Everything favors general job opportunity in the animal care field. Never before has there been such an interest in animal conservation and enlightened animal care. Paralleling this movement is a trend to return to the land and its creatures. This urban retreat should spell jobs for individuals in animal medicine, in humane care work, in wildlife and range specialties, and in areas of self-employment. (The enthusiastic horsewoman, for instance, may make her living raising thoroughbreds, racing them, stabling horses for others, and giving riding lessons.)
Although positions in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have doubled and jobs at the Humane Society of the United States have increased fourfold, positions in some animal care areas are hard to come by. This is because there are more people attracted to the field than there are jobs for them. Some career areas that might be tempting will simply not have many positions to offer.
Throughout this book, chapters on individual animal careers will detail the job market for a particular field, but a few generalizations are possible here. They will illustrate the differences between job expectations and job availabilities. Many laboratory animal clinician positions are available, including working as a veterinary assistant, humane society health technician, or in the more rarefied atmosphere of animal research. A profession such as zoology is somewhat less promising. Zoology encompasses a broad area. Among their many duties, zoologists study animals in their natural habitats, collect specimens for laboratory study, and conduct research on animal diseases.
Other promising career areas include animal conservation and range and park management. Advanced degrees are a tremendous career boost. Despite strong national interest and the creation of a greater number of jobs, it is difficult to get in at the early stages. Nonetheless, there is hope.
GETTING A JOB IN A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE FIELD
There are many ways to pursue and secure a job in these popular fields of animal care-even the ones that are difficult to enter. Make sure first of all that you have the specialized education needed for your field. Then build on this academic cornerstone with practical experience. Volunteer work, an apprenticeship, and workshops all offer hands-on education.
Guy Hodge, Director of Data and Information Services of the Humane Society of the United States, feels that on-the-job training gives the prospective animal care worker the edge. You get to know the management-those people who may be able to give you a helping hand later. You may also learn about job openings before they "go public," and be able to declare yourself eligible.
THE MANY WAYS TO VOLUNTEER
The on-the-job training that Guy Hodge so strongly recommends is best achieved by volunteer work. Volunteering comes in many forms: assisting in a pet shop; volunteering for national park work; or just working with animals on your own in some helpful way.
High schoolers and college students with summers free are often welcome to pitch in at busy SPCAs, community zoos, or veterinary offices. Generally, volunteer work in such places involves the rock-bottom chores like cleaning cages and feeding endless corridors of noisy, demanding creatures. But such chores are performed by almost everyone in the animal care field at one time or another. Even managers of local zoos may find themselves doing shovel-duty on a day when a keeper calls in sick. It's good training, then, to learn from the ground up-literally- how to keep animal surroundings clean!
THE 4-H CLUBS AND FUTURE FARMERS
The four Hs of the 4-H Clubs stand for Head, Heart, Hands, and Health. Actually, there should be another H, for Helping. Helping for free-or volunteering-is what 4-H Clubs are all about. Children bake the cookies to sell to help an ailing neighbor; adults volunteer to do the carpentry for the 4-H carnival booths.
Ask a sampling of people what 4-H Clubs are all about, and they'll probably say "agriculture." They are right, in part. Farming and animal-raising play strong roles in 4-H activities, just as they do in Future Farmers of America chapters. While FFA concentrates on farm crops and farm animals, today's 4-H Club members may also be learning about textiles, hair styling, or computers.
Still, the rural image persists in both organizations, along with their involvement with animals. For instance, some 4-H chapters sponsor Seeing Eye Puppy Clubs. Pups are given to 4-H youngsters to be raised for a year. These dogs go everywhere with their families-to the store, on trips, and other places where their future blind owners may go. When the year is up, the dog is ready for formal training and placement as a lead dog. (Ask the 4-H Club near you if they have such a program, or others that involve working with animals. There are 4-H Clubs throughout the country.)
