Animal Care Attendant jobs in Portland, OR

DoveLewis Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital is hiring full-time Kennel Assistants and Level 1 Veterinary Assistants to join our ER and ICU Animal Care Assistant team.

If you are still early in your veterinary career or wanting to get started in the industry for the first time, then a position as a Kennel Assistant or Veterinary Assistant Level 1 (VA1) may be the perfect position for you!

About These Positions:

As a Kennel Assistant you are responsible for maintaining a clean and sterile work environment including tasks like laundry, garbage services, kennel cleaning, exam room and isolation protocol cleaning, and maintaining supply levels throughout the hospital. Kennel Assistants also help provide animal care for patients such as providing walks and clean water, assisting with animal restraint during exams, and transporting patients safely between different areas of the hospital. This is an ideal entry level position to get you started in the veterinary industry and turn your love of animals into a lifelong career.

As a Veterinary Assistant Level 1 (VA1) you are responsible for providing our clients with a top-notch experience as well as responsible for assisting the veterinarians and technicians as needed with animal restraint, maintaining a clean and sterile work environment, laundry services, stocking the hospital, assisting with lab work, providing aftercare for deceased animals, performing surgery prep, and other miscellaneous tasks. This position builds on the skills developed as a Kennel Assistant while increasing your responsibility for client interactions, and more advanced technical skills including restraining animals for procedures, helping with lab work, and triaging and discharging patients. This is an ideal starting point for someone who already has some experience in the veterinary field or a high level of customer service experience and animal handling comfort in a related field such as a grooming.

Wage Range: Overnight and weekend differential pay is available for applicable shifts.

$16-18 hourly for Kennel Assistants
$19.95-$22 hourly for Veterinary Assistant Level 1

Schedule:

Kennel Assistants and Veterinary Assistants (Level 1) work 3/4 rotating schedules with 10 hours shifts. This means you have a consistent schedule that makes planning the rest of your life easy, and you get 3 or 4 days off in a row every week! If you have other schedule needs, please feel free to reach out and start a conversation, we're always happy to discuss options.

DoveLewis is a 24/7/365 emergency hospital with day, swing, and overnight shifts and requires the ability to work at least some of every weekend and holidays.

What are we looking for in a candidate?

• A genuine love of and respect for all animals is required, as is an appreciation of the human-animal bond.
• Experience or education equivalent to a High School Diploma is required.
• Valid Oregon driver's license for driving the DoveLewis transport van is strongly preferred.
• Understanding of animal behavior and knowledge of safe animal handling and transport practices.
• 1 year experience working in animal care work such as at a veterinary clinic, kennel, shelter, grooming facility, or animal daycare is preferred for all positions and required for Veterinary Assistant Level 1.
• Any suitable combination of experience or education may substitute for the above.

What you can look forward to at DoveLewis:

• Advancing your emergency and critical care skillset at a teaching hospital dedicated to the growth of our employees.
• Equitable Health Benefits including
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • $0 mental health copays
  • preventative care
  • LGBTQIA-friendly providers
  • options for families
• Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account (medical and dependent care)
• Paid vacation and sick time
• Holiday pay
• Bereavement leave, including time off when a pet family member passes away
• 403(b) retirement account with free financial advising available
• Student debt repayment assistance for all employees
• As part of a nonprofit with community-focused services your work makes a difference to the animal-loving community and to individual pet owners on a daily basis.

How to apply:

We understand everyone's experience is different and it can be hard to know exactly what position best matches your specific skills and experience level. Applying to this position will allow you to be considered for both Kennel Assistant and Veterinary Assistant Level 1. We will work with you throughout the interviewing process to determine the best match.

To be considered, you must complete the online application and upload a resume. Resumes received without a completed online application will not be considered.

DoveLewis is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to workforce diversity and a drug-free workplace. Pre-employment drug and background screening required.