The Pet Care Assistant works with the veterinary medical team to provide and prepare for the best medical care of pets.

Essential Responsibilities & Tasks

• Live and exemplify the Five Principles of Mars, Inc. within self and team.
• Prepare the treatment room for examination of pets and all necessary medical item and supplies (e.g. vaccinations, fecal loops, slides, etc.) for the veterinarian and/or veterinary technician. Set up fecals, smears, and skin scrapings as allowed by state rules and regulations.
• Serve as support to the Client Services Coordinator, Veterinary Assistant and Veterinary Technician.
• Hold or restrain pets during examination, treatment, or inoculation.
• Prepare routine in-house laboratory tests (e.g. canine heartworm, feline leukemia, FIV, and canine parvovirus) as allowed by state rules and regulations.
• Monitor the comfort of hospitalized patients. Ensure the comfort of hospitalized patients by "walking", exercising, feeding, and cleaning cages and pet (when approved by the veterinarian or veterinary technician).
• Bathe and dip pets when necessary to treat dermatological conditions (when advised by veterinarian or veterinary technician.
• Clean the surgical suite and instruments.
• Ensure cleanliness of the hospital including but not limited to housekeeping such as laundry, dishes, mopping, cage cleaning, trash collection and removal and instrument cleaning as outlined by hospital protocols
• Other job duties as assigned.

The Five Principles

• Quality – The consumer is our boss, quality is our work and value for money is our goal.
• Responsibility – As individuals, we demand total responsibility from ourselves; as associates, we support the responsibility of others.
• Mutuality – A mutual benefit is a shared benefit; a shared benefit will endure.
• Efficiency – We use resources to the full, waste nothing and do only what we can do best.
• Freedom – We need freedom to shape our future; we need profit to remain free.

Hiring Qualifications

Competencies - Leadership

• Customer Focus
• Peer Relationships
• Integrity & Trust
• Action Oriented
• Listening

Competencies - Functional

• Preventative care and OWPs
• Communication Skills
• Client Service Skills
• Priority Setting
• Time Management

Capabilities & Experience (Can Do)

• Ability to multi-task – Manages multiple tasks at one time; quickly and accurately shifts attention among multiple tasks under distracting conditions without loss of accuracy or appearance of frustration.
• Communication skills – Reads, writes and speaks fluent English, using appropriate grammar, style and vocabulary. Correctly spells commonly used English words and job specific terms. Demonstrates exceptionally strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Organizational ability – Demonstrates a systematic approach in carrying out assignments. Is very orderly and excels at cutting through confusion and turning chaos into order.
• Problem solving skills – Demonstrates a strong ability to identify, analyze and solve problems. Unusually decisive in handling difficult problems. Translates problems into practical solutions.
• Client service skills – Consistently ensures the team provides the client with attentive, courteous and informative service. Gains and shows personal satisfaction from delivering great service.
• Intellectual ability – Accurately and consistently follows instructions delivered in an oral, written or diagram format. Can provide directions.
• Mathematical ability – Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide, and to compute rate, ratio and percent; ability to convert units of measurement.
• Computer skills – Comfortably and confidently uses a computer and specialized software. Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, etc.

Attitudes (Will Do)

• Initiative – Shows willingness and aptitude to use own discretion in taking appropriate steps in finding solutions to problems; presents options and ideas to enhance current processes or procedures. Takes on additional responsibility when both big and small tasks need to be done.
• Integrity – Firmly adheres to the values and ethics of Banfield Pet Hospitals. Exhibits honesty, discretion, and sound judgment.
• Cooperativeness – Willing to work with others, collaborating and compromising where necessary; promptly share relevant information with others.
• Flexibility – Is open to changing situations and opportunities and is willing to perform all tasks assigned.
• Independence – Able and willing to perform tasks and duties without supervision.
• Tolerance for Stress / Resiliency – Maintains a positive “can do” outlook, rebounds quickly from frustrations and unpleasantness, and maintains composure and friendly demeanor while dealing with stressful situations.

Special Working Conditions

• Ability to work at a computer for long periods of time.
• Ability to be confident around pets (i.e., dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc.)
• Client needs and work volume may require more than 40 hours per week to complete essential duties of this job. This position requires special hours including working weekends and evenings.
• Must have mental processes for reasoning, remembering, mathematics and language ability (reading, writing, and speaking the English language) to perform the duties proficiently.
• The noise level in the work environment is moderately high.
• Requires sufficient ambulatory skills in order to perform duties while at hospital.

Position Description

• Ability to 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 with the ability to grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard and operate equipment.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
• Associate is routinely exposed to a variety of pets that may bite or scratch, and on occasion, exposed to anesthesia, radiation, biological hazards and medication/controlled substances.

Experience, Education And/Or Training

• High School Diploma preferred.
• Must be at least 18 years old to perform duties involving radiography (x-ray) and exposure to radioactive substances.
• One year related experience required with customer service preferred.