Animal Control Kennel Medical Assistant
About The Position
The City of Richmond's Animal Care and Control seeks a dynamic, enthusiastic, and hardworking person to join its team as an Animal Control Medical Kennel Assistant. The incumbent is responsible for high-quality daily care and husbandry for animals housed in the facility while assisting the medical team with basic treatments, clinical observations, and disease control. This role ensures that all patient enclosures are sanitary and safe, closely monitors medical or recovering animals for changes in clinical status, and assists the veterinary team with handling, feeding, and medical prep. The selected candidate will join a dynamic team of individuals focused on providing excellent, prompt, and accurate services to both external and internal customers while achieving the following mission: To provide and maintain a healthy, safe environment for all animals in the kennel facility for the City of Richmond. Richmond Animal Care and Control is committed to becoming an employer of choice AND we are dedicated to the growth of our workforce. We value our employees and seek to attract and retain the best. We are also committed to individual professional growth! The selected candidate will have the opportunity to attend applicable training and educational workshops.
Requirements
- High School Diploma, GED, or equivalent
- No work experience required
- Distinguishing common intestinal parasites
- Symptoms of common viruses
- Behaviors and body language of animals
- Good knowledge of caring for dogs and cats and basic knowledge of caring for farm animals, birds, etc.
- Electronic databases and related software applications such as the shelter intake system, Shelterbuddy
- First aid
- Animal CPR
- Proper animal handling
- Various animal shelter equipment and machines such as catch-poles, hide gloves, muzzles, flat leashes, power washers, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, etc.
- Assisting in the adoption process
- Feeding, watering, and walking animals
- Caring and handling both healthy and unhealthy animals with a variety of temperaments
- Cleaning
- Communicating with kennel staff and citizens
- Assisting with the euthanasia of animals
- Judging if an animal is aggressive, timid, scared, etc.
- Performing basic animal medical duties such as giving vaccinations, fluids and medications; drawing blood; replacing bandages, etc.
- Performing various maintenance tasks such as fixing a broken dog cage
- Using animal care and control equipment such as a catch-pole on a dog
- Communicate
- Lift heavy objects
- Maintain professional composure during emotional situations
- Stand for long hours
Nice To Haves
- Experience working with animals preferred
Responsibilities
- Cleaning the animals, the bay area, and cages
- Distributing food and water to the animals
- Assisting in administering medication or vaccination to the animals
- Ensuring the safety and security of the animals housed
- Completing required paperwork on incoming and outgoing animals
- Maintaining inventory of the required supplies
- Report any abnormalities, injuries, signs of illness, or distress immediately to the veterinary technician or veterinarian on duty.
- Performing other related duties as assigned
Benefits
- Virginia Retirement System (VRS)
- Language Incentive
- Referral Bonus
- Tuition Assistance Program
- Applicable training and educational workshops
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
High school or GED
