Animal Career Secrets with Diana L Guerrero

In the late 1990s I ran the Unusual Animal Career seminar series and not only taught people how to prepare and how to seek a career with animals but also took people into the world of animal careers.

My favorite trip was to an exotic feline facility where the highlight of many students was that they were licked by a leopard.

Hmm, that might be a good title for something.

Anyway, when I moved away from the San Diego location, I moved my animal career coaching to private sessions and have enjoyed watching some of those clients move into careers with animals.

At long last I will begin offering animal career coaching again for selected people who want to participate.

I’ll be sending out notices within a week to my subscribers so I’d urge you to make sure to sign up to the list.

A select group of individuals will be chosen to participate in a beta test of a new online program and course work designed to help you identify if you have what it takes to be involved in an animal career and then direct you into actions that can help you make the career with animals dream a reality.

I’ll be only selecting a few people for this program test and it will be fee based.

It will include some great perks and introductions to a variety of aspects in the animal field (both wild and domestic) so if you want a career with dogs or seek something more exotic–you won’t want to miss it.

The first pre-requisite is that you have to be a subscriber on my list–so sign up now and wait for the announcement!

Above: Animal CSI Unit of the ASPCA Forensics Team. Photo courtesy of the ASPCA

Animal CSI?

You bet!

Animal forensics is something that began back in the late 1980s but that only began to surface as a viable animal career recently and got the attention of the media back in 2009 with the first Animal Crime Scene class at the University of Florida.

The fairly new Veterinary Forensics Medicine Sciences program at the University of Florida, Gainesville is the first of its kind in a major university and is directed by Melinda Merck, a veterinarian who also works as the ASPCA’s senior director of veterinary forensics.

She also has the distinction of serving as the head of the new mobile CSI unit and is the author of Forensic Investigation of Animal Cruelty: A Guide for Veterinary and Law Enforcement Professionals (with Randall Lockwood and Leslie Sinclair).

The first time wildlife forensics caught my attention was when the US Department of Wildlife opened their forensics laboratory in Oregon.

Although work began to open the wildlife forensics laboratory in the mid-1980s, it officially opened in 1989.

A few years later (1991), the lab became known as the Clark R. Bavin National Fish & Wildlife Forensic Laboratory.

The lab has grown from a staff of ten to that of a group of more than 30 professionals.

Accreditation was received from the American Society of Crime Lab Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) in 1997, and within a year it became the official crime lab of the Wildlife Working Group of Interpol and of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Originally housed inside a 23,000 square foot building at Southern Oregon University, a 17,000 square foot addition was completed in 2008–indicating the growing need to serve the industry.

The animal forensics lab has several roles that include the goals to:

• Identify the species or subspecies of pieces, parts or products of an animal.
• Determine the cause-of-death of an animal.
• Help wildlife officers determine if a violation of law has occurred.
• Identify and compare physical evidence in an attempt to link suspect, victim and crime scene.

The wildlife forensic specialists conduct crime scene investigations, examine evidence, and provide expert witness testimony in court while working to support over 200 Special Agents and Wildlife Inspectors throughout the United States,

Another blip on the animal career radar was the first annual Veterinary Forensic Sciences Conference which was hosted by the William R. Maples Center for Forensic Medicine, University of Florida.

The campus also hosts the International Veterinary Forensic Sciences Association (IVFSA) whose purpose is to:

• Promote the health, welfare and safety of animals through the fostering of current, new, and novel techniques of forensic science and crime scene processing to circumstances of animal abuse, neglect, cruelty, fighting, and death.
• Apply forensic science techniques to legal investigations involving animals as the victim of criminal offenses and civil disputes.
• Educate the animal welfare community, law enforcement, crime scene analysts, forensic scientists, veterinarians, attorneys, judges, and pathologists on the application of forensic science techniques and crime scene processing methods to cases of animal abuse, neglect, cruelty, fighting, and death.
• Inform the law enforcement and legal community on the various scientific disciplines that can be utilized for the interpretation of collected physical evidence related to any crime scene where an animal’s presence or absence is relevant.
• Advance and foster excellence in the veterinary forensic sciences.

In 2010, the ASPCA co-hosted the third annual Veterinary Forensic Sciences Conference and unveiled the new Mobile Animal Crime Scene Investigation Unit (a Subaru Outback). Here is a video of the Animal CSI.

My belief is that the statement their vet is the only Animal CSI is in error as there are other forensic animal specialists that have been working in the field for some time.

However, what is clear is that this is a growing field and if you are interested in, or fascinated by, investigative work–this might be the animal career for you.

I thought you’d be interested in this video from the UK about animal careers and how to individuals obtained their career goals.

The one consideration you should pay attention to is the competition and the trend of combining both experience with education.

Aquatic Animal Conservation Issues is a new course offered by the University of Florida’s Aquatic Animal Health Program.

It will allow students to access the material at their convenience within a given module and introduce students who are at the upper levels (undergraduate and graduate) and professionals to some of the controversial issues surrounding aquatic animal species ranging from invertebrates to marine mammals (with emphasis on marine mammals) but also including sea turtles, fisheries, and marine ecosystems.

This is a two-credit hour course that will last 16 weeks.

It is broken into 14 Learning Modules, 13 Lecture Topics presented via MediaSite, and with access through ELearning web site via Sakai.

Reading material will be provided from:

• Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals, 1999, Eds. John R. Twiss Jr. and Randall R. Reeves (CMMM)
• Biology of Marine Mammals, 1999, Eds. John E. Reynolds III and Sentiel A. Rommel (BMM)
• Marine Conservation Biology: The science of maintaining the sea’s biodiversity, 2005, Eds. Elliott A. Norse and Larry B. Crowder (MCB)
• and current literature from assorted journals on relevant topics.

For more information visit the Aquatic Animal Conservation Issues page.

So I found some interesting statistics when looking into animals jobs and the forecast for careers with animals.

In this case I was looking into the domestic animal realm—specifically companion animals.

Animal care and service workers held 220,400 jobs in 2008. Nearly 4 out of 5 worked as nonfarm animal caretakers; the remainder worked as animal trainers.

Nonfarm animal caretakers often worked in boarding kennels, animal shelters, rescue leagues, stables, grooming shops, pet stores, animal hospitals, and veterinary offices.

A significant number of caretakers worked for animal humane societies, racing stables, dog and horse racetrack operators, zoos, theme parks, circuses, and other amusement and recreation services.

Employment of animal trainers is concentrated in animal services that specialize in training and in commercial sports, where racehorses and dogs are trained.

About 54 percent of animal trainers were self-employed.

Animal Job Outlook

Because many workers leave this occupation each year, there will be excellent job opportunities for most positions. Much faster than average employment growth also will add to job openings.

However, keen competition is expected for jobs as zookeepers and marine mammal trainers.

Employment change. Employment of animal care and service workers is expected to grow 21 percent over the 2008–18 decade, much faster than the average for all occupations.

The companion pet population, which drives employment of animal caretakers in kennels, grooming shops, animal shelters, and veterinary clinics and hospitals, is anticipated to increase.

Pet owners—including a large number of baby boomers, whose disposable income is expected to increase as they age—are expected to increasingly purchase grooming services, daily and overnight boarding services, training services, and veterinary services, resulting in more jobs for animal care and service workers.

As more pet owners consider their pets part of the family, demand for luxury animal services and the willingness to spend greater amounts of money on pets should continue to grow.

Demand for marine mammal trainers, on the other hand, should grow slowly.

Demand for animal care and service workers in animal shelters is expected to grow as communities increasingly recognize the connection between animal abuse and abuse toward humans and continue to commit private funds to animal shelters, many of which are working hand in hand with social service agencies and law enforcement teams.

Animal Job Prospects

Due to employment growth and the need to replace workers who leave the occupation, job opportunities for most positions should be excellent.

The need to replace pet sitters, dog walkers, kennel attendants, and animal control and shelter workers leaving the field will create the overwhelming majority of job openings.

Many animal caretaker jobs require little or no training and have flexible work schedules, making them suitable for people seeking a first job or for temporary or part-time work.

Prospective groomers also will face excellent opportunities as the companion dog population is expected to grow and services such as mobile grooming continue to grow in popularity.

The outlook for caretakers in zoos and aquariums, however, is not favorable, due to slow job growth and keen competition for the few positions.

Prospective mammal trainers also will face keen competition as the number of applicants greatly exceeds the number of available positions.

Prospective horse trainers should anticipate an equally challenging labor market because the number of entry-level positions is limited.

Dog trainers, however, should experience conditions that are more favorable, driven by their owners’ desire to instill obedience in their pet. Opportunities for dog trainers should be best in large metropolitan areas.

Job opportunities for animal care and service workers may vary from year to year because the strength of the economy affects demand for these workers.

Pet owners tend to spend more on animal services when the economy is strong. (Read the entire report here)

So, if you are looking for an animal career—you’d do best to consider the pet industry or target the companion animal field.

Photo Credit: Gunni Cool

For a long time there was not a lot of interest in animal nutrition other than from the agricultural field or those involved in the manufacturing of specific diets.

Today that is changing a there is a rising trend for animal nutritionists.

However it is hard to find a course of instruction that isn’t in the main sector of commercial animal diets.

When I was a clinic associate for a progress animal wellness center back in the mid-1990s, natural nutrition and raw food diets were considered fairly new and foreign.

Today that isn’t the case as more and  more people question the reasoning behind commercial manufacturing and demand more complex and more palatable foods for their pets.

One thing you can do is explore the animal nutrition books on the market to get a small glimpse of what is involved and if you might be interested in an animal nutrition career.

Coming from the zoological field had its advantages because we had to feed foods that met the nutritional needs of our animals and primarily fed raw diets. During my early years in my career with animals we were also instrumental in assessing the packaged foods that began to appear on the scene.

Lifestyle diets for companion animals broke onto the market around the early 1980s and today the dietary options available for pets can make your head spin since there are so many choices.

If you are looking for a career with animals that helps them and continues to offer new opportunities, consider animal nutrition.

But keep in mind that this is a growing field and so hard to find a lot of options. The main three areas include agricultural (animal science), pets and zoo animals–listed in order of the opportunities on the job market.

One good place to start is the Comparative Nutrition Society because it crosses disciplines and can be a good place to network and explore.

The Global College of Natural Nutrition is now offering a course of study and has some accreditations but is not a recognized program for animals and I doubt a Holistic Chief for Animals certification will hold any weight at the moment.

In the zoo world you can find some zoo nutrition books over at the European Association of Zoos & Aquaria and announcements on upcoming zoo nutrition conferences too.

If you are looking for something that has weight within the animal field (but more conservative in scope) start with some of the recommendations at the American College of Veterinary Nutrition.

You might find it interesting to know that of all the zoos in the United States there are currently only about 20 or so zoo animal nutritionists. (Brookfield Zoo is one of the leaders in the industry.)

The Zoo Nutrition Advisory Group just posted an opportunity for a Wildlife Nutrition Fellowship position (deadline July 31, 2010) if you are already on the path and have an MS or PhD. (The opportunity is via the University of Florida and Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom.)

Animal Sciences usually has a lot more opportunities and Purdue currently offers an online course that could be something to use to get your feet wet to see if it is something that you might be interested in.

Principles of Animal Nutrition covers five main areas: nutrients, digestive systems, feeds, ration balancing and livestock feeding. The course touches nearly every subject in basic animal nutrition and is part of the animal sciences department at the College of Agriculture.

For information about fees or registration contact Dennis McElhoe the distance learning coordinator, at (765)-494-1434, dlmcelhoe@purdue.edu.

Additional course information is available by contacting the instructor Dale Forsyth at (765) 494-4841, dforsyth@purdue.edu.

Courses that involve animals are exciting and new to many fields including the legal field but that is not the only one seeing changes and passion about animals within the student body.

In 2008 a course called, “Animals, Culture and Food” was offered at the University of Iowa and it was so popular, another was quickly schedule along with a course on ancient and modern human relationships with dogs.

More and more animal classes are cropping up in the areas of law, religion, ethics, literature, visual art, ecology, sociology and other studies as the animal world becomes more complex and expands.

These animal studies were once hard to find, in fact, when I was accepted to the University of California system–US Davis did not have a behavior course and we discussed a “special major” type of program instead.

Today animal certifications and specialty courses delve into a wide variety of areas.

When I taught for the largest adult education provider in the USA, my courses were novel–but today they would be consider common place.

What is different is that high education institutions are offering more and more options in their humanities and social science departments.

Scholars involved in these practices can be found at the discussion portal called, H-Animal.

But perhaps one of the fastest growing fields is on the legal front since over 100 (actually closer to 120) law schools in North America and Canada offer law courses with an animal-centric bent.

But before 2000 there were only about nine law schools with animal courses.

When I added the book, Dog Law to my library–this career option was at its very early stages (1999).

One of the leaders in this field is the Animal League Defense Fund’s animal law program which reflects the interest people have in the human-animal bond but that is not seen as much in the legal realm as it is in society.

So today there are a wide variety of animal cases involving constitutional, family, criminal and estate law.

The wave of animal law began to become noticeable when both Harvard Law School and the Georgetown University Law Center announced courses on animal law (1999).

When I was working on my book that explored animals and ceremonies a few years ago, I talked with Paul Waldau.

Waldau has been a guest lecturer for legal courses and has taught ethics to veterinarians and many courses of animal in religion.

He believes that the interaction between humans and animals needs understanding and that it should spread beyond the legal realm to teachers, economists, communities of faith, journalists and other fields of specialty.

An increase in different education programs that involve animals is sparking change and excitement within many institutions.

I’ll be getting into more topics in the future but if you are interested in law–this is an area of specialty you might consider.

As always, I encourage you to keep an eye out for the Animal Career Secrets which will highlight trends and specific programs.

In the meantime, sign up on the email list for first notification!

This week, in my role as an animal career coach, I go into a rant about people who are dreaming about an animal career.

You can have a dream about an animal career but you also have to wake up and take action to get an animal job.

If you want to read the animal career rant, animal career dreams is over at ArkAnimals.Com.

If you are seeking a career with animals and have a bachelor’s degree in any field, you can take advantage of a new joint program from Project DragonFly and the Cincinnati Zoo. Read more about the Advanced Inquiry Program graduate degree.

If you are interested, head over now because the application deadline is February 28, 2010.