Job Title: Kennel Assistant
Reports to: Hospital Director
FLSA Status: Non-exempt
Summary of Job Purpose and Function
Assist and carry out those tasks required to maintain patient care and hospital inventory as determined by the Hospital Leadership team.
Essential Responsibilities and Tasks
EXEMPLIFY AND EMBODY CARA’S CULTURE EVERY DAY. All employees are expected to exemplify Cara’s five pillars on a daily basis: Put Pets First. Trust the Parent. Authentically Human. Good Neighbors. Shake Things Up. Employees should also be willing and capable of multi-tasking, confidentially navigate various types of technology throughout the practice, and use mathematical skills accurately throughout their daily tasks. Employees must also mentally and physically stay organized to help ensure the clients and patients receive the best possible experience. Cara employees are also required to be mentally flexible, adaptable, and resilient to working in a stressful and demanding work environment. All Cara employees are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times. They are also expected to be independent while working in their role, show integrity, be willing to collaborate with others, to always be a team player and show initiative.
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 but are not limited to completing available continuing education, and other duties assigned to you.
Hiring Qualifications
Special Working Conditions
- Employee should expect to spend nearly all of their workdays standing, sitting and typing at a computer.
- They should have a physical strength and the ability to safely lift objectsweighing up to 50 pounds without assistance.
- Able to assist in lifting patients weighing more than 50 pounds.
- Must possess sufficient strength and assertiveness to effectively restrain patients and ensure the safety of clients and personnel.
- Ability to be confident around pets (ex: dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc.)
- The noise level in the work environment is moderately high.
- Ability to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form and to solve problems involving several variables.
- Requires ambulatory skills sufficient to perform duties while at hospital.
- Ability to reach, grasp, stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, and climb as well as manipulate (lift, carry, move) up to 50 pounds.
- Requires good hand-eye coordination, arm-hand-finger dexterity, and visual acuity in order to use a keyboard, operate equipment, and read information appropriately. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.
- Staff is routinely exposed to pets that may bite or scratch, and on occasion, exposed to anesthesia, radiation, biological hazards and medication/controlled substances
Experience, Education and/ or Training
- This position requires a high school diploma or further education.
- Possesses excellent client service skills
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.
