kennel worker
Kennel workers handle animals in kennels or catteries and provide care for pets. They feed the animals, clean their cages, look after ill or old animals, groom them and take them out for a walk.
kennel worker kennel workers handle animals in kennels or catteries and provide care for pets. They feed the animals, clean their cages, look after ill or old animals, groom them and take them out for a walk. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include control animal movement, bathe dogs, feed pets, assist in transportation of animals, follow written instructions.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £25,067 a year for Animal care services occupations n.e.c. (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £22,826 to £27,865 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 6129). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Service and sales workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only kennel worker, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 5. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Biology
- Administrative
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Communications and Media
What you'd actually do
- Hold or restrain animals during veterinary procedures.
- Monitor animals recovering from surgery and notify veterinarians of any unusual changes or symptoms.
- Fill medication prescriptions.
- Clean and maintain kennels, animal holding areas, examination or operating rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease.
- Examine animals to detect behavioral changes or clinical symptoms that could indicate illness or injury.
- Perform routine laboratory tests or diagnostic tests, such as taking or developing x-rays.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does kennel worker do?
Kennel workers handle animals in kennels or catteries and provide care for pets. They feed the animals, clean their cages, look after ill or old animals, groom them and take them out for a walk.
What skills does kennel worker need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include control animal movement, bathe dogs, feed pets, assist in transportation of animals, follow written instructions, protect health and safety when handling animals. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace kennel worker?
Our AI-durability model gives kennel worker a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.