Veterinary Assistant

About the role

The purpose and mission of Animal Care Services is advocating animal welfare, adoption, and rescue. The agency does this by protecting and promoting the health, safety, and welfare of pets and livestock in Marion County. The agency is able to do this by cultivating a productive, collaborative, and compliant work environment in order for our workforce to meet the needs of the constituents of Indianapolis and Marion County.

Position is responsible for assisting the Veterinarian.

Responsibilities

• Performs exams on every animal entering the building, including but not limited to: identifying age, breed, sex, spay or neuter status, obtaining weights, assessing animals for pregnancy, administering vaccines, de-worming, flea preventative, performing nail trims and ear cleanings as needed and triaging animals for the medical team.
• Administers medications to animals.
• Maintains clear and accurate records.
• Assesses the health of animals in the shelter.
• Provides input on euthanasia decisions for medical reasons.
• Provides feedback on the behavior of animals.
• Performs animal euthanasia.
• Performs diagnostic skin scrapes on animals.
• Performs diagnostic fecal parasite tests on animals.
• Clips and cleans wounds.
• Assesses animals for fleas, ear mites, and other external parasites.
• Grooms severely neglected animals.
• Transports animals to veterinary clinics for spay-neuter surgery or other medical treatments.

Qualifications

• Must have at least 2 years working experience in a veterinary clinic or animal shelter.
• Must be able to communicate with a culturally diverse staff and public and to display professional and courteous behavior at all times.
• Must be able to write legibly and learn to use the shelter management computer system.
• Weekend and evening hours may be required.
• Must have a strong knowledge of animal health and diseases.
• Must have a strong knowledge of veterinary medicine.
• Must have veterinary technician skills such as performing diagnostic tests and physical examinations of animals.
• Must be able to effectively communicate with veterinarians, managers, kennel and field staffing in a professional and courteous manner.

Working Conditions

Position will be responsible for working in loud and wet conditions, working with animals of unknown health, origin, or temperaments, and will sometimes be required to perform work outside in inclement weather.