Animal Services Assistant - Variable Hour Benefit Eligible

About the role

The City of Aurora is seeking a skilled Animal Services Assistant to provide humane care and treatment for sheltered animals. This position will be cleaning and maintaining kennel facilities while helping patrons.

Responsibilities

• Provides humane care, treatment and safe handling of animals in the shelter including feeding, cleaning, grooming and enrichment
• Degrease all interior and exterior kennel walls
• Sweep and mop all floors daily
• Empty all trash cans each day
• Wash and sanitize all food containers, water buckets and litter boxes
• Deep clean and sanitize every kennel once it is empty including bedding
• Wash, dry, fold and put away all laundry daily
• Dust and cleans all pipes and vents in kennel area
• Intake animals left in the night drop kennels and sanitizes kennel once empty
• Intakes animals brought in by the public to include photographing, vaccinating, weighing, data entry and kenneling
• Performs an initial physical exam to look for injuries or illness and reports to veterinary services, if found
• Traces microchips and tags for owner contact information on stray animals
• Assists with kenneling and movement of animals and updates animal records to reflect movement or change in status
• Educate prospective adopters in adoption of suitable pet: reviews and completes adoption paperwork and conducts dog-dog meet and greets
• Processes animals for release to their owners including verifying ownership, that the animal is cleared to be released to owner and providing owner with all medical paperwork
• Contacting an Animal Protection Officer if a summons has been initiated for the owner of the animal
• Perform kennel inventory to ensure all animals are accounted for daily
• Responds to heavy phone call volume and calls back citizens who left messages and documents each phone call in a log
• Responds to citizen emails
• Provides citizens information on services offered by Aurora Animal Services
• Processes all paperwork and data entry for Community Cat Caretakers, Fancier’s Permit applicants, private trappers, guard dog permits
• Performs euthanasia and related tasks
• Ability to safely use all shelter equipment efficiently
• Transports animals and cleans and maintains the transport vehicle
• Ability to administer microchips and all vaccinations to animals available for adoption
• Medicate sick and injured animals as needed
• Spot clean kennels throughout the day
• Provide differing enrichment items to the dogs and cats each day and cleans up after or walks dogs
• Assists in janitorial and light maintenance duties
• Maintains grounds including picking up trash
• Organize donated items and place in the appropriate area for each use
• Operate and close out the cash drawer daily
• Bathe dogs as needed
• Performs other related duties as assigned

Requirements

• High School Diploma or GED
• One year of animal related experience or customer service experience
• Preferred: One year of experience working in an animal shelter
• Preferred: Euthanasia Certification within one year
• General knowledge of companion animal welfare, breeds and species
• Animal handling skills
• Providing friendly customer service
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees and citizens
• Handle sensitive situations with tact and diplomacy
• Ability to complete work without close supervision
• Provide humane care and treatment for a variety of animals
• Perform euthanasia
• Creatively solve problems, negotiate and handle stressful situations in a positive manner
• Operate a city vehicle
• Valid Colorado Driver’s License

Working conditions

When a local announcement of emergency or disaster is declared by the City, all City of Aurora employees may be required to work as essential personnel.

Physical Demands: Medium work that involves moving no more than 50 pounds with or without assistance at a time. Subject to animal bites and scratches. May require frequent pushing, pulling, bending and stooping. Clear vision to read and interpret notes and other written documents. Speech communication and hearing to maintain communication with employees and citizens. Hand/eye coordination for operation of computer keyboard. Foot/eye coordination for operation of a motor vehicle.

Work Environment: Works primarily indoors in a shelter setting with exposure to dust, water, noise, animal dander, odors and fumes, but may occasionally work outside assisting at outreach events.

Equipment Used: Uses standard office equipment including personal computer and common office software such as email, internet, Word, Excel and shelter Chameleon database. This position may require the incumbent to use personal equipment (e.g. vehicle, cell phone, tools, etc.) in the course of their employment. This position may require the use of hand tools and equipment common to kennel operations.

Benefits

• Make a difference in the lives of real people every day
• Diverse community
• Competitive total compensation package
• Well-Funded General Employees Retirement Plan
• Light rail station minutes away
• On-site fitness center and overall employee well-being programs
• Internal educational programs to assist with career advancement
• Access to innovation workspaces
• Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits
• Accrued paid time off
• 11 paid holidays

Pay

$19.08 – $23.85 per hour

Schedule

Variable Hour Benefit Eligible (VHBE) — up to 40 hours per week