The Datum Report

Occupation 6129 · Caring, leisure and other service occupations

Animal care services occupations n.e.c

Half of full-time animal care services occupations n.e.c in the UK earn more than £25,067 a year, and half earn less.

Job holders in this unit group care for animals held in kennels, stables, zoos and similar establishments, provide specialised training, grooming, clipping and trimming services for animals, and searches for and captures stray or nuisance dogs in public areas and perform a variety of animal care tasks not elsewhere classified in minor group 612: Animal care and control services.

How people enter it

Entry is possible without formal academic qualifications, although some employers may ask for GCSEs/S grades. There is a variety of vocational qualifications available, including NVQs/SVQs in Animal Care at levels 1 and 2, in Dog Grooming at levels 2 and 3, and BTEC qualifications and apprenticeships relating to Horse Care.

What the work involves

• feeds, washes, grooms, trims and exercises animals
• cleans animals’ quarters and renews bedding as necessary
• houses, feeds, exercises, trains, grooms horses, dogs and other animals in preparation for entry to shows, races and other events
• checks animals for illness, treats minor ailments or calls for vet if further treatment is required
• meets prospective owners and advises on animal selection and animal care
• patrols public areas to search for and capture stray or nuisance dogs, and transports captured animals to kennels
• work alongside veterinary surgeons and nurses to provide vital nursing care to ensure the wellbeing of animal patients

Also called

Animal technician · Canine beautician · Dog walker · Groom · Kennel assistant · Stable hand · Veterinary nursing assistant

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for animal care services occupations n.e.c, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 8 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

Classified alongside this

Pest controllers