# what kind of career involves animals?



## Kawaii608 (Apr 10, 2007)

i'm in high school and i was wondering what kind of careers involves animals, that has a decent pay.


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## polly (Apr 10, 2007)

Vet - probably the best esp if you specialise

Vet nurse

Zoo's

can't think of anything else just now


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## AngelnSnuffy (Apr 10, 2007)

Receptionist at a vet office.


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## pamnock (Apr 10, 2007)

http://www.khake.com/page10.html


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## *poifect* (Apr 10, 2007)

*AngelnSnuffy wrote: *


> Receptionist at a vet office.




I'd :heart:that job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hehehe!!!!


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## HoneyPot (Apr 10, 2007)

I agree with polly 
- Vet/Specialized Vet. Like if you specialize in exotics (and can treat bunnies!! :bunnydance

_________
Nadia


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## Kawaii608 (Apr 10, 2007)

aww anything that an average minded student like me can be? I don't think i'm smart enough to be a vet

If i work in a zoo, i don't want to be those people who clean poop andstuff, what are the people called when they feed and play and train theanimals?


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## Aliena (Apr 10, 2007)

Everyone who works with animals has to clean up'poop and stuff' so you best get used to it! You could workin a pet shop, bea zoo keeper, a conservationist, dogtrainer, animal welfare officer, dog control officer, vet, vet nurse,etc.


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## pamnock (Apr 10, 2007)

*Aliena wrote:*


> Everyone who works with animals has to clean up 'poop andstuff' so you best get used to it!




I was going to say that - you beat me to it LOL

There's a lot of dirty work if you want to be involved with animals Kawaii

However, you could be an animal photographer or artist - a veryenjoyable career without the mess and it's something you could startgetting involved in right now.

Pam


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## Kawaii608 (Apr 10, 2007)

what i mean is i don't want to be only the poopcleaner, becuz i always thought there is someone who cleans all thepoop, and someone different who treats them, and someone different whotrains them. Do i need college degree for those things?


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## Aliena (Apr 10, 2007)

Well I'm doing a degree at Uni now and part ofwhat I have to do to pass involves caring for animals which in turninvolves cleaning up after them. I think the animal industryis the kind of place where you have to start a little bit low and workyour way up. You are never going to avoid the poop cleaningentirely but as your career progresses you will most likely not berequired to do as much. I guess if you get a degree you starta little bit higher in the chain than if you were to just start fromthe bottom.


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## Spring (Apr 10, 2007)

Too bad that list doesn't include Professional bunnyhugger .

I'd love to work with animals, but who knows in a few years I might find something else that grabs my attention.


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## karona (Apr 10, 2007)

Vet nurse is called vet tech and it is a collage progam

A zookeeper requires university

Vet requires university

Recpetionist or vet office manager require collage

Animal trainer collage

Pet groomer collage


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## AngelnSnuffy (Apr 10, 2007)

Actually, receptionist and office manager do notin some instances (US anyway) require college degrees. I havedone office work since hs and the only college I have is in anotherfield, but if you start out at temp agencies, that'll get you theexperience you need for office jobs, receptionist, etc.


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## juicyjuicee (Apr 10, 2007)

Animal Rehabilitation. That's what i'm going into.


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## missyscove (Apr 10, 2007)

*Kawaii608 wrote: *


> Do i need college degree for those things?


You're basically going to need a college degree if you don't want tomake minimun wage. What if you got one job then decided youdidn't like that one anymore? A college degree is a greatbackup. 

Personally, I want to be a veterinarian. In 10 days I'll findout if I got accepted to a program at Cornell, Introduction toVeterinary Medicine. Although the application date for thathas passed, you might look into something similar. See ifyour local zoo has a program, volunteer at the shelter like Ido. All things to see what you are interested in.


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## Aliena (Apr 10, 2007)

Sorry for the dumb question but what's the difference between college and university?


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## missyscove (Apr 11, 2007)

Usually a college is 2 years, university 4years. Universities usually offer further studies aswell. However, many schools are called colleges, but are infact universities, such as Boston College. Now the words areused essentially interchangeably. 

http://www.educationbug.org/a/college-vs-university.html


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## AngelnSnuffy (Apr 11, 2007)

If you work for a temp agency or just get hiredfor office, you don't get minimun wage either, that's why it's a goodstep in the right direction. You get about $1.50 or more anhour.


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## Aliena (Apr 11, 2007)

Ok, that's just confusing! In NZ adiploma takes two years and a degree takes three or four years (onaverage) but you do them both at University. So there is nocollege (although some high schools have college in their names butthey are just a high school).


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## Bangbang (Apr 11, 2007)

i'm studying to be a vet nurse atm, but havebeen a groomer for the past 3 1/2 years. Both are wonderful (howevergrooming takes a lot of patience :shock


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## Michaela (Apr 11, 2007)

For a long time I wanted to work with animalstoo, but the more I thought about it the more I became unsure. Like avet - there is no way I'd be able to handle having to put animals tosleep. AndI don't like dogs:tongutwo:. And you can't do avet course in any of the Universities in NI, you have to go to Dublinor England, but I'd rather go to Belfast because I want to be able togo home most weekends to see my bunnies (and familytoo...:expressionless)

Are you definitely sure you want to work with animals? There are plentyof other opportunities too, maybe with higher pay. Are there anyCareers conventions etc. on nearby you? I went to one in my school andit's convinced me to try out for Dentistry. So lots of maths andscience exams for the next few years, then 5-7 years inUniversity...and lots of debt....:lookaround


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## Echo (Apr 11, 2007)

I worked in an animal shelter for 2 years asstaff not volunteer, tho I was volunteering a year or so before I wasstaff.. and it is a lot of physical labour outdoors and a lot ofcleaning 'poop n stuff' :?and also very hard on your heartespecially around halloween.

Soo now I work in a vet clinic at weekends and during the summer and itis a lot nicer but also you have to be strong emotionally, as ive put afair few animals into their body bags and it isnt nice, nor is loadingthe bags into the crematory van every month. (luckily not many coz itis a good clinic &lt;3 )

And you have to deal with a lot of arrogant pet owners who refuse to dowhat is right for their pet, and are mistreating them.

If you wanted to be a vet but dont like 'icky' stuff then it prob isntfor you, as there is a lot of blood and guts, and even routine thingssuch as taking temperature can be 'icky' 

I'm studying in uni on a science course to become a zoologist..I want to get into conservation in africa and such.


Zookeeper could be fun, and as far as I know, the person who cleans upafter them is also in charge of feeding and general care. I think youget assigned a section or species to be their primary caretaker.

Otherwise you could go into animal training and behaviour which isreally really interesting and rewarding  I'm friends with abehaviourist and im really interested in it.


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## Kawaii608 (Apr 11, 2007)

how many years of college is there to become a vet and a vet tech, what does a vet tech do?


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## juicyjuicee (Apr 13, 2007)

For A vet, I'm not sure but i'm gonna say 5+ years. 

I did a little work at an animal hospital and the vet tech I talked to said she went for 2 years. 

The difference is a vet tech is the assistant to the vet. Kind of like a nurse to the doctor.


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## missyscove (Apr 13, 2007)

In the US, vets are 4 years of grad school after4 years of undergrad. There are some 7 year programs forespecially bright students that I've read about. 

You can get a 2 or 4 year degree from one of the following schools and become an acredited vet tech.

http://www.vetinfo.com/vettech.html



http://www.vetinfo.com/veted.html


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## Kawaii608 (Apr 13, 2007)

I did some research, vet tech don't earn a lot. =( and they work a lot and its like 6 years of school after high school.


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## naturestee (Apr 14, 2007)

Vet Tech is usually a 2 year program, although there are some 4 year programs whose graduates would most likely earn more pay.

It may not look like much money, but it's better than most jobs you can get with only a high school degree.


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## Kawaii608 (Apr 14, 2007)

oh I get think i get it. to be a vet tech youneed a high school degree and then 2 years of college after that. Ithought it's get a high school degree and then get a 4 years of collegedegree and then another 2 years after college.


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