Animals

Kennel Assistant

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title:  Kennel Assistant

Reports To:  Practice Manager and Practice Owner

 

SUMMARY

 

Assist and carry out those tasks required to maintain patient care and hospital inventory as determined by veterinarians.

 

ANIMAL CARE AND TREATMENT RESPONSIBILITIES, which include safely walking canine boarding and hospitalized patients in allocated area of practice grounds, safely transferring feline patients from carrier to kennel to carrier, maintaining a clean, safe environment for boarding animals, feeding and watering all boarding patients according to owner and veterinary staff instructions, maintaining litter boxes for feline patients, monitoring patients for signs of illness or stress and alerting appropriate veterinarian or veterinary staff of patient anomalies, medicating boarding patients per veterinary or client instructions, ensuring the constant comfort of all boarding patients, including additional bedding, comfort, toys, etc., based on patient needs, maintaining a high level of compassion for patients in our care

 

CLIENT SERVICE RESPONSIBILITIES, which include advising clients of patient’s status while boarding in the practice, admitting and discharging boarding patients, assisting clients with multiple pets, appropriate record keeping, upkeep and tracking of patient belongings, ensuring they are returned to the owner when pet is picked up, maintaining compassion, sympathy, and professionalism during high-stress situations.

 

HOSPITAL UPKEEP RESPONSIBILITIES, which include vacuuming, mopping, changing garbage, dusting, laundry, following daily, weekly, and monthly task lists, cleaning and maintaining sinks, cleaning, sanitizing, and maintaining litter boxes and food/ water bowls, cleaning and sanitizing patient cages and kennels, proper dilutions for cleaning solutions, cleaning windows and doors, replenishing supplies (including paper towels, garbage bags, air fresheners, etc), maintaining cleaning supply and patient care supply inventory, knowledge of patient isolation protocols, overall maintenance of the sights and smells of the hospital, both inside and outside the building.

 

OTHER POSSIBLE DUTIES, which include completing available continuing education, and other duties assigned to you.

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/ or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
  • Communicate effectively with clients.
  • Follow hospital protocols accurately
  • Work within a team framework and interact as the situation dictates.
  • Communicate and understand verbal and written directions.
  • EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:
  • High school diploma or equivalent
  • Experience caring for animals in a kennel of veterinary environment preferred.
  • LANGUAGE SKILLS:
  • Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.  Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.  Ability to speak effectively before groups of clients or employees.
  • MATHEMATICAL SKILLS:
  • Ability to accurately measure pet foods for patient feeding, ability to accurately measure cleaning supplies for use in the practice
  • REASONING ABILITY:
  • Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.  Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
  • WORK ENVIRONMENT:
  • The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
  • While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to toxic or caustic chemicals and risk of radiation.  While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to the possibility of an animal bite or scratch from an animal.
  • The noise level in the environment is moderate.
  • PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
  •  The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential function.
  • While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, use hands to finger, restrain, handle, or feel, reach with hands and arms, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl, talk or hear.  The employee is frequently required to sit.  The employee is regularly required to lift up to 50 pounds.  The vision requirements include: close vision, distant vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

DISCLAIMER: This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive listing of duties expected of this position. This job description, the duties and expectations may change at any time.