Working with Animals Australia
Working with animals as a job
When I was growing up, there was only one thing I wanted out of a job: for it to work with animals in some form. I was always passionate about any type of animal — pets in general, pets for kids, or wild animals. I always wanted to make sure that no matter what I did in life, I could be around animals care work at every possible point.
I didn’t care what animal, and I didn’t care what animal job, as long as there were animals constantly in my life I would be a happy man. As a 6 year old I went to my local pound and asked what I could do to help, and despite my age the man who ran the place offered me a chance to come in and work as a dog sitter for some dogs weekly so that they could remain calm.
Dog sitting was a great experience and really helped me out with my animal ‘addiction’. As I got older the man would offer me further pet jobs such as helping clean the cages of birds, say parrots and even taking animals, such as dogs for a dog walking session. It gave me so much pleasure getting to come home from school and head straight to the pound just to spent time with all these different types of pet jobs. It did become sad sometimes though when some of my favourite dogs were either adopted or put to sleep, but it was just part of what I did. I did even manage to find my childhood dog Buddy there and he went on to live a very fruitful life with me and my family.
As I grew older I then kept my head in the game by doing as much conduct job search in Australia as I could to find the right job for animals for me. I soon found I wanted to become a veterinarian, so I made sure all my marks at school in Australia were good and went on to University where I studied Veterinarian Science and soon became a qualified Vet. But I’ll get to that later.
Because along the way I made sure I constantly worked in as many jobs as I possibly could so that I could get as much work experience as possible by working with animals of all types. And I really do mean as much experience because let me tell you, I did some very unusual and vast jobs! I kept doing volunteer work at the pound, and I also out of that began a brief career as dog walker for money!
At one point a circus came to town and did some shows, so I contacted them and asked if they wanted any volunteers to help out and they got back to me and said to come along and chat with them. To cut a long story short, they offered me a position as a cleaner of Elephant and Lion poo! Well this may seem as a gross or unusual job but I literally jumped at the chance, I mean how many people can say they have worked with Elephants and Lions? And it actually really wasn’t that bad!
I got to see these animals up close and personal daily and I also got free tickets to the circus! Another weird job I managed to do for a while was a snail rescuer. This sounds weird right? Well I went along with some friends at University in Australia who were doing a study on snails, and we basically had to go around to many parts of the city and rescue as many snails as we could to help them out in their research! And again, you would be amazed at actually how fun this was! And I learnt so much in the process as I got to help my friends with their research! I was always open to working with whatever animals I could!
As I mentioned I studied to become a vet, and well that’s what I am today. It was a hard time at University as it is in no way easy to reach your goal let me assure you that! People think it’s easier to become a vet than a doctor, well let me tell you now that really isn’t the case! A doctor can at least only study one type of species and have only one type of body to deal with, and their patients are able to tell you what is wrong with them and where it hurts. Well a vet on the other hand doesn’t have this luxury!
We have to know all different types of animals anatomy as well as having to work with creatures who can’t tell you what hurts, who can’t tell you what is wrong and hell they can even attack you for simply trying to help out! I once had a dog latch on to my arm for simply trying to look into its ear! It’s always fun being a vet! But I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Easily. It’s my passion and I love going to work everyday knowing that it will be different and that I have the potential to work with any sort of animal that walks through my door. I have worked on everything from cats and dogs, mice, cows, donkeys and even a Tasmanian devil. Seriously, it’s just amazing what you can experience each day as you study to become a vet!
So if you are looking at getting a career with animals then I can firstly say that it really is a fantastic choice you have made. Really, it doesn’t get old in any capacity and the fact you get the chance to work with some amazing creatures should excite you and make you happy every single day!
I would suggest you get out there and get involved, just like I did when I was young. No matter what you think about the job, you should give it a go. If it’s involving animals then do it, because seriously, if it’s working with snails or elephants, it’s all experience and will help you out in the long run. Good luck with it and hopefully you will have a very happy life working with animals like me!