Annual Salary
£14,000 to £24,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Agriculture or Environment or go back to all job sectors or go to green jobs
Swap to Agriculture or Environment or go back to all job sectors or go to green jobs
Animal care workers look after animals in kennels, rescue centres and sanctuaries.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; on shifts
There will be
5.4% more Animal care worker jobs in 2027.
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.
Animal Care Workers and Welfare Officers are needed in the West of England to help rescue and care for abandoned or injured domestic animals and also to protect and rehabilitate British wildlife species.
There are several different routes you can take to get into working as an animal care worker which you can explore further in the 'Routes into this job' section above.
Click here for an explanation of the different course and apprenticeship levels.
Click here to search for local providers
Click here to search for a local apprenticeship
As an animal care worker you could work in a local animal shelter or rescue centre. For more local employment opportunities see the 'Live job vacancies by region' section above.
Volunteering is a great way to build experience in animal care and may improve your chances of finding paid work. You can also build up contacts, which will be useful when looking for jobs. You can find local volunteering opportunities with: Secret World Wildlife Rescue, Avon Wildlife Trust and Somerset Wildlife Trust.
You'll need: