Part-Time Animal Care Technician

Animal Care Technician

The Lewis Clark Animal Shelter is community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the Lewis Clark Valley since 1950 and is committed to providing shelter and medical care to lost pets, adoption services, a limited service community clinic, and community education.

Department: Shelter

Classification: Regular, full-time; part-time, non-exempt

Job Relationships: Supervised by: Animal Care Supervisor

Pay: Starting rate is $14.49/hour, competitive with Washington State minimum wage

Benefits: Paid time off, six paid holidays, reimbursement plan, and retirement plan. All employees receive discounts on veterinary care and adoptions.

Position Summary:

The Animal Care Technician is responsible for the overall daily care of shelter animals. This includes maintaining clean and orderly animal housing and work areas, daily feeding and wellbeing of animals, and assisting the public with adoptions, lost and found, general questions and more.

Duties and Responsibilities:

· Thoroughly clean and disinfect all animal housing areas of the shelter.

· Following the daily schedule and addition assigned responsibilities provided by the Animal Care Supervisor.

· Food preparation and care to shelter animals, including administering medications (if required) and animal enrichment.

· Maintains cleanliness of animal and work areas, ensuring a sanitary and safe environment for animals, employees and customers. Emptying trashes, poop buckets, taking away soiled laundry and dirty dishes to be cleaned.

· Cleaning food dishes, washing laundry and dispersing it back to all animal areas.

· Patrol shelter grounds and outside dog housing daily, picking up any trash and feces throughout the day.

· Observation of animal appearance and activity for general physical condition, obvious signs of illness, disease and discontent. Report signs of illness, disease, injury or unusual activity to Animal Care Supervisor, Clinic Manager, and Shelter Veterinarian.

· Effectively communicating any health or behavior concerns of animals to Animal Care Supervisor and Clinic Manager.

· Actively participates in daily morning meetings and monthly staff meetings to discuss strengths and challenges of Animal Care and admissions.

· Responsible for admitting new arrivals, stray or surrendered, into the shelter, following LCAS procedures and a Fear Free approach.

· Meets and collaborates with Animal Care Supervisor, Director of Operations and fellow Animal Care Technicians to share ideas to improve Animal Care, the customer service experience and organization, in a productive and professional manner.

· Will interact and work closely with co-workers and volunteers with a trauma-informed and culturally safe approach to ensure a positive experience and encourage team building.

· This position may include other duties, as assigned and is not limited to duties detailed in this description.

Qualifications:

· Required

o Must be able to successfully work in a fast-paced environment and be able to multi-task effectively.

o Should possess patience with frightened animals and a basic understanding of animal behavior.

o Excellent interpersonal skills

o Organized and effectively communicate

o Professional appearance and behavior.

o Possesses a valid driver’s license and clean criminal record.

o Can successfully pass a drug screen.

o Positive attitude and self-motivation.

o Genuine interest of LCAS’ mission and vision.

· Desired:

o Experience in an animal shelter or similar field.

o Prior animal handling experience

o Knowledge of dog and cat behavior

· Education/Training:

o High School diploma or equivalent

On-site Training:

· Fear Free Certification

· Trauma-Informed and Culturally Safe Training (VHS)

· CET Training/Certification

Working Conditions/Requirements

Work is performed on-site. Potential for exposure to environmental factors such as temperature variations, high noise levels, zoonotic diseases, animal waste, hazardous chemicals or chemical materials requiring OSHA Material Safety Data Sheets, anesthetics, sharp objects and potential hostile persons and/or dangerous and fractious animals.

· Full-time hours: a minimum of 40 hours a week on site; weekend hours/holidays may be required.

· Flexibility with hours is a must, if the need arises.

Mental and Physical Demands

The mental and physical demands represented below are those that must be met by an employee to be successful in their position and perform the duties and responsibilities outlined above.

· Ability to stand for several hours at a time.

· Act as a trauma-informed employee who can successfully work independently and as an integral team member.

· Essential to show compassion towards community members, staff and volunteers.

· Possesses patience and resilience when dealing with difficult clients.

· Ability to lift and carry objects and animals of moderate weight.

· Ability to perform prolonged strenuous physical activity, including lifting and carrying a minimum of 50 pounds without assistance or up to 100 pounds with the help of fellow employees for short distances.

· Ability to lift bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, push and other strenuous activities.

· Any allergic condition that could be aggravated from exposure or through contact with animals or chemicals used to sanitize facility or equipment is a disqualification.

LCAS Mission & Vision Statements

Mission:The Lewis Clark Animal Shelter’s mission is to promote the humane treatment of animals, prevent cruelty to animals and provide education to enhance the human-animal bond and to end pet over-population through an aggressive spay/neuter campaign.

Vision:Lewis Clark Animal Shelter envisions a time when our community celebrates the human-animal bond, embraces the mutual benefits therein and treats all fellow beings with care, compassion and respect; a time when LCAS is primarily a resource for health services, education and recreation for animals and their people.

Ø We present LCAS as a happy, cheerful place where people come for pet adoption, pet information and community events.

Ø Our valley will become a unified community where pets are not stray and unwanted.

Ø LCAS together with the community becomes a model for achieving a “humane society”.

Job Type: Part-time

Pay: From $14.49 per hour

Benefits:

• 401(k) matching
• Employee discount
• Paid time off
• Retirement plan

Schedule:

• 10 hour shift
• 4 hour shift
• 8 hour shift
• Day shift
• Every weekend
• Holidays
• Morning shift
• Rotating weekends
• Weekends as needed

Ability to Relocate:

• Lewiston, ID 83501: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person