Animal Care Attendant

Tufts University; North Grafton (MA); On-site; USD 25,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

Tufts University’s Foster Hospital is seeking an Animal Care Attendant to join the 24/7 care team supporting dogs, cats and exotic pets. You will assist with patient care, transport, cleaning and daily operations in a hospital environment.

Responsibilities include feeding and hydrating patients as ordered, helping with treatments under supervision, and maintaining spaces, cages and equipment. Preference for a High School diploma and ability to lift 50 lbs.

Qualifications

• One year of related experience.
• High School degree or equivalent.
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs.
• Ability to work as part of a team.

Responsibilities

• Provide high quality patient care to include feeding and basic animal handling.
• Assist technicians with treatments and proper husbandry.
• Clean and maintain cages, spaces, and dog walk areas.
• Provide laundry service and maintain equipment.
• Assist with disposition of patient remains including preparation for disposition.
• Transport patients between services and to mortuary room.
• Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Skills

Teamwork

Basic computer skills

Ability to lift 50 lbs

Education

High School degree or equivalent

Tools

EMR system

Job description

Overview

The Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals provides 24-hour care for pets 365 days of the year. Since 1979, we have offered high quality medical care, consultation, referral and emergency veterinary services for the care of dogs, cats and exotic pets. The hospital also serves as the primary clinical training environment for the veterinary students, interns and residents.

What You'll Do

• Patient Care
  • Provide high quality patient care to include the following:
  • Provide patients with food and water as ordered by clinician.
  • Assist technicians in completing patient treatments while demonstrating proper animal handling and humane restraint techniques, basic and species-specific husbandry techniques and proper daily care of medical equipment.
  • Clean and maintain cages and clinical spaces.
  • Clean and stock patient care areas and food room.
  • Clean and maintain dog walk areas.
  • Provide laundry service.
  • Assist with proper disposition of patient remains including preparation of clay paws and proper preparation of a body (including tags) for disposition.
• Patient Transport
  • Responsibilities include:
  • Assist with patient visits.
  • Assist with patient drop offs and discharges.
  • Transport patients between services within the Hospital.
  • Transport deceased patients to mortuary room.
• Miscellaneous
  • Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

The schedule for this position will be Thursday, Friday, Saturday 6AM - 6:15PM

What We're Looking For

Basic Requirements:

Knowledge and experience typically acquired by:

• One year of related experience.
• The following required knowledge and skills as typically acquired by completing a High School degree or equivalent experience.
• Ability to effectively work as a member of a team.
• Pride in maintaining assigned areas in a hospital environment.
• Basic computer skills including the ability to learn the electronic medical record system.
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs. with or without accommodation.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Associate's Degree or Vocational/technical training preferred with one or more years of experience.
• Knowledge of animal behavior, restraint, feeding and basic sanitation.
• Exotic animal handling skills. Exotic animals include birds, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, rodents, special small mammals (such as chinchillas or hedgehogs), reptiles, and amphibians. For Animal Care Attendants working primarily with the Zoological Companion Animal (ZCAM) program, exotic animal handling skills are required.

Pay Range

Minimum $18.00, Midpoint $21.00, Maximum $23.90

Salary is based on related experience, expertise, and internal equity; generally, new hires can expect pay between the minimum and midpoint of the range.