Care for animals.

Care for animals. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 6 occupations and seen in 17 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Care for plants or animals. in Assisting and Caring for Others .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 16 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 1 (6%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Feed and water animals according to schedules and feeding instructions. · Animal Caretakers · importance 4.8 · no direct exposure
• Feed and water animals, and clean and disinfect pens, cages, yards, and hutches. · Animal Breeders · importance 4.8 · no direct exposure
• Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies. · Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals · importance 4.5 · no direct exposure
• Exercise animals to maintain their physical and mental health. · Animal Caretakers · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Herd livestock to pastures for grazing or to scales, trucks, or other enclosures. · Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas. · Animal Trainers · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Bathe and groom animals. · Animal Breeders · importance 4.3 · no direct exposure
• Find homes for stray or unwanted animals. · Animal Caretakers · importance 4.2 · exposure with tools
• Shift animals between grazing areas to ensure that they have sufficient access to food. · Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Protect herds from predators, using trained dogs. · Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Transfer animals between enclosures to facilitate breeding, birthing, shipping, or rearrangement of exhibits. · Animal Caretakers · importance 3.9 · no direct exposure
• Perform animal grooming duties, such as washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats, cutting nails, and cleaning ears. · Animal Caretakers · importance 3.9 · no direct exposure
• Groom, clip, trim, or castrate animals, dock ears and tails, or shear coats to collect hair. · Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Spray livestock with disinfectants and insecticides, or dip or bathe animals. · Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Clip or shear hair on animals. · Animal Breeders · importance 3.6 · no direct exposure
• Conduct specialized procedures, such as animal branding or tattooing or hoof trimming. · Veterinary Technologists and Technicians · importance 3.2 · no direct exposure
• Provide care for park program animals. · 19-1031.03

Occupations that perform this

• Animal Caretakers
• Animal Breeders
• Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals
• Animal Trainers
• Veterinary Technologists and Technicians
• 19-1031.03

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-care-for-animals,
  title  = {Care for animals.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/care-for-animals}
}