Temporary Care & Enrichment Technician

About the role

The ASPCA’s Behavioral Rehabilitation Center (BRC) in Weaverville, NC, is the first and only facility dedicated to the rehabilitation and study of extremely fearful, under-socialized dogs. The goal of the entire BRC team is to work together to improve these dogs' quality of life and prepare them for life in adoptive homes.

Responsibilities

• Provide daily care and support for the dogs in treatment, adhering to the BRC standard operating procedures and low stress handling and approach.
• Maintain the medical and behavioral health of shelter animals; ensure adherence to nutrition, sanitation and infectious disease-prevention protocols established by the ASPCA’s Shelter Medicine Services team and BRC Veterinarian.
• Support the behavioral growth of the dogs in treatment, in coordination with the Behavior Branch and treatment paradigms of the program.
• Ensure the comfort and cleanliness of shelter animals.
• Comply with specific feeding programs related to behavioral enrichment for specific animals.
• Work to integrate volunteers into daily care, setting clear expectations, providing guidance as needed and always communicating respect and gratitude for volunteer support.
• Follow guidelines to ensure that animal holding areas include appropriate music and/or auditory stimulation for shelter animals.
• Prepare and provide daily enrichment items to keep dogs engaged and reduce stress, facilitate playgroups, and assist the behavior staff as requested with specific parts of the interventions.
• Serve as part of a harmonious, united team of shelter operations, shelter medicine and animal behavior experts, all dedicated to collaborating with each other to provide balanced, holistic care.

Qualifications

• Treats people and animals with care and respect; must be a compassionate caregiver for animals and have a genuine interest in working with others.
• Maintains a consistently positive attitude; must enjoy working directly with people; respects team members at all levels.
• Relishes troubleshooting and problem solving.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Cultivates a climate in which individual differences and perspectives are valued, respected, encouraged and supported.
• Flexible communicator: ability to interact with diverse personalities and groups.
• Meticulous organizational skills; pays close attention to detail.
• Observes and accurately interprets animal behavior.
• Physical capacity to move, stand, bend and lift up to 100 lbs and carry 50lbs.
• Ability to skillfully restrain and handle animals.
• Flexible and willing to attend mandatory staff meetings and training classes that may not occur during regular work hours.
• The ability to work closely with behaviorally compromised animals and feel comfortable working in an environment where euthanasia is performed on a regular basis.
• At least 1 year experience working or volunteering in an animal welfare agency handling animals strongly preferred.
• Experience working with under socialized dogs with extreme fear issues is a plus.