Animal Services Assistant

City of Aurora; Aurora (CO); On-site; USD 26,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Aurora is seeking an Animal Services Assistant to provide humane care and treatment for sheltered animals, including cleaning kennels, intake processing, and adoption support. You will interact with the public, document animal records, and assist with veterinary-related tasks in a busy shelter setting.

Ideal candidates have a High School Diploma or GED and at least one year of animal-related or customer service experience, with strong communication and attention to detail.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED is required.
• One year of animal-related experience or customer service experience required.
• General knowledge of companion animal welfare.
• Excellent animal handling, customer service, and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide humane care, treatment and safe handling of animals in the shelter.
• Clean kennels and sanitize areas daily.
• Assist with intake, vaccination, and data entry for animals.
• Educate adopters and process adoption paperwork.
• Maintain animal records and assist veterinary services as needed.

Skills

Animal handling

Customer service

Interpersonal communication

Attention to detail

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Tools

Chameleon database

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Job description

JOB LOCATION

15750 E 32nd Ave Aurora, Colorado 80011-1518

City of Aurora, Colorado

It is an exciting time to work for the City of Aurora, we're growing and looking for dedicated and collaborative individuals to join our team of talented and valued employees. Excellent organizations have a set of principles, or core values, that are used to implement their mission and vision. Those values represent the touchstone for the organization, guiding the decisions of the individuals and the organization. At the City of Aurora, we demonstrate our excellence by modeling the CORE 4 Values of: Integrity, Respect, Professionalism, and Customer Service, and we welcome all who share these values to apply.

Why Work for Aurora?

• Make a difference in the lives of real people every day
• Diverse community
• Competitive total compensation package
• Well-Funded General Employees Retirement Plan
• Light rail station minutes away
• On-site fitness center and overall employee well-being programs Internal educational programs to assist with career advancement
• Access to innovation workspaces

PRIMARY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Salary to be commensurate with experience

The hiring range for this position is $19.08 - $23.85/hour

The deadline to submit applications is October 1, 2026. Please note, The City of Aurora will conduct ongoing screenings of applications on a first come, first-serve basis; as soon as we determine to have a qualified pool of applicants, this position may close quickly and without notice.

Overview Of Position / Department The City of Aurora is seeking a skilled Animal Services Assistant to provide humane care and treatment for sheltered animals. This position will be cleaning and maintaining kennel facilities while helping patrons.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

• Provides humane care, treatment and safe handling of animals in the shelter including feeding, cleaning, grooming and enrichment
• Degrease all interior and exterior kennel walls
• Sweep and mop all floors daily
• Empty all trash cans each day
• Wash and sanitize all food containers, water buckets and litter boxes
• Deep clean and sanitize every kennel once it is empty including bedding
• Wash, dry, fold and put away all laundry daily
• Dust and cleans all pipes and vents in kennel area
• Intake animals left in the night drop kennels and sanitizes kennel once empty
• Intakes animals brought in by the public to include photographing, vaccinating, weighing, data entry and kenneling
• Performs an initial physical exam to look for injuries or illness and reports to veterinary services, if found
• Traces microchips and tags for owner contact information on stray animalsAssists with kenneling and movement of animals and updates animal records to reflect movement or change in status
• Educate prospective adopters in adoption of suitable pet: reviews and completes adoption paperwork and conducts dog-dog meet and greets
• Processes animals for release to their owners including verifying ownership, that the animal is cleared to be released to owner and providing owner with all medical paperwork
• Contacting an Animal Protection Officer if a summons has been initiated for the owner of the animal
• Perform kennel inventory to ensure all animals are accounted for daily
• Responds to heavy phone call volume and calls back citizens who left messages and documents each phone call in a log
• Responds to citizen emails
• Provides citizens information on services offered by Aurora Animal Services
• Processes all paperwork and data entry for Community Cat Caretakers, Fancier’s Permit applicants, private trappers, guard dog permits
• Performs euthanasia and related tasks
• Ability to safely use all shelter equipment efficiently
• Transports animals and cleans and maintains the transport vehicle
• Ability to administer microchips and all vaccinations to animals available for adoption
• Medicate sick and injured animals as needed
• Spot clean kennels throughout the day
• Provide differing enrichment items to the dogs and cats each day and cleans up after or walks dogs
• Assists in janitorial and light maintenance duties
• Maintains grounds including picking up trash
• Organize donated items and place in the appropriate area for each use
• Operate and close out the cash drawer daily
• Bathe dogs as needed
• Performs other related duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & WORKING CONDITIONS

An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience that demonstrates required knowledge, skills, and abilities may be considered.

Education:

• High School Diploma or GED

Experience:

• One year of animal related experience or customer service experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• One year of experience working in an animal shelter
• Euthanasia Certification within one year

Knowledge:

• General knowledge of companion animal welfare, breeds and species

Skills:

• Animal handling skills
• Providing friendly customer service
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills
• Strong attention to detail

Abilities:

• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees and citizens
• Handle sensitive situations with tact and diplomacy
• Ability to complete work without close supervision
• Provide humane care and treatment for a variety of animals
• Perform euthanasia
• Creatively solve problems, negotiate and handle stressful situations in a positive manner
• Operate a city vehicle

Licenses And Certifications Required:

• Valid Colorado Driver’s License

WORKING CONDITIONS

Essential Personnel:

• When a local announcement of emergency or disaster is declared by the City, all City of Aurora employees may be required to work as essential personnel.

Physical Demands:

• Medium work that involves moving no more than 50 pounds with or without assistance at a time
• Subject to animal bites and scratches
• May require frequent pushing, pulling, bending and stooping
• Clear vision to read and interpret notes and other written documents
• Speech communication and hearing to maintain communication with employees and citizens
• Hand/eye coordination for operation of computer keyboard
• Foot/eye coordination for operation of a motor vehicle
• Speech communication and hearing to maintain communication with employees and citizens

Work Environment:

• Works primarily indoors in a shelter setting with exposure to dust, water, noise, animal dander, odors and fumes, but may occasionally work outside assisting at outreach events

Equipment Used:

• Uses standard office equipment including personal computer and common office software such as email, internet, Word, Excel and shelter Chameleon database
• This position may require the incumbent to use personal equipment (e.g. vehicle, cell phone, tools, etc.) in the course of their employment.
• This position may require the use of hand tools and equipment common to kennel operations

The city of Aurora will implement furlough days (unpaid days off) for most employees in 2026. The scheduled furlough dates are January 16, April 10, July 2, and December 24.

For Veterans preference: Please show all of your employment history, including military service and related documentation (DD214) on the application.

The City of Aurora is an equal opportunity employer. We are required by state and federal agencies to keep certain statistical records on applicants. It will not be used in any way to discriminate against you because of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, creed, national origin, disability or military status, gender identity, unless related to a bona fide occupational qualification as defined by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunity Commission.

Despite the changes in Colorado law, the City of Aurora maintains a drug-free workplace. A positive test of marijuana is grounds for disqualification and ineligibility for employment with the city for one year or termination once hired.

Drug Testing, Thorough Criminal Background Check, And Employment References: As a condition of employment, all applicants selected for employment with the City of Aurora must undergo a thorough criminal background check. Applicants selected for safety-sensitive positions are required to complete and pass a drug screening as a condition of employment. Safety sensitive positions include Civil Service positions within Police and Fire Departments and positions where their job responsibilities have direct and substantial responsibility that would impact the health and safety of others. Employment references will be conducted on finalists for City of Aurora vacancies.