowledge of vaccines and when to use/how often to give, data input, stocking, surgical instrument cleaning, etc.

Anything Else? I personally preferred (and would rather) working with the horse vet. I found the job to be much more interesting and I had to be much more self-reliant as I was basically the only tech. Working in a small animal practice requires more people skills, with clients and coworkers, which is not bad, just different. As I said, the more knowledge, the better. I did receive some on the job training to acquaint me with their computer system and what not. If I could find a horse practice to work in though, I would much rather work with horses. But that could be just me.  :)

What career? Certified Veterinary Technician
Does it require a college degree? Yup - 2 years and externships
Description of the job: I have 9 years experience total - 7 in small animal dogs/cats and 2 in just cats. I've done everything from running reception, checking people out, putting them into rooms, getting histories and vitals to things like high risk anesthesias on critically ill patients, blood transfusions, placement and maintenance of intravenous catheters. Techs are pretty much expected to know all and do all - we calculate drug doses, fill meds, give meds (oral, injectable, etc), provide customer service to clients, support clients through euthanasias and provide all sorts of information to them. We are the cogs of the veterinary hospital - we make it run - the docs are the ones giving orders but we are the ones that get everything done and typically know what the vets want before they even open their mouths. Depending on where you work - it can be either a boring job or a busy one - or some where in between depending on the business of the hospital and how much you are utilized.
Anything Else? It doesn't really pay that well and it can be a fairly thankless job - you have to be in it because you love animals and really for no other reason. If the job itself is a bad fit (don't mesh with the boss/other techs/whatever) it can cause you to burn out quick. I was burned out hardcore and switched to only cats and am back to loving life. 

What career?
I'm a horseback riding trail guide.
Does it require a college degree?
Nope, but it does require about two years of a volunteer program in order to be hired.
Description of the job: I take groups of people onto an open space preserve right next to the ranch (b/c the ranch sold half the property to an open space district that became the open space preserve). I'm in charge of leading the group and making sure that the people stay safe and don't mess around with their horses. I also point out everything we can see from the trails and the plants and animals that live on the preserve. I also talk about all kinds of things about the horses, mainly about how long horses live and our oldest horse (a 35-year old white appy).
Anything Else? 
There are other jobs than being a trail guide, the other is "ground staff" meaning that if you work on weekends, you're in charge of creating trails as the clients walk in and you're responsible for all of the lessons and trails getting out in a timely manner. On weekdays, you're in charge of getting the lesson horses ready, getting the lessons on and getting the barn closed and cleaned for the next day. You're also in charge of the volunteers that range from 13 to 18 and you have to make sure that they're working and getting thing done so that closing the barn goes quickly.

There's so much more and if you want to know more, I can PM you.

What Career?
Stable Hand
Does it require a college degree?
Nope but you have a better chance at big stables if you do. For example, I am a Certified Horse Industry Technician with my Riding Certificate as well.
Description of job:
basically caring for all the horses as if they are your own but the way the owner or barn manager requires. So feeding, turn out or in, mucking out etc.
Anything Else?
Basic horse knowledge is required and Equine First Aide is definitely needed. Some places will not hire you if you do not have horse experience.

Last edited on 2018-03-20 at 10:02:09 by Aries