# Animal Caretakers

> Feed, water, groom, bathe, exercise, or otherwise provide care to promote and maintain the well-being of pets and other animals that are not raised for consumption, such as dogs, cats, race horses, ornamental fish or birds, zoo animals, and mice. Work in settings such as kennels, animal shelters, zoos, circuses, and aquariums. May keep records of feedings, treatments, and animals received or discharged. May clean, disinfect, and repair cages, pens, or fish tanks.

- **SOC code:** 39-2021.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-39-2021-00
- **Also known as:** Aquarist, Dog Groomer, Groomer, Kennel Technician (Kennel Tech), Animal Care Giver (ACG), Dog Bather, Kennel Attendant, Pet Groomer
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Feed and water animals according to schedules and feeding instructions.
- Provide treatment to sick or injured animals, or contact veterinarians to secure treatment.
- Examine and observe animals to detect signs of illness, disease, or injury.
- Mix food, liquid formulas, medications, or food supplements according to instructions, prescriptions, and knowledge of animal species.
- Do facility laundry and clean, organize, maintain, and disinfect animal quarters, such as pens and stables, and equipment, such as saddles and bridles.
- Exercise animals to maintain their physical and mental health.
- Collect and record animal information, such as weight, size, physical condition, treatments received, medications given, and food intake.
- Observe and caution children petting and feeding animals in designated areas to ensure the safety of humans and animals.
- Clean and disinfect surgical equipment.
- Find homes for stray or unwanted animals.
- Respond to questions from patrons, and provide information about animals, such as behavior, habitat, breeding habits, or facility activities.
- Answer telephones and schedule appointments.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Scuba dive in aquariums to perform exhibit maintenance.
- Train volunteers and facility staff.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Administrative _(knowledge)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Information Ordering _(ability)_
- Static Strength _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Access _(Specialized Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Access _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- CEEJS The Pet Groomer's Secretary
- DaySmart Software 123Pet
- DaySmart Software Appointment-Plus
- Envision Pet Grooming
- Groom Pro
- Groomsoft

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 45th percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 21st percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 36th percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 80th percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 66th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 12.1% growth (Growing fast); 74.6k annual openings; 392.1k → 439.6k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $33,470; 277,300 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-39-2021-00_