Are you interested in a career in animal welfare, seeking to make an impact in the lives of animals? Are you passionate about educating the public, love customer service, and driven to help homeless animals find new homes? If so, we'd love to talk to you!! What is the opportunity? The Benton Franklin Humane Society is hiring passionate and talented individuals to join our team. As an Animal Care Specialist, you will work in a fast-paced environment that strives to provide the best customer services for both pets and the residents of the community - helping to educate our community and provide the best care for the animals we serve. You have that incredible ability to eloquently combine your passion for animals with your amazing customer service skills. You use PRICE (Passion, Respect, Integrity, Competence, Empathy) to help guide you. You understand that you may get dirty, sweaty, tired, and fulfilled in order to promote exceptional pet ownership and to place animal into loving home. What makes this job so incredible? We have what you need to be successful! Aside from developing your career in a purpose-driven position, we provide on the job training to ensure you become confident and knowledgeable about your role as an Animal Care Aide. We cross-train our employees to avoid silos and create a cohesive team. As much of the work is done on-site at both of our locations, you are provided the necessary tools to and resources to accomplish your tasks! You will have the opportunity to learn and grow, as much or as little as you'd like, for a healthy professional and personal life. As an added benefit, we also offer all that standard stuff, like a paycheck w/ overtime, vacation leave, sick leave, holiday pay, and more! Here's what you bring to the organization

• You are excited to foster great relationships with other team members, volunteers, and community members
• You are excited to learn and curious about how animal welfare varies so greatly from private pet ownership
• You appreciate the past, but look to the future with excitement and an eye for improvement
• You utilize the knowledge of your team, leadership, and tools provided to complete the tasks at hand.
• You aren't afraid to get dirty and work hard.

You understand that we are the caregivers for the most vulnerable pets in the community and strive to make their stay as comfortable as possible. Your Impact You will work daily with animals of varying size and temperament, handling individual animals in a safe, caring and respectful manner. You will provide continual coverage to animals and the public in assigned area, leaving area only upon request of supervisor or with adequate coverage to perform assigned tasks. You will act as a vital member of the Animal Services team by cleaning, feeding, exercising, medicating and providing necessary supplies to all shelter animals in assigned department according to established procedures. Collaborate and communicate effectively with Medical Team and Adoptions staff regarding any animal in residence. You will maintain daily knowledge of animal inventory, shelter events, and special needs of the shelter. You will observe the health and temperament of shelter's animals, document and report changes to supervisor. Perform data entry and documentation in to BFHS information databases in a timely, accurate and understandable manner. You will maintain a clean, safe and orderly work environment by continually cleaning up after animals and proactively monitoring animal areas for cleanliness. You will greet and interact with BFHS staff in a friendly, professional, and respectful manner. Internal customer service is as important as external customer service. You will work with the staff and volunteers to resolve complaints and issues in a productive and collaborative manner. You will monitor all animal related information on kennel cards, correcting errors and adding new information upon observation. You understand the importance of ensuring that all animals are correctly identified and that all cages have accurate animal information posted. You will adhere to all BFHS safety, training, handling and transportation protocols in order to ensure that the Shelter environment is safe for animals, the public, volunteers and other employees. You will attend staff meetings and trainings as scheduled. You understand the importance the value of good communication and will, on a daily basis, read communication log and memos, keeping current with shelter event and program updates. You may be required to transport shelter animals to or from offsite locations using shelter vehicles. You understand vehicles must be maintained and operated in a safe and responsible manner at all times and damages or maintenance reported to supervisor immediately upon observation. You may assist in training new staff /volunteers. You strive to continuously improve working knowledge of animal breeds and behavior training skills. You agree to wear required clothing, identification and safety garments/equipment as defined by BFHS policies and procedures. You will perform any other duty as request by management. What we require (it's for your safety…and ours)

• A valid WA driver's license and ability to operate a motor vehicle in varying weather and traffic conditions.
• Ability to lift over 70-100 pounds.
• Frequent use of hands and arms at or above shoulder level. Frequent pushing/pulling type motion. Must be able to lift, move, restrain, guide or manage an animal weighing up to 150 lbs on a frequent basis.
• Bends, stretches, and climbs under or over obstacles to get to animals; may be standing or walking for an extended period.
• High School Graduate/GED Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Able to communicate with a diverse population in a consistently informative, respectful and professional manner. Able to maintain a professional appearance and exercise sound judgment during all interactions with the public, staff and volunteers. What we'd like
• Two years' experience in the care and humane treatment of animals.
• Any combination of experience/education/training that provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the work.
• Trained and certified in CPR/First Aid. Ability to maintain certification through the course of employment. Your working conditions
• Work is performed concurrently in two animal shelter environments.
• The work requires tolerance to stress, a positive attitude, the ability to maintain composure and friendly demeanor while dealing with stressful situations. Compassion fatigue is real!
• Frequent holiday, weekend and evening work is required. Animals require care 7/365. We all work to ensure they are taken care of.
• Contact with animals is constant and requires the ability to work confidently with and around animals. They aren't always excited about it - and some are downright fearful! We'll show you how to reduce their FAS (Fear, Anxiety, & Stress).
• Animals may be diseased, abused, injured, living in deplorable conditions.
• Exposure to animals that may bite or scratch is constant.
• Frequent exposure to animal dander, animal waste, parasites and infectious diseases carried and transmitted by animals.
• The noise level in the work environment is moderately high.

Dogs do bark - it's how they communicate. One of many ways!

Your Pay starts at:

$17.13 p/hr

Job Types:

Full-time, Part-time Pay:

From $17.13 per hour

Benefits:

Paid time off

Work Location:

In person